Term 1 #7 8 March 2019 NewsletterCollege St Andrew’s College To the Andrean Community

The Buffalo Regatta of 2019 was, at one level, not one of our most successful outings. There could be no faulting of our boys’ commitment (of course), and the parental support in the rowing club is of the best I have experienced in any school with which I have been associated, ever. In spite of all of that, and an incredibly rigorous coaching and training programme, on the day, medals eluded us. The reality of national competition was tough.

It is a tough old sport in itself, rowing - fully testing of physical mettle and mental strength. The margins between success and failure are incredibly small, and there is really no way to bluff your way through.

“Grit is not just a simple elbow-grease term for rugged persistence. It is an often invisible display of endurance that lets you stay in an uncomfortable place, work hard to improve upon a given interest, and do it again and again.” - Sarah Lewis

Nec Aspera Terrent St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

And there are days when, everything having gone to plan, the other boat Physics Olympiad is simply faster. Congratulations to Blaine Price who was placed 14th in the national Of course, when the going gets tough, there are decisions to be made, and selection tests for the International making the right decision at the right time is crucial. Some teams falter, Physics Olympiad. He single-handedly falling into the trap of negative thinking, of excuse-making (it is, after all, prepared for the tests which covered a very young crew), and retribution. The best teams, however, set their Matric and A Level Physics, and this is sights on the next goal, taking the learnings of failure (and then closing great credit to his natural affinity for the book) - using those learnings to get hungrier, to get motivated to do Physics as well as his determination. that which is necessary. For we have no aspirations of being big fish in a small pond here. Excellence is absolute, as is our determination to reach it. Aidan Smith It’s not quite the same as being the best at everything, but it most certainly is about being the very best that we can be, and then some.

And so, the College team went into the SA Championship regatta as distinct underdogs (which is, actually, quite a powerful position to be in). Across the age groups the boys rowed their hearts out and there were a number of really good results against the toughest competition in Southern Africa. When the 1st VIII came off the water as bronze medalists there could be no doubting the fact that here was a team that had learned its tough lessons well and risen to the challenge. They had dug deep, put in that which was needed, and grown.

And although it may seem that this letter is about rowing, it’s not really about that at all. It is about character, bounce-back-ability, grit, and the absolute relationship between determination, effort, and reward. WEEK AT A GLANCE The progress of the rowing club in this part of the season is, in fact, the very epitome of Nec Aspera Terrent. I could not have been prouder of St Friday 8 March: Andrew’s College. Scifest (from 6 - 12 March) Hockey - 1st XI Tony Godding Festival to 10/3 (Selborne) And, although I have used rowing as my example, the grit of our boys 12h25 - Woman’s Day Celebrations is evident everywhere. It is in the College DNA. As I travel about at this time of year interviewing boys, there are some who, when given the Saturday 9 March: opportunity, like to ask some questions of their own. Many ask about the Hockey - 3rd XI Port Alfred Festival unique features of College, and while there are many and the question Hockey - Internal matches always makes for good conversation, the fact that you just can’t keep a Rugby vs Nico Malan High School (H) College boy down is, for me, the one that makes me proudest. And while it’s a great characteristic for a boy navigating school to have, it will serve Sunday 10 March: him well for life. Squash - EP Trials (Round 1)

Monday 11 March: God Bless Drug Awareness Week 12h25 - Woman’s Day Celebrations 18h45 - Senior Interhouse Maths Relay Alan Thompson Visit: https://my.sacschool.com for full calendar [email protected] www.sacschool.com St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

COLLEGE LIFE

Blood Drive

The first blood drive for 2019 was held on Tuesday afternoon 19 March in the D&T Centre. A festive atmosphere prevailed in the packed venue. More than 80 prospective donors volunteered, a lot of them for the first time. Unfortunately several had to be turned away for medical reasons. In spite of this, much to the delight of the SANBS staff, 65 units of blood were collected, 7 more than their target for the day.

Many thanks to all the donors, as well as the boys and girls who contributed by buying ribbons for R5 each. The money raised in this way will be donated to an institution in line with blood donations, pointed out by the SANBS.

Thea Steele

www.sacschool.com St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

Shrove Tuesday

The annual interhouse pancake race took place under overcast skies on Shrove Tuesday, 5th March 2019. As always it was a very entertaining and competitive event. Each house relay team was made up of 5 boys, one from each grade. Upper House, the defending champions, once again took the laurels and lifted the prized Interhouse Pancake race trophy. They were followed home by Armstrong house, Graham House, Merriman House, Espin House and Mullins House. A big thank you to staff who assisted as marshals and to Mr Pete Andrew who was our starter for the race.

David Stansbury Chaplain

www.sacschool.com St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

CULTURAL

God Blesses the Senior Open Concert

It was an unbearably hot day on Wednesday with the temperature reaching 40 degrees! The Music School auditorium with its air conditioner was the place to be at 17h30. The most important thing about the concert was that after some thunder and lightning (very, very frightening…) there was a wonderful downpour of rain. A most welcome blessing from God and a sign that we were in the right place doing the right thing.

At the start, Stuart Christie put everyone in relaxation mode with a calm and lyrical demonstration of jazz piano playing in John Myhill’s Ikon. This was followed by an impressive debut performance by Sauvan Sewsunker of an Adagio by J.S. Bach. The Prelude by John Rutter performed on the Flute by cultural prefect Tim Simpson was the perfect continuation of this overwhelming sense of serenity that permeated the start of the concert. It wasn’t all just highbrow classical stuff. There was some Ed Sheeran and Billy Joel too. There were a number of Grade 8s that also performed for the first time: Abi Dixon-Warren on Trumpet and Hilton Lindhorst and Greg Miller on Trombones. After a delightful Rough and Ready Rag on said Trombones, Angela Volschenk returned us to the calm peace of a Bach Prelude. The concert ended with a well-modulated and delightful performance of a Mozart Sonata movement on Piano by the inimitable Emily Morgan. All in all, a very enjoyable 40 minutes away from the hurly burly of school life.

Mike Skipper Director of Music

www.sacschool.com St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

Masicule 2019 On Sunday and Monday nights (24 and 25 February) the Monument Theatre was filled with the joyful singing of over 500 singers from nine different Grahamstown school choirs and two adult vocal ensembles. It was a veritable musical feast and an incredible smorgasbord of vocal variety. From the vibrant opening of the ‘surround sound’ Yele Yele Masicule, right through to the rich and vibrant collaborations with the inimitable South African musical giant, Vusi Mahlasela at the end, it was pure magic. St Andrew’s College and DSG were well represented by providing 140 singers for the Massed Choir from our Chapel Choirs and also presenting the soulful and beautiful Bawo with our combined choirs. The piece is a heartfelt plea to God for forgiveness and it was an excellent example of controlled choral musicianship. The choristers gave up two Sunday afternoons as well as a Thursday night to rehearse with everybody else, besides the hours of rehearsals on their own. Sincere thanks and warm congratulations must go to all our young singers and the Head Choristers, Ben Aliker and Babalwa Kleyi.

Mike Skipper Director of Music

www.sacschool.com St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

SPORT

Dear All

With Half-Term meaning that we did not have a Newsletter last week there is quite a bit that has happened in the interim. Two weekends ago both our 1st XI cricketers and the Colts A team travelled up to Gauteng to play in their respective Independent Schools Festivals. The 1st XI Festival was hosted by St Alban’s Tom Vermaak - 6 wickets for 32 runs College in Pretoria and the U15 Festival by St Benedict’s College in Johannesburg. against Cornwall Hill College. The 1st XI played Malvern College from the UK in a two day fixture that was unfortunately disrupted by rain causing the College side to decide to declare well behind in order to make a game of it. Things did not quite work out and we got bowled out cheaply in the second innings. The side ended up with two good wins against St John’s College and Cornwall Hill. The Colts side had a real rollercoaster ride but would have come away with lots of lessons learnt and stronger for the experience. They managed a good win against St Benedict’s on the last day which saw them finish on a positive note.

Cricket The 1st XI were back up to Johannesburg over Half-Term to play two very special invitation games. The first match was against the Lindale Settlers side coordinated Nicholas Barlow and Sam Francis by OA Peter Amm and comprising a good number of other Old Andreans. The compiled a mature 78 run partnership match was played at the picturesque Johannesburg Country Club ground which as St Andrew’s College 1st cricket side provided a wonderful setting for a good game of vintage cricket. The College beat St John’s College boys performed well and managed a good win. Last Sunday the team were royally entertained by the Oppenheimer XI at their beautiful Randjesfontein venue. The boys did really well to chase down a testing total set by this talented invitation side to complete a wonderful weekend of special experiences. We are still waiting to play the Warriors Final of the CSA T 20 Competition this weekend in East London. The outcome of that match will determine who represents the Warrior franchise at the Coca Cola T20 National Finals to be hosted at Pretoria University next weekend. The weather forecast for this weekend is predicting rain in our area so it will be interesting to see what comes of the scheduled matches.

Liyama Dotwana 3/39 against Lindale Settlers

www.sacschool.com St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

Rowing Our rowers returned from Gauteng where they had been for the previous 10 days preparing for the SA Schools National Champs held at Roodeplaat Dam outside Pretoria over the Half-Term weekend. In the lead up to Champs the Club was able to take part in the Jeppe High School Regatta with pleasing results as well as being able to get some quality time in on good water in preparation for Champs. The growth during this period was substantial and meant that the Club can be very pleased with their performances at Champs across the board. College were the only club to qualify two boats in the A Final of the Open coxed IV’s with the IV coxed by Courtney McKay picking up the Silver Medal. The 1st VIII would be very pleased with the Bronze Medal which they earned in the 1st VIII event. This showed great improvement from earlier in the season.

Tennis The boys have taken part in both the Tjaart Vorster Tournament in Cradock and then the Selborne/Clarendon mixed tournament over Half-Term. The boys did fantastically well to finish 2nd to Oakdale in Cradock, and then went on to finish 3rd with DSG at the event in East London. These are both excellent results for the team and show significant improvement in performance over past years. Last week Monday the 1st Team took on in the Knowling Shield and managed a good win, this after earlier beating Kingswood College, to secure the shield won be Graeme College last year.

Air Rifle Our Air Rifle shooters headed up to the North West Open in Klerksdorp where they gave a very good account of themselves. Most of the boys shot personal best scores and they all gained valuable experience at this level of competition. Matthew Groenewald shot very well in the U16 division picking up the Silver Medal, whilst Kevin Campbell secured the Bronze and Timothy Nasasira finished 5th. The team was complimented on their outstanding helpfulness and behaviour throughout.

Water Polo A very busy day of on the Saturday before Half Term saw teams from Selborne College, Pearson High School and descend on the

www.sacschool.com St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

College and DSG pools. It was great to see such a high level of activity and all our teams got to play a number of games during the day, generally with very positive results. There was a great atmosphere around the pool during the 1st Team games and the boys performed well to convincingly beat a Pearson side that they had only just beaten at the Vides Tournament before going down narrowly to a determined Selborne College side looking to avenge their defeat at Vides. Over Half-Term the 1st Team travelled up to Johannesburg to play in the prestigious King Edward VII Tournament. Faced with a tough draw and an even tougher qualifying format, the pressure was always going to be on. After a close 11-8 defeat to Bishops it was always going to be a challenge to qualify for the quarter-finals. A tightly-contested draw with Jeppe effectively sealed any chance of doing that, despite beating Maritzburg College in the final pool game. Playing in the Plate event the boys performed well to progress through to the finals where they had a good win against Westvilee High School to win the plate event and end in 9th position. The U15A side travelled to Knysna over Half-Term to play in the Oakhill Chukka Festival. This event, staged in the Knysna harbour, proved to be very vibey and enjoyable event. Our boys did very well in winning 6 and drawing 1 of their matches played. They all had a good weekend, had plenty of pool time and came away with good results.

Swimming Our swimmers have been busy and successful over the past few weeks. The week after the Pearson Prestige Gala two of our top boys were invited to attend the South African Grand Prix Gala held in Stellenbosch where most all of the country’s top swimmers were present, along with a number of overseas swimmers. Martin Wolmarans continued to impress with personal bests in all his events, and finishing in 2nd place in the 50m freestyle event. He also added a further two senior national qualifying times along with four College records in the 50 and 100m freestyle and the 50 and Timothy Nasasira 100m butterfly events. Oliva Lange also excelled in breaking three College records in the 50 and 200m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley, along with an outstanding qualifying time for the Junior Nationals. These and other boys carried their form into the College gala events with Martin setting new records in four out of his five events and winning the Best Open Swimmer Award. Oliva Lange and Joss Hempel broke records in the U15 age group, with Joss being awarded the trophy for the Best Junior Swimmer once again. The Individual and Relay galas were held on the Wednesday before Half Term and the overall results saw Graham House narrowly pipping Upper House, with Espin House in third place. Kevin Campbell

www.sacschool.com St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

Athletics A number of our athletes have been competing in the regional athletics qualifying events over the past few weeks. The final event for the was held on Thursday in Port Elizabeth. Two of our 100m runners Myles Boden and Ayomedeji Israel-Akinbo had qualified to compete. If they do well they may qualify for the Junior National Champs.

Hockey Our 1st XI Hockey squad will go through to East London on Friday to play in the Annual Tony Godding Festival hosted by Selborne College. This will give them four early season games against Grey College, , Queen’s College and Cambridge High School to get their season underway. The rest of the Club will be involved in internal trial games and practices.

Rugby The Rugby Club will be involved in a fairly full set of fixtures this Saturday against Nico Malan High School from Humansdorp. These fixtures should provide an early opportunity for teams to start developing patterns of play and to gauge in which areas they will need to do particular work. With quite a few boys missing from the senior teams, for various reasons, there will be an opportunity for boys to put up their hands at this level.

As always there is a real buzz around campus with rugby balls being passed and kicked around and hockey sticks and boots very much in evidence. There is a real sense of anticipation in the air. We had a searingly hot day on Wednesday and had to postpone practices and in typically Grahamstown fashion rain is forecast for the weekend! Sport aside, we desperately need the rain, so we will take as much as we can get!

I wish you an exciting start to the winter season and urge you to give your boys your full support as they make their way into new teams in a new season.

Kind regards

Pete Andrew Director of Sport

www.sacschool.com St Andrew’s College Nec Aspera Terrent

www.sacschool.com THE CENTRE Do YOU need someone to HEAR you? Do YOU need someone to LISTEN to your concerns? Do YOU just need to CHAT?

Günther Marx: Father David Stansbury: Yvonne Lion-Cachet: Sister Heidi Scheepers: Deputy Headmaster - Chaplain Educational Psychologist Sanatorium Student Affairs 083 708 0548 082 448 8396 072 494 6097 083 651 9237

• Chairman of the Centre • Grief and loss counselling • Individual therapy and/or • Monitoring all physical • All issues pertaining to • Pastoral counselling (families, group therapy around any symptoms of anxiety, Student Affairs and well-being marriages and relationships emotional and/or academic depression and illness • Bullying awareness and drug within families) related issues, within any • The SAN offers a private, awareness (anabolic and • Personal counselling (any context of the adolescents safe space for relief and recreational) and all personal issues, ‘life-world’ recuperation • Boarder/Dayboy issues and struggles and conflicts) • Independent assessments liaising with Housemasters • Conflict counselling (group of an academic and/or and individual) emotional nature • Spiritual counselling (all • Identifying issues that impact questions of life and faith) on academic performance and/or emotional well-being

Walter Eksteen: Portfolio Prefects 2019 – Student Affairs HOD-Life Orientation 072 213 3027 Back row: Peter Voges (Merriman), Sebastian Jackson (Armstrong), Andrew Jelley (Upper) Front row: Benjamin Aliker (Espin), Stephen Ross (Mullins), Evan Rennie (Graham) • General/basic counselling related to career choices • All issues relating to well-being of pupils • Relationship building within the school environment • Support with faith issues • General support and comfort during times of crisis WE are here for YOU. CARING and CONFIDENTIAL.