FAIRBAIRN COLLEGE

NEWSLETTER – 3/2015 2 October 2015

From the Headmaster

At the end of Term 3 2015, I pay tribute to the different role players at the College:

The Governing Body: Under the leadership of Mrs Prinsloo, the new Governing Body is looking after the interests of the parents, the learners and the staff.

The Parents: It is enjoyable to interact with parents at all levels: next to the sport fields, at cultural functions, at the parent\teacher meetings and during one to one interviews. Please continue to support your children in all aspects of schooling.

The Staff: I could not wish for better! The academic staff are dedicated workers who leave no stone unturned in pursuit of the College ethos of academic excellence and discipline. Also in all the other spheres of school life: pastoral, sport and culture – the staff put the interests of the learners first.

The Support Staff: The receptionists, secretarial staff, school bursar, estate manager and the general workers are hard workers who always give their best. Time and time again I receive compliments of the efficiency of the front office. Our estate and sport facilities are the envy of many visiting schools.

The Learners: The majority of learners are at one with the ethos of . There will always be a small group of learners who have not taken ownership of “their” school. These learners are monitored closely. They will not be allowed to infringe on the rights of the learners who want to learn, or be allowed to tarnish the name of this fine institution.

Enrolment 2016: 554 learners have applied for enrolment at Fairbairn College for Grade 8 in 2016. Only 210 will be successful.

Congratulations to all parents, staff and learners who ensure that Fairbairn College is an excellent and sought after secondary educational institution. Term 3 has been a successful term in all spheres of school life: culture, sport and academics – details are supplied in this newsletter. Well done to all.

I wish the Grade 12 learners well in their final preparation for the end of year examinations. You have been extensively prepared. Good luck!

Yours sincerely

B MARCHAND HEADMASTER

ACADEMICS AND EXAMINATIONS

The Roll of Honour is included elsewhere in this Newsletter.

Ms H van Rooyen HEAD OF ACADEMICS

Academic Dinner

The prestigious annual Academic Dinner held on 5 August 2015, was once again a huge success. We celebrated the academic ethos of Fairbairn College by awarding the Top 10 Academic Badges to the top ten learners in each grade, as well as bursaries to the top three learners in each grade. We were honoured to have Deon van Wulven (a past pupil of Fairbairn College) as our guest speaker. The audience left, feeling inspired by his message: “…and if something extremely bad/wrong goes on then keep your chin up, look ahead and carry on.”

Our scholarships of R1400, R1200 and R950 are allocated to the first three places in each grade, respectively. The scholarships were as follows:

Grade 8 - The L Rothman Scholarship to Keana Young, McCene Jacob and Selena Pather. Grade 9 - The L Rothman Scholarship to Sebrina Ornelas, Shazeea Dhansay and Tamsin Paulse. Grade 10 - The C Cook Scholarship to Joshua Heyns, Rushda Adam and Himil Parshotam. Grade 11 - The A Hadjidakis Scholarship to Hanaan Cassiem, Aarti Ranchod and Yaseen Mowzer. Grade 12 - The E Hadjidakis Scholarship to Sean Weber, Meera Ranchod and Adam Pandit.

PASTORAL AND DISCIPLINE

Grade 11 Seminar

On Friday, 24 July, we held our annual Grade 11 evening. The evening was very well attended and enjoyed by all. It started with a fun ice-breaker by Mrs Jacobz that got the mood of the Grade 11’s ready for the rest of the evening. Mr Marchand presented his part of the evening with his “The Road Ahead” address in which he presents the College’s expectations of the future Grade 12’s. This was followed by Mr Koffeman, who presented his address on the duties and responsibilities of the RCL Executive and the handing out of the application forms for this role. An enjoyable supper followed and then the highlight of the evening: the creation of the Matric Top. With many spirited debates and good ideas, a design and top was eventually agreed upon.

Mrs C Jacobz GRADE HEAD

Job Shadowing Programme

We congratulate our Grade 11 learners who participated in the Job Shadowing Programme during the last week of Term 3. Our Grade 11 learners were away on Tuesday 29 September, Wednesday 30 September and Thursday 1 October and shadowed possible career choices.

The learners represented Fairbairn College wherever they chose to go, and therefore they were ambassadors for our school in dress as well as manners and courtesy.

This is always an exciting venture!

Miss G Correia JOB SHADOW CO-ORDINATOR

Community Service Programme

The Grade 10’s embarked on their Community Service Project with great enthusiasm and determination - they were eager to be of service to the various communities. They visited various institutions over the course of the three days: retirement homes, day-care facilities, fire stations etc.

Hopefully this was a rich and rewarding experience. Well done to the Grade 10’s for embracing this Community Service project – continue to be of service to your community in the future.

Mrs F Dublin COMMUNITY SERVICE CO-ORDINATOR

Grade 9 Excursions

From 29 September to 1 October our learners paid a visit to the Aquarium, Seal Island and Monkey Town in .

The learners enjoyed the Aquarium and it goes without saying also the visit to the Waterfront. The boat trip to Seal Island reminded us of our “Rainbow Nation” as our Grade 9’s faces were all different shades of blue and green.

The learners were extremely at home at Monkey Town and strangely enough, some of the monkeys looked extremely familiar.

Thank you to the Headmaster and the Governing Body for subsidising a large portion of the transport costs to these venues.

Mrs E Le Grange GRADE 9 GRADE HEAD

RCL Executive – 2015

A big thank you to the RCL Executive of 2015. They have worked together and remained focused on maintaining school discipline. A special thank you to Aasha Parshotam and Sean Weber (our head prefects), for their tireless efforts and leadership of this RCL Executive group. Being a leader of leaders is always a difficult task, but you both rose to the challenge very well. Thank you.

Mr M Koffeman MASTER IN CHARGE - RCL EXECUTIVE

RCL Executive – 2016

The following Grade 11’s and their parents are to be congratulated on their selection to the office of RCL Executive for 2016:

Girls Boys

Cailin Bailey Mohammad Ilyaas Abbas Dominique Blight Dylan Best Hanaan Cassiem Chesray Daniels Jeanré Conradie Darian Hector Kirsten Cornelissen Lenny Johnson Kayleen Esau Stefan Kalp Andrea Goncalves Ulrich Kalp Razaan Kamaldien Danian Koen Erin Lameyer Carl Lakay Zukiswa Lobola Caleb Marthinus Nazeera Mahomed Moegamad Dawood Miller Nontlahla Ntlahla Reece Nagdee Jamie-Lee Pearson Ricardo Rebelo Aneeqah Petersen Daniel Scheidegger Aarti Ranchod Reese Samuels Chelsey Scholtz Leandra Walker

They attended a camp, held at the College on 25 and 26 September 2015, where they received training in leadership and participated in team-building exercises. A good time was had by all.

We wish them well for the arduous task that lies ahead. I have no doubt that they will make a success of it.

Mr M Koffeman MASTER IN CHARGE - RCL EXECUTIVE

We are proud of:

Angelique Doyle: who has been awarded a Bursary by the Yvonne Parfitt Trust for her studies next year. Congratulations Angelique - we know you will make us proud! Lenny Johnson and Tyler September: who were selected as members of the U/18 Western Province Ice Hockey team that took part in the 2015 Inter Provincial Tournament held in during the July school holidays. Yaseen Mowzer: who achieved a Bronze Medal at the International Mathematics Olympiad in Thailand. Well done, Yaseen! Yaseen also brought home a Bronze Medal from the International Programming Olympiad in Kazakhstan as part of a team of four who took part. The team came 32nd out of the 83 participating countries. An excellent achievement. Congratulations! At the Computer Programming Olympiad’s 1st round, Yaseen came 1st in the province! A total of 4 120 learners were registered for this round. To be 1st in the province is a remarkable accomplishment. Meera Ranchod: who took part in the SAICA Accounting Olympiad and came 3rd in the Western Province with 91%. Congratulations! Lillian Simonhoff: who competed in the Gymnastic Provincial trials on Saturday, 5 September 2015 and qualified to go through to the National Gymnastic Games in Pretoria in October 2015. Lillian was awarded full Provincial Colours. Well done! Jenny-Lee Williams: was selected to represent the Western Cape U/19 SA Football Association team who took part in the National playoffs in Gauteng from 26 to 30 August 2015.

Adam Pandit and Meera Ranchod : who attended the NRF SAASTA Youth Science Week in Pretoria from 28 June to 3 July. Adam finished second in and 3rd in the SADC Region (including South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Lesotho) for the Life Sciences Olympiad, winning a laptop and gift voucher at the Awards Ceremony on 2 July 2015 at Emperors Palace. A remarkable achievement! Positions of Fairbairn College learners (SADC Region): Milan Chavda (85th, Life Sciences). Yaseen Mowzer (36th, Physical Sciences). Meera Ranchod (18th, Life Sciences)

Staff

Miss Rochelle Lawson (Teacher Assistant at Fairbairn College), was selected as a member of the SPAR Protea’s Team that represented our country at the Netball World Cup hosted by Australia in Sydney in August 2015. The Proteas beat Malawi in the fifth place playoff. This victory means that South Africa received a fifth place ranking in the world and are once again officially the top team in Africa. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Mrs Ackermann, on the birth of her grandchild.

Inspired Stages Workshop

Fairbairn College received an invitation from Sun International Grand West for 8 of our learners to attend the “Inspired Stages Workshop”. This workshop was held at Grand West from Monday, 29 June to Friday, 3 July 2015.

This unique opportunity was geared towards teenagers who love the stage and performing as musicians, vocalists or dancers. Each day was jam-packed with guests and mentors and the week ended with 150 teenagers producing and performing their own show.

This event is valued at R1500 and Fairbairn College was fortunate enough to have been offered 8 sponsored places for this workshop.

We would like to congratulate the following learners who were selected and attended the workshop:

Zedré Thomas, Tarryn Schouw, Caitlin van Schalkwyk, Jevonne Govender, Lenny Johnson, Liam Smith, Clare Dublin and Dylan Meyer.

Cape Argus Food Lovers’ Market High Schools’ Quiz

Congratulations to the two Grade 10 teams for making it through to the second round: Jethro Volkwyn, Marco Jonkers, Stefan Karamanski, Dave Binza and Warren Huang and the mostly girls’ team which included Rushda Adam, Chloe Krige, Fatima Davids, Aaliah Hoosen and Sachin Naidoo.

We are proud of our Grade 12 team who came second last year and were placed fifth this year. Well done to Sean Weber, Adam Pandit, Marco Ribeiro, Milan Chavda and Daanish Jacobs for juggling the Argus quiz with a busy Matric year. They win R8000 for the school and R750 each for all their hard work and commitment.

Model United Nations - 2015

This year saw a great shift in the Model UN framework including a rebranding. South Africa now boasts its very own SASMUN (South African School’s Model United Nations). This project is an incredibly complex look at how political structures operate; how international laws are made and how political procedures, both in parliament and at a United Nations sitting, are followed.

The 2015 topic examines peace and security as sustainable development goals in the post- 2015 framework. The SASMUN model sees schools being assigned a country which they need to research. They become intimately acquainted with the political structures of their country and attempt to propose a resolution from their country’s perspective regarding how to solve that issue.

As Fairbairn College is representing China at this year’s SASMUN, we believe that this debate will be incredibly interesting. The learners who took part are dedicated, critical and hard working – all qualities that served them in good stead for the sitting which took place on 5 September in the Provincial Parliamentary halls.

We congratulate Michelle Pretorius, Calsey Carolisson, Lourdes Ornelas, Raeesa Sonday, Chloe Krige Siphesihle Kutta and Nazeera Mohammed.

AMENITIES

I am sad to report that Fairbairn College has become the victim of the escalating crime in our country. We have become a soft target for burglaries. We have been broken into 4 times with 4 data projectors stolen out of locked cages!

Since employing an extra security guard on duty every night, installing a floodlight near the English wing, as well as activating a loud siren, no further break ins have occurred. We are however looking into a variety of other measures to ensure the safety and security of our College, which will hopefully deter the criminals in the future.

On a very positive note, I am glad to report that the College plant is in an excellent condition, due to the hard work and dedication of our Amenities staff under the leadership of Mr van Lill. From the end of last term the Amenities team managed to install new honours boards in the club house for the sportsmen and sport women over the years.

During the June holidays all the classrooms and corridors, as well as the hall, were thoroughly cleaned and polished. All the desks and stands were sanded and varnished. We have also managed to find a product that allows us to paint the tables in the English wing.

Due to the hard work of Mr van Lill we also have had 180 brand new examination tables delivered from the Department of Education for free, which we will use for the Matrics in the September and end of year examinations.

All the bathrooms have had a deep clean from the hygiene company Servest, ensuring that our learners can use hygienic facilities.

Speakers have been installed in selected classrooms so that our educators have more tools to assist them in effective teaching.

Our fields were under attack with colonies of ants eating our grass. We have employed professionals to spray the fields and this has brought them under control. However, this process will have to be repeated several times until all the colonies are destroyed.

Once again our fields are looking magnificent, as in the past. Even the burns around the Astro are in excellent condition and are enjoyed by our spectators.

New signage has been placed around the school to make it more “visitor friendly”.

Cellphone lockers were installed around the clubhouse area in order to ensure that your child’s valuables are kept safe during practices and matches. We do encourage the learners to use these lockers. New boot-cleaning stations were installed around the astro and the clubhouse and a new netball store was also established to ensure the convenient and safe storage of all netball equipment.

Our palisade fence was looking derelict with paint flaking and peeling off and rust showing through. We are in the process of removing all loose and flaking paint, treating the rust spots and giving it a new coat of paint. The Hugo street side is already completed and it looks like a brand new fence.

Besides the normal day to day running and cleaning of the school, these are some of the many projects the Amenities team have been involved with over the last term in order to ensure that your child can attend a college with magnificent facilities. Indeed, it is something to be proud of!

I would like to once again thank Mr van Lill and his entire team for their hard work and dedication. Truly magnificent work we can all applaud!

Mr M Standish HEAD OF AMENITIES

School Discipline

Discipline remains one of the cornerstones upon which the College is built. Maintaining discipline is an extremely demanding task, from which we will not falter.

The following are some areas of concern:

• Grade Head Detention: Far too many learners are placed in grade head detention for simply not completing punishment for minor offences. To make matters worse, many learners are then placed in a Saturday detention for not attending the grade head detention. • Cellphones: Cellphones continue to be a problem. We will continue to confiscate cellphones that are being used or not switched off, between 8:00 and 14:30. These are returned on the last day of the term. • Uniform: It is once again time for many of the learners’ blazers to be washed, buttons to be replaced, badges to be sewn on properly and school bags to be cleaned. • A reminder to the girls that as of day one next term – summer uniform must be worn. • A reminder to the boys that as of day one next term – the new khaki shorts, approved by the Governing Body may be worn instead of the grey long trousers. (This is not compulsory) • The boys are reminded of their hair inspection on the 1st day of Term 4.

I ask for the co-operation of the learners and the assistance of the parents regarding these matters, and by so doing maintain the high standards of the College. Thank you.

Mr M Koffeman DEPUTY HEADMASTER

OPERATIONS

Prize Giving

The annual Prize Givings will take place on 13 October for the Grade 8 and 9’s (Junior Prize Giving) and on 14 October 2015 for Grade 10 to 12’s (Senior Prize Giving). Please take note that it is compulsory for all learners to attend these ceremonies.

Mrs E le Grange HEAD – SCHOOL CEREMONIES

Valedictory Service

The annual Valedictory Service Ceremony for the Grade 12 learners is on Friday, 16 October 2015 at 11:00. Due to numbers, our Grade 8 and 9 learners do not attend this ceremony. Grade 8 and 9 learners will receive a letter in this regard on Monday, 12 October 2015, together with a reply slip that must please be returned to school by 14 October 2015.

Mrs E le Grange HEAD – SCHOOL CEREMONIES

CULTURAL

English Olympiad.

A huge congratulations must be extended to the ten learners who participated in a gruelling 3 hour English Olympiad examination.

Congratulations must be extended to Stephanie Mzee for participating and Lindokuhle Siswana, Mubeena Aziz and Mia Dennis for obtaining Merit Certificates. Milan Chavda, Fazlyn Ryklief, Aarti Ranchod and Rushda Adam obtained an impressive Bronze Certificate. Our top achievers who obtained Silver Certificates are Adam Pandit and Mikaela Payne.

We are also very proud of all the learners who participated in the Eisteddfod and for obtaining a pleasing set of results.

The following learners did us proud:

Rushda Adam Public Speaking Prepared and Unprepared 80% and 78% Aaliah Hoosen & Fatima Davids Dramatic Dialogue 70% Fatima Davids Prescribed Poetry and Own Choice 68% and 70% Okuhle Dyiki Public Speaking Prepared and Unprepared 78% and 78%

EXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES

Rugby

1ST TEAM

The second half of the season started off with a bang with two home games. We played against High School and then we hosted New Castle School for boys from the UK. In both these matches our boys showed a lot character by coming from behind to beat Table View and narrowly losing by 2 points against the touring team in the last seconds of the match.

With these two tough games in succession the injury count took its toll. This made the rest of the season very hard to find the right combinations to go in to the remaining Derby Days.

We really struggled to find our rhythm in the first half at our Derby Day against . We dominated the second half but we just could not break the defence line.

Our season had its ups and downs but in our last two games the players really stepped up their game especially those who needed to stand in for all the injured players. We drew our President Derby game and lost to in the last minute of the match.

This year was a good building phase for our young team as we only had five Matrics in the team. We could really see an improvement in our Rugby this year.

We look forward to building our Rugby and know that through hard work and dedication we will continue to improve.

Thank you to all our parents who supported us throughout the season - it is much appreciated. A special thank you to Mr Koen for filming our games every week.

Mr M Koffeman and Mr J van Zyl HEAD OF RUGBY and 1ST TEAM COACH

2ND TEAM

We had another successful second half of the season, winning three and losing two of our matches. The players enjoyed practices and matches and a great team spirit prevailed throughout the season. A huge thank you to the parents, for always providing us with lifts on Saturday mornings, as well as their support. It was truly a very successful season.

Mr A Fourie 2nd TEAM COACH

U/16

The U/16 boys ended the season on a high note after a rather dismal season, riddled with injuries and some poor decisions. The boys outplayed their last two opponents, beating both Edgemead High School and President High. Chad Langenhoven was the star in both of these matches, scoring two tries against President. I am pleased with the team’s performance and have seen remarkable improvements in many of the players. Joshua Seconds and Husain Sedick showed special promise.

I wish the team well for the 2016 season and am sure that they will contribute to the 1st team’s victories.

Mr L Lawson U/16 COACH

U/15

The U/15 Rugby team proved to be a very talented, determined and enthusiastic group of players. They provided a lot of excitement over the last couple of months. They grew in character as individuals and players and made Fairbairn College proud with their sportsmanship and spirit.

A big thank you to every one of our U/15 group who made the journey with us. We look forward to the 2016 season.

Our results for the second half of the season are as follows:

Tableview High School – Lost, 8 – 5 HTS Bellville – Lost, 19 – 0 The Settlers High School – Lost, 17 – 10 President Höer/High School – Won, 13 – 5 Edgemead High School – Won, 19 – 3.

A special word of thanks must go the Mr Moodie who made an exceptional contribution as coach and motivator.

Mr T Russouw TEAM MANAGER

U/14

The second half of the 2015 Rugby season for our young Lion Cubs is definitely one to write about. After ending Term 2 on a high note, our young Lion Cubs had the most players attending the holiday practices. The results could be seen throughout Term 3. We started Term 3 exactly where we stopped in Term 2 and gave Table View a good hiding - 47-7 in our first match. Our second game was against HTS Bellville - this was also our first game of the season at the sports day where we drew the game 0-0. This was the perfect opportunity for us to see if we as a team had improved or not. The team played excellent rugby and we could see the improvement after we beat them 33-0. The three remaining games, we knew, would be very competitive. The team trained very hard with a minimum of 26 players at every practice. Our young cubs unfortunately lost their first ever derby in literally the last seconds of the match. This young team played their “Lion Hearts” out and actually deserved to win. We as a College are very proud of them and we will keep a close eye on them in the future.

Congratulations to Dylan Myburgh who was appointed as captain for the season. He really led from the front in all aspects of the game. Also, well done to Tarique Crowe and Christiaan Floris who were the top point makers for the season.

Tarique 75 points 15 tries Christiaan 63 points 4 x tries; 16 x conversions and 3 x penalty conversions

Results for the season.

HTS Bellville 0 0 Draw Hermanus 0 31 Lost Bosmansdam 41 0 Won Parklands 34 5 Won 13 20 Lost Fairmont 28 29 Lost JG Meiring 14 0 Won Season summary: Hamlets 0 24 Lost Won 6; Drew 2; Lost 6 HHH 25 32 Lost Table View 47 7 Won HTS Bellville 33 0 Won The Settlers 7 7 Draw President 15 0 Won Edgemead 15 16 Lost

Total for and against 272 171

We would like to thank all the parents for their great support throughout the season. It is much appreciated. We look forward to seeing you next to the field again next year.

Mr J van Zyl U/14 COACH MASTER IN CHARGE – MR M KOFFEMAN

Netball

U/19A and B

Under the leadership of Chelsea Scholtz, the U/19A team ended the second half of the season on a winning streak. With our final victory against Edgemead High School and a winning score of 26 -25, it was evident that all the hard work paid off! Thank you for your commitment and fighting spirit. You are an amazing team of girls!

The U/19 B team also had a strong end to the 2015 season, with captain Hannaan Cassiem personifying “never giving up”. Through sheer determination you improved even on your best by not losing a single match!!! Thank you for your beautiful attitude!

Mrs. C. Saayman and Miss R. Lawson (U/19A AND B COACHES

U/19C AND D

The Netball season for the U/19C and D teams has ended with a 14 -1 win against Edgemead High School. This resulted in the team being very excited, and feeling good about themselves. Practice attendance during the second term was still a huge problem. Players in the U/19C and D teams unfortunately lacked self pride and discipline. I trust that this kind of attitude will be improved upon in the near future.

A huge thank you to Majidah Hassiem for putting in the hours with these teams.

Mrs J van Tonder U/19C AND D COACH

U/16A AND B

The U/16A and B Netball teams have had a very successful season. The girls were very committed and eager to learn new skills to improve their game. The team spirit could clearly be seen in the results for the season. The A-team narrowly lost two games against strong opponents. They can, however, be commended on the way they handled themselves on and off the court. They had a ‘never-give up’ attitude and gave their all for every game.

The B-team was unbeaten in the first half of the season but lost a game in the second half. They are definitely a force to be reckoned with. The secret to their success is the fact that they play as a unit and stick to their game plan right till the end.

As a coach I feel very proud of the U/16A and B Netball girls and want to thank them for their sportsmanship and commitment.

Miss C Marais U/16A AND B COACH

U/16C and D

The U/16C and D Netball teams have had a challenging second half of the season. The girls worked well as a team and improved a lot this term. Special thanks to Danica van der Zandt for her hard work. We look forward to next year’s season.

Miss J Malcolm U/16C AND D COACH

U/14A AND B

During Term 3, the U/14A and B teams played three matches: against The Settlers High School, President High School and Edgemead High School. The U/14A and B teams won all their matches. They achieved this by working hard, training hard and showing great sportsmanship and excellent team spirit. The “Cubs” made the coach, themselves, their parents and Fairbairn College proud. They truly showed ‘Fairbairn’s pride’ during this Netball season.

Thank you to every parent who came out to support the teams. And last, but definitely not least, thank you to every girl who played this season. You truly are a remarkable group of girls.

Miss S Olivier U/14A AND B COACH

U/14C AND D

This season was by far one of the most fun seasons we have ever had. Coaching the U/14’s was a highlight of my day, most days. The girls showed great dedication and spirit, striving to overcome and push themselves to the best of their abilities. We had great fun on match days and at practices, and I believe that our time spent planking, crunching and running will be something to remember for many years to come.

My teams did not only play their hearts out and push themselves, I also saw them form strong friendships with one another. They motivated each other to run further, faster and harder cheering one another along on the way. Memorable incidents include telling one of the girls to run laps as punishment for slacking off, and her friends joining her “just because”.

Unfortunately, we did not play many league games this season. However, with each match I saw them develop and their skills flourish. Our biggest highlight would be winning our final match of the season on the last game day. It was a perfect day. Our girls were super excited (and rather aggressive) and our final score was 14-8. I find it impossible to choose a player of the season, as each of these young ladies has astounded me with their spirit and dedication. I wish them well in their Netball careers throughout high school. It has been my great pleasure to coach you.

Miss A Shaw U/14C AND D COACH

I would also like to thank and congratulate all the teachers on a very successful season. Without your “blood, sweat and tears”, the successes of the 2015 Netball season would not have been possible.

A special thank you to all outside coaches (Danica van der Zandt, Majidah Hassiem, Louise Cameron and Melanie von Gunten) who offered up so much time to help make Fairbairn great!

Thank you to all our Grade 12 players – Matrics of 2015 – you have been the cornerstone of Fairbairn Netball. We hope to see you all supporting next to the court in 2016!

MISTRESS IN CHARGE – MRS C SAAYMAN

Hockey

We have to start by saying thank you to all our managers and coaches, for the effort and hours they have put in throughout this season. All the players, from all the teams, are to be commended on their good spirit, work ethic and eagerness to learn.

A special thank you must go to Keasha Cook, Ghia Benting, Melissa Snyder and Mihlali Mvinjelwa who officiated as the scoreboard operators for our matches played on the astro.

Our teams performed admirably across all age groups. It was especially pleasing to see how competitive our teams were at our sports day against The Settlers High School.

Mr A Brink Head of Hockey

1ST BOYS’ HOCKEY

The end of each season is marked by saying goodbye to our Matrics. This year we say goodbye to the following six valuable Hockey players:

Jason Maneveld – 58 matches – Captain Michael Bota – 65 matches – Vice-captain Justin Vercuil – 65 matches Sean Weber – 64 matches Dylan Lawrence – 42 matches Jordan Cloete – 40 matches

Thank you for the hard work and passion that you brought to the Hockey field, and thank you for setting the perfect example to your teammates. It was a privilege and an honour to work with you and watch you develop into the gentlemen you are today. Good luck for the final exams! We will definitely miss you!

The 1st team produced an unbeaten season within our league. Our league results: Term 2: Westerford (1-1), Stellenberg (2-2), Bellville (4-3), (5-0), De Kuilen (1-0). Term 3: (2-0), Reddam House (4-1), (2-1) and (0-0). Not only did we manage to stay unbeaten, we went on to win the league and gain promotion to the Premier League. It is the first time in the history of the College that we have a Hockey team in the Premier League of the Province. Well done boys!

The results of the other matches played during the season do not do justice to the quality of Hockey we played. Although we lost to Premier League sides (SACS, , Fairmont, The Settlers and Edgemead), the team showed that they can hold their own against these strong Hockey schools. We started the season outside the Top 70 in the national rankings and ended the season ranked number 49 in the country.

Six of the players represented WP at Zonal level. We say congratulations to Darian Hector, Jason Maneveld, Justin Vercuil, Chesray Daniels, Stefan Karamanski and Mikhail Abrahams on this magnificent achievement.

The team would like to extend a big thank you to all our teachers, school friends and especially our parents for their loyal support throughout the season. We would also like to say thank you to our sponsor Mugg & Bean, City. A special thank you to Marysia Neethling, who sacrificed her Saturday mornings to video-record our matches.

See you all next season!

Mr A Brink Coach

1ST GIRLS’ HOCKEY

As the season draws to a close, the first girls’ Hockey team have lived up to the 2015 theme of “Fairbairn’s Pride.” We are indeed proud of these girls!

Under the leadership of Mr Standish (manager) and Samantha Solomons (coach) this has become an amazing team. They play a most exciting game of Hockey, which is a pleasure to watch from the side of any astro. Fast and skillful, with incredibly accurate passes has seen many a team look like beacons on the field as we pass the ball through their whole team. They spent many hours together training and became a true family.

At the end of the season, we are sitting 3rd in the league - an incredible feat that we are all very proud of. We are especially proud of our victory against Edgemead in our first ever Derby Day against them. We won the game 2–0 with Megan Patrick and Lauren van der Poel scoring goals.

Of course on a sad note we must say goodbye to our Matrics: Kerry Robison, Danielle Cloete, Laura Light, Lauren van der Poel, Alex Christians and Megan Patrick. Thank you ladies for your guidance and leadership in this team. Thank you for the hard work and many hours you give to make this team a family. Some of you have served this team for many years and we will have very big shoes to fill next year. We will all really miss you.

Special mention must be made of our goal keeper Andrea Goncalves who is the solid foundation from which we can build on. She has grown from strength to strength and she makes the most difficult saves look easy.

To Sammy, our coach, thank you for your skills and expertise, your love and passion for the game and the wisdom and knowledge that you so unselfishly share with our ladies. Thank you for the many hours of hard work and dedication you put into this team. Thank you for going that extra mile for us. We really do appreciate all that you do for us.

Martin Standish Manager

Chess

The Chess team won all their matches this year. This includes the league matches as well as the Derby Day match against Edgemead High School.

We would like to thank Duncan Maneveld and Ryan Golding for their dedication and contribution to the team and we wish them well for their Grade 12 November examination.

Well done to Taariq Mowzer who won all his matches in his first year in the team.

Ms N Qambela MISTRESS IN CHARGE – CHESS

Girls’ Squash

The girls’ 1st team had a very successful season, winning most of their matches. All four girls received scrolls for playing in the 1st team. They are Andrea Goncalves (captain), Razaaan Kamaldien, Jenny-Lee Williams and Catherine Redman. Dana Petersen stood in for a few matches when there were injuries and also received a scroll for Squash. Well done, girls.

I want to commend the girls (all three teams) who so willingly represented Fairbairn College proudly on the Squash court. It was never necessary to search for players, as someone was always more than eager to play. I look forward to the next season of Squash with the girls. We are also looking for new players, especially junior girls, to join our teams.

Mrs T Warrington MISTRESS IN CHARGE – GIRLS’ SQUASH

Boys’ Squash

This season has again been a very frustrating one for Squash. All our teams only managed to play 6 or 7 times the whole season. This was largely due to the Load Shedding we experienced.

Our 1st Team consisted of Leandro de Sousa, Talmeez Parker (Captain), Mahmood Parker, Ricardo Rebelo and Stefan Kalp. The team showed good spirit and sportsmanship and managed to win 3 out of their 5 games. Well done to Stefan Kalp for winning every match he played this season.

The 2nd Team consisted of Muazam Aziz (Captain), Matthew Petersen, Ulrich Kalp and Daniel Seith. The team won 3 of their 5 matches which was a big improvement on the second term.

This year we entered an U/15 Boys’ team. The Team consisted of Clint Wildschut (Captain), Christian Floris, Dane Gideon and Jesse Arendse. The team only played 4 matches and won 50% of their matches. They are improving every week, which bodes well for next year.

Mr A Erasmus MASTER IN CHARGE – BOYS’ SQUASH

Table Tennis

For the first time ever, Table Tennis was introduced at the start of this winter season. Due to popularity, preference was given to Grade 10 to Grade 12 learners.

An enthusiastic group started practising on brand new tables and soon an U/19 team was chosen.

The team played eight matches in total, including Derby Day matches against Fairmont and Edgemead High Schools. The team won six out of the eight matches, only losing the first two. Dawood Miller is still unbeaten.

The highlight of the first year was undoubtedly the rematch against Fairmont High School on the Derby Day. After losing our first match against them, the team fought back and beat Fairmont convincingly 13 – 8 in this Derby Day clash.

Ms D Oberholzer MISTRESS IN CHARGE – TABLE TENNIS

Interact

We are still collecting bread tags. We need 1 million tags to purchase a wheelchair.

Blanket drive: 22 blankets were donated by the learners. A huge thank you to Mr Mellett and his class for donating R540.00. This enabled us to purchase 11 blankets. Nine more blankets were purchased from donations from our learners. Thank you for the donation of change in your pockets on a weekly basis. Thank you to my Interact learners for diligently collecting these funds. The blankets were donated to the Ruyterwacht Community Centre. Bake sale: A profit of R1300. A heartfelt thank you to my Interact learners and their parents for the donation of cakes.

We are very proud of our new members who joined this term and are looking forward to new projects in the future.

We will dearly miss the Matrics who are leaving and who did us proud in the past five years. A special word of thanks to Aasha, Kirstin, Sabeeha and Meera.

We plan on painting the Night shelter in Cape Town and hope to find sponsorship of the paint from our parents.

Mrs A Steenekamp MISTRESS IN CHARGE - INTERACT

First Aid

Our First Aid team deserves to be thanked most especially for the vital service they render to all sportsmen and women at our school. They undergo training and spend hours in facilitating the sporting efforts of their peers and visiting opponents. They are known as “The Neon Green Brigade”.

Jessica Archer must be commended for her leadership and compassion as our team’s captain. We will miss all our Matrics and thank them for their dedication over the years. Thank you Zaahra Davids, Fazlyn Ryklief and Chloe de Kock. a compliment from outsiders –

“I would love to send a huge thanks and well done to your First Aid Team. By far the best medics that I have dealt with at school level and even at club rugby level. You guys should be really proud of the work put in by your Medical Team. The way in which they took care of both teams players was outstanding. Many schools can come and take notes of how it should be done.”

Ms G Correia MISTRESS IN CHARGE – FIRST AID

Music Department

The “Inspired Stages Workshop” held during the July school holidays was mentioned under the heading “We are proud of”.

Some feedback from the workshop:

“Inspired stages was an amazing experience……it really did inspire me” “We all learnt a lot and words can’t describe how awesome this event was.” “Every morning when we arrived there was a show to inspire all of us teenagers.” “With each performance, there was always a story how each performer achieved their goals in Music.” “I was scared that people were going to judge me, but instead, I had the most wonderful experience of Music ever.” “I will never forget the experience there.”

Our Music learners also took part in the Tygerberg Eisteddfod Solo Sections during this term. Those results are as follows:

Naimah Hassiem (Flute & Ensemble) 79%, 85%, 89% and 89% Shane Jacobs (Flute & Ensemble) 79%, 84%, 85% and 86% Sesethu Qonde (Ensemble) 79% Dominique Blight (Flute) 81%, 86% and 88% Brittany Jephtha (Vocal) 88% and 88% Michelle Pretorius (Piano) 80%, 84% and 88% Cindy Haupt (Saxophone) 87% and 89%

Wade Williams took part in the Kaapse Afrikaanse Eisteddfod and received a Merit + (75 – 76%) and Honours (80 – 84%) for his solo performances on the Trumpet.

We have also had a number of learners taking external Music exams and so far, we have received the following results:

Trinity College of London Cindy Haupt Grade 5 level Saxophone Merit (75 – 86%) Michelle Pretorius Grade 6 level Piano Distinction (87 – 100%)

UNISA Ghia Benting Grade 5 level Violin Passed (70%)

Well done to all these learners – we are very proud of you!

The Music Department was involved with two concerts this term, which were enjoyed by both the performers and audience.

The “Night of Talent” showcased many learners’ talents on stage including singing, dancing and musical performances. Many soloists took part, as well as the Orchestra and Jazz Combo. In addition, many of the Fairbairn College Staff also performed in this concert and this was appreciated by the jam-packed hall. Well done to all who participated in this very entertaining event.

A review that speaks for itself:

“My wife and I would like to place on record the absolute pride and joy we experienced to be part of the Fairbairnian Family at the ‘Night of Talent’ extravaganza. We were totally blown away by the sheer talent that the learners displayed. I am sure that the Idols SA judges and particularly Randal and Gareth, would have had a difficult time in sending our learners home. In fact they would all have made it through to the finals. The interaction and enthusiasm displayed by the audience and especially the learners is surely indicative of the appreciation and fervor with which they embraced this event. We hope this will be the beginning of an annual event that will leave a lasting legacy where latent talent is discovered, showcased and nurtured to become the future idols of South Africa.

What made this event an even more memorable one is the way in which the educators and especially the headmaster let their hair down to showcase their hidden talent.”

Our “Plea for Africa” Music Evening was also very successful and we received many compliments from the audience. Our Choir sang beautifully, accompanied by our Orchestra and the organ, played by Mr Grundling. Well done to Mr Botes and Mrs Bruwer on the Choir’s performance, as well as the many learners in the Choir and Orchestra who took part and performed so well on this occasion. The concert also featured some of our vocal soloists:- congratulations to Mr Swanepoel, Liam Smith, Brittany Jeptha and Clare Dublin. We were also privileged to have Mr Grundling perform some improvisations on the organ and he was accompanied on the timpani (kettle drums) by Mr Schalk Wasserman. All in all, this was a very special evening!

Mrs E Jurgens HEAD OF MUSIC

Choir

Term 3 is synonymous with the Choir performing at Fairbairn College’s Cultural Evening; an event that the College hosts annually if there are no productions. This year we decided to host our own concert which was held on 31 August in the CE de Wet Hall. The concert was named “Plea for Africa”. The programme included music from Africa and specifically South Africa. It was also an opportunity to reflect on the beautiful country we live in; in which so much praying is needed to heal our land. Special guest artists joined the stage with the Choir; namely the well- known South African organist, Winand Grundling and the Capetonian percussionist, Schalk Wasserman. For the first time the Choir was accompanied by our own school orchestra and wonderful South African music was performed by soloists: Liam Smith (Grade 10), Brittney Jephta (Grade 9) and Claire Dublin (Grade 9). It was indeed an evening to remember - a real “touch” of class which is synonymous with Fairbairn College.

It is with great sadness that we realise that we are heading to that time of year that our Grade 12 Choir members will soon be leaving the College Choir for their matriculation examinations and further studies. I wish the Grade 12 members well in preparation for their end of year examinations. Go live the spirit of Africa and remember the golden words, “Veritas et Integritas”.

Enjoy the well-deserved October holidays!

Please take note: Auditions for new Choir members will start at the beginning of the fourth term. Next choir performances: Junior and Senior Prize giving 2015; Valedictory Service 2015; Carol Service 2015.

Mr P Botes CHOIR DIRECTOR

Important dates in Term 4 [* = to be confirmed]

DAY DATE EVENT TIME Mon 12 October Start of Term 4 07:50 Boys’ hair inspection 07:50 Tue 13 October Junior Prize Giving 19:30 Wed 14 October Senior Prize Giving 19:30 Fri 16 October Valedictory Service 11:00 Mon 19 October Gr 12 External examinations commence 09:00 Tue 20 October Parent Teachers Meeting 17:00 to 19:00 Mon 26 October Grade 9 WCED Systemic tests 09:00 Thu 29 October Governing Body Meeting 18:00 Tue 03 November Boys’ hair inspection 07:50 Thu 05 November Parent Budget meeting 19:00 Thu 12* November Grades 8 – 11 examinations commence* Tue 17 November Boys’ hair inspection 07:50 Thu 19 November Governing Body Meeting 18:00 Fri 27 November Grades 8 – 11 examinations end 07:50 Grade 12 external examinations end Mon 30 November Return of scripts Wed 09 December End of Term 4 Reports handed out