St Andrew's College, Grahamstown
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St Andrew’s COLLEGE Newsletter | Friday 30 September 2016 Term 3 #4 Athletes participating in a relay event at the Hirsch, Edwards and Gunn Shield Athletics Championships To the Andrean Community The human survival instinct is a most powerful thing. As a dying man clings to the spark of life against seemingly overwhelming odds, so too the last vestiges of winter oppress the Grahamstown air in defiance of the spring blossoms and bursting greens everywhere. Except for last Saturday, that is. For Saturday dawned as perfect a spring day as is possible. The air clear and filled with morning optimism, gently massaged by a warm sun and the gentlest of breezes. When the weather is good in Grahamstown, I have discovered, it is idyllic. Lower field beamed its green-ness and exuded the energy of gentle anticipation as athletes prepared and officials fussed about ahead of the start of the 2016 Hirsch Shield athletics tournament. In a world filled with more glamorous sports, and where winter and summer sports seasons march mercilessly together squeezing the athletics season in a suffocating grip, it may be argued that things like the Hirsch Shield are relics of the past, no longer compelling enough to hold our 90 minute concentration spans and not as important as the ‘proper’ sports. Nothing could be further from the truth. The day was an absolute showpiece of athletic competition, where the sport was outstanding but the atmosphere sublime. A truly diverse range of Eastern Cape schools came together in a celebration of NEC ASPERA TERRENT Ross Ferguson in the open long jump sport and true sportsmanship. The competition was fierce, but the pseudo rivalries pleasantly absent. Mr Sammy Gunn, doyen of the Hirsch Shield summed things up perfectly – “This is as good as it gets.” It is days like this that make me realise the true honour of working in a school environment. For while many grapple with some really pressing real life contemporary issues we get a glimpse of the characters that will form the future, and an opportunity to work with them in its shaping. As I looked out over Lower (admittedly, at an incomplete cross section of that future), I had a very real sense that, although we live in fractious times, we are reaping today at a macro-political level the consequences of the past. I have seen the future, though, and it is very bright indeed! We have good people here working hard and in good faith with each other. By awakening our mind-space and having courageous conversations with each other we have all that we need to ensure that our beloved College thrives and flourishes in the future as an example of true brotherhood. “I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. As long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late to do some good”. Maya Angelou God Bless Alan Thompson [email protected] NEC ASPERA TERRENT From left to right: Mr Chris Holliday, Director of Rowing, Mr James Thompson, third generation OA and Olympic Rower, Mr Alan Thompson, Headmaster and Mr Jake Green fourth generation OA and Olympic Rower. Jake is wearing his great grandfather, Hope Milton Green’s Rugby Colours blazer from 1931 Olympic rowers visit College St Andrew’s College was honoured to host Old Andreans, James Thompson (Upper 2005) and Jake Green (Merriman 2012) this week. They addressed the pupils at assembly on Tuesday to share the story of their experiences and journey to becoming Olympic rowers. James Thompson is the most decorated South African rower and he told the boys how the dream was to get a back-to-back Gold at the Olympics after winning gold in the lightweight men’s coxless four in 2012 in London. He said that to lose the biggest race this year was hardest to stomach but that life is a journey, you are the journey and that one must enjoy each moment of each step. Four years ago Jake Green was a Matric pupil at College and he spoke of his experience in reaching his dream of participating in the Olympics. He rowed in the 2016 Olympics in James Thompson enjoys a bit of rowing in the ergo room Rio earlier this year. The SA team finished in fourth place. Jake said that after his Olympic experience he is filled with a hunger and self-belief that he can become the best in the world. “You must take confidence in the experiences that you go through, St Andrew’s is a school of champions, and it is reflected in our motto,‘Nec Aspera Terrent’.” They encouraged the boys to dream big and that maybe one day one of them would be visiting College to share their journey with the next generation of Andreans. NEC ASPERA TERRENT St Andrew’s COLLEGE Newsletter 30 September 2016 SA Maths Olympiad The South African Mathematics Olympiad is the biggest Olympiad in the country, with more than 85 000 pupils participating this year. At a recent provincial awards ceremony it was announced that the top second round performers in the Eastern Cape were both from College - Michael Velloza in the junior category and Nic Kroon in the senior category. The top 100 juniors and top 100 seniors from Round 2 took part in the gruelling final round. Alex Pezarro joined Michael and Nic as the third College boy in this elite group. Nic is no stranger to the final round of the Olympiad having received a silver medal for placing in the top 10 every year since he was Nic Kroon the overall winner of the senior category of the 2016 SA in Grade 8. This year things turned out slightly Maths Olympiad differently. At the SA Maths Foundation’s annual awards banquet held in Johannesburg last weekend, it was announced that Nic Kroon was the overall winner in the senior category of the 2016 SA Maths Olympiad. This is a staggering achievement and to take top honours in his final year at College is a fitting finale to Nic’s extraordinary mathematical journey. In addition to a gold medal, the first place prize included a new iPad and R10 000 in cash. Michael Velloza and Nic Kroon at the SAMO Provincial awards ceremony NEC ASPERA TERRENT College pupils accessing the Overdrive digital library with the assistance of librarian Mrs Vuyokazi Jamieson Cawse Library introduces new digital library Enjoy eBooks, Anytime, Anywhere Enjoy popular titles from the comfort of home On Friday, 23 September 2016, St Andrew’s College, Cawse Library introduced an Overdrive digital library, packed with best-selling and classic eBooks, accessible 24/7 from the library’s digital collection. The catalogue is shared between College and DSG. To get started visit: http://sacdsg.lib.overdrive.com Our booklovers may browse the collection, borrow titles and start reading or listening on all major computers and devices, including iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets. Many borrowed eBooks, audiobooks and more can be enjoyed immediately in your web browser. Titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period. Finally, there are College librarian Mrs Vuyokazi Jamieson no late fees! together with Mr Roy Hobson, Head of IT introduced the digital library to the pupils “Hopefully, with the implementation of the iPad programme in the school, the digital library will encourage kids to read more because they carry the library in their pocket wherever they are, they will even take it home during school holidays. Finally, the books will not be lost or damaged”. said Ms Libi, Assistant Librarian. With a wide variety of popular titles to choose from, this new collection is guaranteed to have something for everyone. Users can enjoy best-sellers and classic literature, stories for teens, and much more anytime, anywhere. This new service, powered by OverDrive, is free to our boys. NEC ASPERA TERRENT St Andrew’s COLLEGE Newsletter 30 September 2016 CEMA Awards September 2016 MERIT AWARDS: COLOURS AWARDS: Chamber Choir Merit: Service Merit: Music Colours: Timothy Bloem Timothy Bloem Timothy MacWilliams Kelvin Boateng-Aidoo Andrew Joubert Zuko Yaka Jacques Hoefnagels Timothy MacWilliams Thando Mseleku Zadok Makani Chamber Choir Colours: Sazi Sandi Guto Ocharo Zuko Yaka - Music Chapel Choir Merit: Michael Purchase Colours Cameron Chadwick Robert Quarmby Community Engagement James MacRobert Sazi Sandi Colours: Buhle Matshaya Zak Schlebusch Conlan Worrall James Ovendale Thomas Wait Alexander Pezzaro Gabriel Walsh Pipe Band Colours: Timothy Simpson Rorke Wilson Sachin May Conlan Worrall Community Engagement Zuko Yaka Service Colours: Merit: Francis Christie Guto Ocharo Jonathan Campbell Sazi Sandi - Chamber Zak Schlebusch Conlan Worrall Choir Colours Music Merit: Kieron Baart Daniel Coward Pipe Band Merit: Aaron Adrian Rorke Wilson Guto Ocharo - Service Colours Parent-Teacher Meeting To accommodate the large number of parents who come to the Parent-Teacher meeting during Balloon Week, we have extended the time allocated by an hour. Meetings with teachers will take place in the Centenary Hall, Arthur Cotton Design and Technology Centre and the Drill Hall at St Andrew’s College and can be arranged from 09h00 on Tuesday 11 October 2016. We ask that as far as possible, parents whose children’s surnames begin with the letters A – L make bookings from 09h00 to 11h00, and those with the letters M – Z make bookings between 11h00 and 13h00. It is hoped that this system will allow you to see all your daughter’s teachers within two hours, rather than having bookings spread over four hours. Further, we ask parents who are resident in Grahamstown to please make online bookings to see teachers a week later (after half-term) on Tuesday 18 October from 17h00 to 18h00 at DSG.