Westerford Newsletter 18 (31 May 2018) WESTERFORD HIGH SCHOOL Newsletter 18 31 May 2018 EXCURSIONS, TOURS, EXCHANGES AND EXPEDITIONS OFFERED TO OUR PUPILS AT WESTERFORD Unfortunately, in last week’s edition, the more established of our two trips to the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape was omitted. We apologise to the excursion organiser, Mr Dugmore, and all those interested in what is a wonderful, and in many ways potentially life-transforming opportunity. The information follows: TRANSKEI HIKE Purpose of the hike: The purpose of the hike is to provide pupils studying isiXhosa with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the Language and Culture as they walk through the rural Eastern Cape for six days. Pupils are also introduced to the work being done in Health and Education in the Zithulele area where Westerford has an active link with a number of Old Westerfordians. To which grade and / or subject is the tour offered? In the early days the trip included a combination of Grade 10 and Grade 11 Xhosa SAL (Second Additional Language) pupils. Due to its popularity, the trip is currently offered only to Grade 11 Xhosa SAL pupils. How frequently is the hike offered? This hike is usually offered annually during the September / October holidays. (2018 will be the 18th tour) Is the organisation of the tour undertaken by a Westerford TIC (Teacher-in-Charge), or an 'outside entity'? The organisation and planning is done by Westerford teacher, Mr Dugmore, Head of isiXhosa. 1 Westerford Newsletter 18 (31 May 2018) WESTERFORD HIGH SCHOOL GLORIOUS RAIN Oliver Twist sings “Food, Glorious, Food!” in the musical of that name. We’ve been singing, “Rain, Glorious, Rain!” this past week. Glorious, wonderful, marvelous rain. And lots of it. Why it has not rained for so long has been the part of many a discussion. Scientists, meteorologists, environmentalists … lots of well-read, knowledgeable people have wondered just where the rain has gone, and why it has been gone so long. Well, Naomi Fokkens, knows; she knew, and her exam essay – printed below – on the topic ‘Rain’, may well explain just why …we’ve had so little rain, for such a very long time We thank, Naomi. Her words, penned in that exam on Monday 14 May, were clearly spot-on, and her apology accepted. Dear Rain I remember the days where we as children would sing a certain song as you started to fall. The words went something like, “Rain, Rain, go away, come again another day.” I never believed I could regret singing those words this much. Yes, we did repeatedly ask you to leave as soon as you came to pay a visit. I understand how that could be taken the wrong way, and I apologise for that. It’s not that we meant it, more that your timing always seemed to be slightly inconvenient. I’m not trying to make excuses for the way that we treated you and for the way we became frustrated the moment you showed. It was wrong of us, and we are now feeling the heavy consequences of our actions. I hope you can understand our reasoning for how we acted. Although we love and appreciate you very much, your presence demanded our full attention and would often have a significant effect on how we planned our day due to the fact that you often used to arrive without warning. Your decision to stop dropping in is not unreasonable, as we have taken advantage of the benefits you gave us. We have not been grateful for your love and for the gifts you so generously gave. If someone had treated me how we treated you, I would be acting in the same way. We see glimpses of you as you pass by to see your new friends, and those glimpses mean more to us than you can imagine. I know for myself that whenever I see you come past I run out to greet you the moment I have the chance. Usually, by the time I’ve stepped outside, you have already passed. We are trying to save the remnants of your last short visits so that we will never truly lose you. Without you, our life is dry and a struggle to survive. I know there are some people who still speak of you badly even as you speed past but there will always be those people. Please don’t let those people be the reason you don’t come back to us permanently. We never did truly appreciate you and your generosity. I will never be able to justify why we did what we did. All I can do is apologise and promise to change. We love you, we miss you and we will appreciate you. We are never going to be able to take back our actions but we hope you can forgive us. Today is the “another day” from our childhood song. Please come back to us. With all the apologies our hearts can give The Thirsty People of Cape Town Naomi Fokkens, Grade 11 2 Westerford Newsletter 18 (31 May 2018) WESTERFORD HIGH SCHOOL CONGRAUTLATIONS! Luke Eberhard, Grade 9, has just been selected to represent South Africa as a Protea in the World Youth Climbing competition, which will take place in Moscow in August this year. Oscar Duys, Grade 9, has been selected to the team to go to the Optimist Sailing African Championships in Mozambique later this year. Donnè Hooper, Grade 11, was privileged to be invited to the Cell C Bring a Girl Child to Work on Thursday 24 May, as part of their woman empowerment programme. The girls were then taken to Parliament and received special passes to sit in a meeting with President Ramaposa. Donné described him as a humble and gentle man. She was most impressed that the President took time out of his busy schedule to have individual photos taken with the group of girls. Donnè was one of four girls to be lucky enough to receive an iPad. All the girls received certificates from Cell C and Minister Dlamini for participating in the women empowerment programme. Donné says it was truly an honour to represent Westerford. #JUSTMEN, #IWILL CAMPAIGN - YOUTH DAY, 2018 The Prefects at Westerford have been in discussion as to how we as a school could most appropriately commemorate Youth Day (16 June) this year. The discussion gave us an opportunity to reflect on the extraordinary courage, conviction and influential power of the youth of 1976 which enabled them to individually and collectively take on what seemed at the time a monolithic Apartheid State. Our male pupil leaders driving the #JustMen #IWill campaign It is the individual and collective conviction and force of the youth of 1976 which we want to draw inspiration from in 2018. We as male pupil leaders individually and collectively acknowledged the ‘gift’ to our conscience of the #MeToo campaign, which has seen women breaking the silence on sexual harassment and assault. What are we doing about it, and whatever we are doing is it enough? It is these questions we will be addressing through individual and collective conviction and agency in the build-up to 16 June 2018. As men we stand up to take responsibility for this monolithic scourge in our society, and pledge to contribute to transforming our society into a safer and healthier environment #IWill. We are communicating this intent to our male parents and fellow Old Westerfordians, calling on your support for the initiative. As part of this campaign, all the boys in our school and male teachers will be encouraged to take part in a march from Westerford High School on Friday 15 June. We will congregate in the Noel Taylor Hall from 13:00 and depart at 13:30. We will walk down Main Road to the Baxter Theatre. On arrival at the Baxter Theatre we will all attend a special performance of the production #JustMen. This production asks men to stand together in the fight against the abuse of women and children. Some of the language in the production is ‘robust’ and so if any parent would prefer their son not to watch the play itself, their son can leave when we arrive at the Baxter Theatre. We call on any male parent or Old Westerfordian who has the time on 15 June to join us for the march and performance. If you are able to join us for the march we encourage you to proudly wear identifiable Westerford colours. The cost of the performance of #JustMen will be R60 per person. Each of the male Class Representatives will be assigned the task to collect in the money from the boys in their respective classes. EFT payments can also be made to the school (using the reference your child’s name and #JustMen). We do not want any boy excluded due to the cost of the ticket and sponsorship will be provided to those unable to pay (please direct any such requests to Mr Anderson at [email protected]). 3 Westerford Newsletter 18 (31 May 2018) WESTERFORD HIGH SCHOOL MATRIC INVIGILATORS FOR MOCKS AND FINALS We are looking for additional invigilators for the Matric September Mock and October/November final exams. The invigilator must not have a child in Matric and must be between 25 and 65 years old. There is a small stipend allocated. There are afternoon exams but one is able to choose one’s invigilation days within reason. All invigilators need to be punctual, alert and able to be on their feet for the full time allocated to each exam.