Reflections from the Rector’s Desk 25 August 2014 Dear Parents, Old Greys and Friends As we enter the 6th week of this busy term, allow me to reflect on some of the many and varied activities that have taken place – and also on some of the heart-sore and successes experienced by The Grey Family. At this time we also wish our Matrics of 2014 everything of the best as they prepare for their Trial Examinations which commence on Thursday 28 August. MR VAUGHAN JONES The Grey Family was devastated when hearing of the sudden passing of colleague, school master and friend, Mr Vaughan Jones – this on Tuesday 29 July while out surfing off Pollock Beach. Our sincere condolences are extended to Jill, Brynn, Rory, Murray and the extended family. The support and outpouring of affection from Parents, Old Greys and our Grey Men has been incredible – thank you, ALL. We are indeed a united, caring and very special Grey Family! ACADEMIC MATTERS Our important mid-year examinations progressed without any hitches – many thanks to Parents who made time to engage with staff at our Teacher-Parent Meetings held on Tuesday and Wednesday 22/23 July – this to discuss the academic and general progress of your sons. This is always a useful exercise for those parents who do attend. Grey High School College Drive, Mill Park, Port Elizabeth Tel: +27(0)41-374-3300 e-mail: [email protected] Private Bag X0002, GREENACRES, 6057 Fax: +27(0)41-373-1096 web site: http://www.greyhighschool.com Page 2 of 12 2014-08-25 TOP 10 IN EACH GRADE: Congratulations to our following Grey Men who have secured positions in The Top 10 in their respective Grades. A new ‘Top 10’ Honours Board has been placed in the corridor outside the staff room acknowledging the success of these candidates. GRADE 8 GRADE 9 1 Gerhard WOITHE 1 Robert SHELLARD 2 Douw STEENKAMP 2 Matthew ASH 3 Haris BHATTI 3 Anré ANVARI 4 Michael MARAIS 4 Omer SULTAN 5 Dylan DE LANGE 5 Keegan HULL 6 Adriaan BOUWER 6 Jarryd CUTHBERTSON 6 Matthew WOODS 7 Murray SCHEPERS 8 Matthew PHILLIPS 8 Russell HORN 8 Martin ELLIS 9 Jordan VAN DER BERG 10 Caleb LOYSON 10 Jaryd VAN DER WESTHUYSEN GRADE 10 GRADE 11 1 James KRIEL 1 Jason EVEZARD 2 Joshua VAN ZYL 2 Ruan BELLINGAN 3 Michael SMITH 3 Anthony ABRAHAMSON 4 Jonathan SOUTHWOOD 3 Gary KIBBLE 5 Murray BIGGS 5 Henthi HUISAMEN 6 Jan LE ROUX 6 Arno DU TOIT 7 Nicolas ADAM 7 Travis CLARKE 8 David MASTERSON 8 Stanley DAVENPORT 9 Rudolf OELOFSE 9 Stefan UNGERER 10 James ABREY 10 David BAKER EFFENDI GRADE 12 1 Nicholas AUDLEY 2 Johann VAN NIEKERK 3 Antin PHILLIPS 4 Joshua RUDMAN 5 Rohan KNOETZE 6 Prejlin NAIDU 7 Janan DE WELZIM 8 Juan SWART 9 Nathan HARRISON 10 Hampton VAN ROOYEN Reflections from the Rector’s Desk 2014-08-25 Page 3 of 12 ACADEMIC AWARDS The following awards were presented to deserving candidates during the course of this term – we congratulate them on their achievement: Half Colours - Grade 12: Kent Osborne, Tyron Mulder, Brad James, Chris Tripodis, Justin Smith, Daniel Merrington, André Stemmett, Athi Mayinje, Peter Carrington, Nic Carlisle. Colours - Grade 12: Alwyn Griebenow, Josh Gertenbach, Christian Fraser, Ben Yu, Devon Allers, Hampton van Rooyen, Ayabonga Chaga, Francois Ungerer, Matthew Shellard. Half Colours – Grade 11: Josh Parker, Jason Howarth, Josh Loyson, Tristan Comley, Kyle Hibbert, Ryan Burmeister, Ben Keeton, Nathan Starbuck, Joshua Newton, Ryan Holdstock, Dylan Phelps, Matthew Nom Chong, Stanley Davenport, Michael de Marco, Joshua Naidoo, Lee Stevens, David Rowley, Joshua Wiggill, Ross Anderson, Kofi Nyarko, Hein-Pierre Duvenhage, Hans Minnaar, Mvume Mdidimba, Kendal Wright, Pierre Stemmett , Caldwyn Lewis, Bryce Howarth, Reece van Oudtshoorn, David Baker- Effendi, Stephan Minnaar, Rory Clarke, Liam Roodt, Dean Rishworth, Theo Swart. Colours – Grade 11: Jason Evezard, Gary Kibble, Zalin Strydom, Stefan Ungerer, Ruan Bellingan, Henthi Huisamen, Hans Putziger, Anthony Abrahamson, Travis Clarke, Dylan Warwick, Arno du Toit, Michal du Plessis, Tiaan Coetzee. STAFFING Mr Ryan Laurie (Deputy Housemaster: Lang) is looking after the interests of the Lang Men in an acting capacity – for which we are very grateful. Mr Simon Sonderup (BA Hons with majors in English and History) has moved over to the English Department in a full-time capacity, while Mr Paul Blake (MA: History and Developmental Studies) has moved into the History Department. Mr Jason Bigara will be looking after the interests of our Squash Club, while Mrs Anneliese van Niekerk has taken charge of Surfing. Our condolences are extended to Mr Siya Denga on the recent passing of his mother. Mrs Ina Meaker and Mrs Mariette Schreuder are spending a few days in Reflections from the Rector’s Desk Page 4 of 12 2014-08-25 hospital while undergoing tests and we wish them everything of the best. Mrs Tilette Roelofse will be assisting us in the Afrikaans Department during their absence. CADET DAY AND RETREAT PARADE – TUESDAY 12 AUGUST A successful Cadet Day and Retreat Parade took place recently on the Pollock – many thanks to National President of our Old Greys, Mr Bryan Knox, for taking the ‘Salute’. Congratulations to our Cadets who certainly ‘raised the bar’ and performed an excellent Retreat Parade – this under the beady eye of Officer Commanding, Maj Steve van Niekerk, who is commended for all his arrangements. Full praise to Lt Anton Scholtz for commanding the parade and to SSO, Johann van Niekerk, and his Troops. Our Military Band was in ‘top-form’ – well done to Mr Shawn Lyon and his men. Congratulations to our newly- appointed rank bearers who were announced on the day. ‘LEGALLY BLONDE’ – COLLEGIATE MUSICAL: 12-16 AUGUST Congratulations to our Sister School and to all involved on their outstanding production of ‘Legally Blonde’ – take a well-deserved bow! We were particularly proud of a number of our Grey men who also appeared in the cast and who certainly delivered excellent performances! Well done! OLD GREY FELLOWSHIP – LONDON – WEDNESDAY 9 JULY It was an absolute pleasure and privilege, during the mid-year break, to meet with Old Greys in Wimbledon and to provide them with Grey News, while experiencing some good fellowship and camaraderie. I also thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity of meeting with the East London Old Greys on Friday 15 August – this in the Grens High School Pavilion. We will be meeting with our Johannesburg Branch on Thursday 4 September. MUSIC – COMBINED CONCERT WITH SELBORNE COLLEGE – THURSDAY 14 AUGUST This was an evening to be remembered – our annual combined Music Concert with our counterparts from Selborne College – and what a magnificent evening it turned out to be. Our Musicians – the Grey Voices, The Strings, the Wind Band and Orchestra – were all outstanding and one could not help but ‘swell’ with pride! Reflections from the Rector’s Desk 2014-08-25 Page 5 of 12 Congratulations to our Director of Music, Mr Shawn Lyon, our Music Staff and all Musicians – you continue to do us proud! Our men were also invited to take part in the annual Bands Festival hosted by Herbert Hurd – this on Saturday 23 August. Here, again, our Musicians completed the evening in great style, displaying to the young participating musicians, together with their parents, what can be achieved - a great PR exercise for The Grey! COKE AND QUAD RACES AND ‘BODA-DAYPOT’ FESTIVITIES – FRIDAY 22 AUGUST Great fun was experienced during the annual ‘Coke and Quad’ Races – thanks to all parents and friends for your support. The ‘Boda-Daypot’ clashes in Hockey and Rugby are always fiercely contested encounters and, this year, both ended in draws – certainly ensuring continued fine ‘harmony’ between our ‘Bodas’ and ‘Daypots’! Boarder Parents then assembled for their annual braai and fellowship outside Meriway House which was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance. EP REPRESENTATION – PROVINCIAL TOURNAMENTS A good number of our Grey men were selected to Provincial Teams to participate in Tournaments during the school holidays. Congratulations to them for being fine ambassadors for their School and for their Province. Our U14A EP Hockey side (7 Grey representatives), coached by Mr Greg Thomson, made it into the final at their Interprovincial final, where they went down to Western Province. We were particularly proud of our EP Craven Week Team in which Grey also had no fewer than 7 representatives. In the finals they emerged as worthy winners – this for the first time since 1977! Congratulations to Johann van Niekerk (Skipper) and his Team! 3 of our men were selected to the ‘Squad of 50’ and were invited to attended further trials in Gauteng – Keanu Vers, Curwin Bosch and Junior Pokomela were, subsequently, deservedly selected to the SA U18 squad. GREY HIGH vs GREY COLLEGE DERBY ENCOUNTER – 1 & 2 AUGUST Who will forget our recent Home Derby against Grey College? After a week which was an emotional ‘roller-coaster ride’ for The Grey, the weekend finished in great style with a 27-20 victory over our rivals from Reflections from the Rector’s Desk Page 6 of 12 2014-08-25 Bloemfontein. Added to this, were fine victories by our 2nds over their ‘Cherries’, together with good wins by our 15A’s and B’s. Our 1st Hockey X1 also secured a 3-2 victory with only 2 recorded losses in this sport for Grey High! Many thanks to Director of Sport, Mr Neil Bielby, and to so many who were involved in the organisation of this occasion. We enjoyed massive support with a huge crowd in attendance! We witnessed great displays of sheer commitment, character and determination. Our Cheerleaders certainly deserve praise – our Supporters’ Stand was spectacular! A great ‘touch’ was also Dr Russell Mitchell ‘piping’ our 1st XV onto the battlefield! FARMERS’ MARKET – FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 1-2 AUGUST Our ‘Boda’ Parents worked extremely hard in staging an even bigger and better Farmers’ Market than before – Mr Niekerk Ferreira, Mrs Ingrid Ferreira, all convenors and Parents are thanked and praised for embarking on this massive undertaking.