KES Newsletter March 2011 - King Edward VII School

March 2011Dear Edwardian FamilyTerm 1 has drawn to a conclusion and has been a very positive period in many respects. It also marks sixyears of my term as Headmaster of King Edward.Despite things running fairly smoothly, there are a number of issues that need re-visiting such as TestWeek. The placement of this week directly after a busy sporting weekend meant that some boys haddifficulty in making adequate preparation for their tests. We need to re-think the timing of this academicassessment slot and plan carefully for 2012.We have been exceptionally busy this term and can boast some fine achievements. We are very proud ofour cricketers who have won three Johnny Waite Knockout finals at the close of the season and wemanaged to win our own Water Polo Festival for the first time in eleven years. There were a number ofoutstanding individual achievements recorded this season and we congratulate all sportsmen who haveachieved provincial and national selections. At the close of the summer sports season, a number of Coloursawards will be made to reward outstanding achievement.A reminder to all parents about our Easter Rugby and Hockey festival which will begin on Thursday 21 April.This will necessitate boarders leaving the boarding establishments on Wednesday 20 April to allow theaccommodation to be used for the visiting teams. Please note that on Thursday 21 April we will besuspending the normal academic programme but all staff will be on duty as usual. This festival is extremelyimportant for our School as it is a significant fund-raising opportunity. We thus invite all parents to supportus and simultaneously to enjoy first class entertainment. Please see our website for the fixture lists.Due to the number of public holidays in the week after Easter we applied to the GDE to close School on28 and 29 April. I am pleased to inform you that our request was approved. A constructive academicprogramme will be in place to catch up any academic time missed.A short ceremony was held this week to officially unveil a drinking fountain opposite the First Aid hut whichwas kindly donated by the 1956 group of Old Boys.Take time to enjoy your family during the April break. Travel safely and recharge ahead of the challenges ofTerm 2. Please note that we would appreciate parents assisting us in maintaining our dress and hairstandards by ensuring their sons return to School on 11 April neat and tidy.We say farewell to Mrs A Gallucci after 11 years of dedicated service. We are sad to see her go and wish herwell at her new school. Mr J le Roux has resigned to take up a position in commerce. We thank him for allhis effort especially in the Water Polo sphere and wish him all the best.Congratulations to Ms N Patel and Mr S Parseramen on their respective engagements.We have engaged the services of Mrs L Slooten to further improve our communication mediums with ourstakeholders. She will maintain the King Edward website and School Communicator.Our congratulations to the following boys:Academic AwardsGrade 12 : J J Brown, J J M McWha, K Setshogoe and B Wessels.

Medals (2010)Grade 10 :Grade 9 :Grade 8 :Top 10Grade 11 :Grade 10 :Grade 9 :Grade 8 :H D NaranV Y Coopoo, L May, J D Pretorius, L C Sargeant, S Sive and A Wadee.A A Abader, S A Baxter, J E Fourie and T Tsang.M R Bheeka, L D Zambetti, N P Tickle, R May, M J Heming, K Setshogoe, B Wessels,J J M McWha, J J Brown and E B Ka Makhaya.H D Naran, S J Rodrigo, S Gqibani, R C Grieves, E E Ohonba, A J Monahan, R Patel,T E Braithwaite, S N Sacoor and E D M Phera.V Y Coopoo, A Wadee, J D Pretorius, L May, S Sive, L C Sargeant, Y Akhalwaya, J Tuohy,D J Braithwaite and P K Ngulube.S M Baxter, J Fourie, T Tsang, A A Abader, D Nizetich, C W van Vuuren, H J van Jaarsveldt,R H Raad, V Govender and P K Makgobola.St J Hunter and M Sherrif were honoured at a recent GDE function for being among the top Matriculants inGauteng in the 2010 final exams.The Chess ‘A’ team was placed 3 rd in the 5-A-Side Tournament held at Parktown Boys’ High. M Bheeka,D Lee, N Burke, D Nizetich and St J Hunter were awarded a Certificate of Merit and a medal by the GautengSouth Chess Association. D Nizetich also won the trophy for best U16 player.T Marot has been elected the Johannesburg Student Council Mayor for 2011/2012Y Kalonji and M Dale have been elected as the new Johannesburg Junior Council representatives for2011/2012.The RCL Chairman for 2011 is K Setshogoe. The RCL members on the SGB are S Johnstone, K Setshogoe andK Grant-Smith.A Wadee and L Phatudi won the 1 st Moot Court final competition held in the Constitutional Court bytechnically beating 36 Schools and becoming the National Champions.Unfortunately the Dramatic production has been postponed to Term 2. This became necessary due toheavy commitments this term.The annual History General Knowledge Quiz was held on Tuesday and was well supported. M Jenner wonthe Junior Section and K Sonqishe won the Senior Section. Mr P du Plooy was the Staff winner,Mr C MacRoberts won the Old Boys’ section and Mr Cripwell was the winning parent.The first Blood Drive of the year netted 114 units.A number of Public Speaking events have yielded some very good results for the teams. D Phatudi won awell deserved A+ and high praise in the Elite Individual CompetitionR Gonsalves has been selected for the S A Junior World Cup training squad.J Stigant and R Raven will compete at the S A level 3 National Age Group Swimming Champs in Durban.D de Goede has been selected for the S A Triathlon Champs.E Despotakis has been chosen to play in an international football tournament in SpainP Neame has been selected for the SAICF squad at the 2011 Indoor Cricket Tournament to be held in NewZealand.C Ellis was selected to attend an U16 Baseball training camp in Cape Town.The 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd Cricket teams were all successful in winning their respective Johnny Waite Knockoutfinals.Water Polo provincial selections:U19A : A Watt-Pringle, D Mason and G Orchard - each came home with gold medalsU19B: A McKiverganU16A: M Marx, R McKenzie, M Watt-Pringle and C Brockschmidt.U16B: T Moloi. All U16 boys received gold medals.U15A: R Wise returned with a silver medal .The following athletes were selected to compete in the Gauteng Schools Athletics Champs:N Mbokazi, T Phukubye, T Motene, K Wright, S Shabalala, S Mayekiso, B Janse van Rensburg,T Matea,L Pooe, C Lourens, K Makhesha, M Nhlapo, B Naude and K Maphathe. N Mbokazi, T Phukubye andS Mayekiso will represent Gauteng at the National Schools Athletics Champs.