From the Deputy Head: Academics
Nick Clogg
Over this past weekend, my wife was lucky enough to run the Skukuza half-marathon while I diligently looked after the children – an early Women’s Day present! This event has a limited field and therefore, she was very excited about this race. Yet this sense of excitement was mixed with nervousness as she had not run a race since last year. At first the thought of running through our National Game Park seemed like a wonderful opportunity until it dawned upon some of the runners that they would literally be running in the wild. As a result many had made the obvious mental calculation: “hungry animal sees slow runner – possible ‘dinner’” – clearly a motivating factor not to be at the back of the filed! This was further compounded by the fact that as some were about to enter the Skukuza Camp early that morning, a leopard had jumped directly over the bonnet of one of the contestant’s cars. More alarm bells rang twenty five minutes into the race when it was announced that the Park’s helicopter had chased away another leopard, a rhinoceros and an elephant all of which were in the runners’ path! Fortunately, this news was only heard by those watching the race, not the runners themselves. This was the last ‘drama’ and by the end of the race, all runners had been accounted for.
Whilst watching the runners pass the finish line, it dawned upon me that all had achieved a remarkable goal in spite of some of the obstacles mentioned above. Indeed, this was really brought home to me when my mother-in-law finished the race in two hours and thirteen minutes. At the age of sixty, she had not run a half marathon in years, and yet, despite some of the above dangers, she was absolutely determined to complete this race no matter what. The delight and sense of achievement on her face when she crossed the finish line will remain etched in my mind forever.
All the boys have completed their examinations this week and for many, they will hopefully achieve their initial academic goals. This sense of achievement will be accompanied by a sense of delight and relief if their goals have been met. Yet it order to experience these emotions, the boys would have had to put in the necessary hours for learning; they would have had to endure the feeling of stress and unease; and they would have had to experience the emotion of ‘when will this come to an end?’ These are all obstacles they had to overcome in order to achieve their goals.
The parallel seems obvious: in both scenarios goals had been set and in order to achieve those goals, sacrifices had to be made. However, that ultimate feeling of having achieved the initial goals set, trumps all the ‘sweat and pain’ they had to endure. It is also amazing how quickly one forgets all that one had to endure in order to achieve these goals.
For the boys, however, it does not end here. In order to make the most of this examination experience, everyone must fully internalise where they may have gone wrong. This will be the order of the day next week. Examination papers will be handed out and the staff will be going through them carefully. It is absolutely vital that all the boys pay careful attention in class during this process, because this is when you will internalise where you may have gone wrong in the examination. Once you have internalised this, the next step is to go back to your notes, textbooks, files etc and re-learn those areas in which you realise your understanding may not be as good as you initially thought. This must be followed by a resetting of your goals. For the Matrics, the above steps are imperative because before they realise it, October will be upon us, they would have ‘left’ school and they will be writing the most important examinations of their lives to date. Therefore, during the short holiday which begins at the end of next week, all the Matric boys must spend some time during the day preparing themselves for their final high-stakes examinations.
Reflection
Father Chaka Motanyane
How Much
There once was a man named George Thomas, a pastor in a small New England town. One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit. Several eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak.
“I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me, swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the lad and asked, “What you got there son?”
“Just some old birds,” came the reply.
“What are you gonna do with them?” I asked.
“Take them home and have fun with them. I’m gonna tease them and pull out their feathers to make them fight. I’m gonna have a real good time.”
“But you’ll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?”
“Oh, I got some cats. They like birds. I’ll take ‘em to them.”
The pastor was silent for a moment. “How much do you want for those birds, son?”
“Huh??! Why, you don’t want them birds, mister. They’re just plain old field birds. They don’t sing – they ain’t even pretty!”
“How much?”
The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, “$10?”
The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy’s hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.
Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this story.
One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. “Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn’t resist. Got ‘em all!”
“What are you going to do with them?” Jesus asked.
“Oh, I’ll kill ‘em.”
“How much do you want for them?”
“Oh, you don’t want those people. They ain’t no good. Why, you’ll take them and they’ll just hate you. They’ll spit on you, curse you and kill you!! You don’t want those people!”
“How much?”
Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, “All your tears, and all your blood.”
Jesus paid the price.
The pastor picked up the cage, he opened the door and he walked from the pulpit.
THANK YOU JESUS. Not all of us hate you. Your loving children.
Grade 11 Confirmation Retreat
A reminder about the Grade 11 Confirmation Group Retreat on 19th August. We will leave the St David's at 8:00am and return at 15:30.
Sport & Cultural Activities
Sport Fixtures July 2010 (click here)
MOBS
All Marist Old Boys are invited to attend this event, if you are aware of any Marist Old Boy living in the UK please forward this invitation to them.
College Choir
IMPORTANT DATES – TERM 3(a & b) 2010
- Practice times are as per usual: Tuesday 17h00 – 18h00 and Friday 13h30 – 14h30.
- Some Tuesday practices may end at 18h30 – you will be informed at the previous rehearsal if this is the case.
- NB: There is a very important Choir practice on Monday 16 August from 13h30 – 15h00.
- NB: On Tuesday 14 September we are doing Choreography for ‘I Gotta Feelin’ – therefore our practice will be from 17h00 – 19h00 on this day.
- EVENTS:
Tuesday 21 September – Senior Schools’ Choir Festival – Linder Auditorium (19h00)
Thursday 30 September – Inter-House Music
Thursday 7 October – Combined concert with Kingsmead – Kingsmead College (18h00)
Thursday 14 October – St David’s Soiree
Friday 29 October – Valedictory Mass
Friday 5 November - Prizegiving
- ALL MATRICS ARE EXPECTED TO ATTEND ALL PRACTICES UP TO AND INCLUDING FRIDAY 5 NOVEMBER, AS YOU DO PERFORM WITH THE CHOIR AT VALEDICTORY AND PRIZEGIVING.
Found
A pair of Levi reading glasses and a packet of pens were found outside the Tuck shop. These items can be collected from Reception.
2011 Calendar
Term 1
Start: Wednesday 12 January
Close: Friday 8 April
Half term: 12h00 Thursday 24 February
Return to school: Tuesday 1 March
Public Holidays: Monday 21 March (Human Rights Day)
Term 2
Start: Wednesday 4 May
Close: Friday 5 August
Half term: Normal closing: Friday 1 July
Return to school: Monday 11 July
Public Holidays: Sunday 1 May (Workers’ Day)
Monday 2 May (Public Holiday)
Thursday 16 June (Youth Day)
Friday 17 June (No school)
Term 3
Start: Wednesday 7 September
Close: Friday 2 December
Half term: 12h00 Thursday 20 October
Return to school: Tuesday 25 October
Public Holiday: Saturday 24 September (Heritage Day)
Term 1 2012
Start date: Wednesday 11 January 2012
Sandton Route School Bus Service
in association with St Mary’s School, St John’s College,
St David’s Marist Inanda, Roedean School and King Edward VII School
2010 APPLICATIONS
1 Morning and 3 Afternoon buses!
Morning bus route: Kyalami, Sunninghill, Rivonia, River Club,
Parkmore, Sandhurst, Illovo, Waverley, Houghton, St John’s College
Afternoon bus route: Reverse of the morning route
including Gallo Manor and Wendywood,
excluding Sunninghill and Kyalami for the two early buses
Afternoon Buses
St John’s 2:15pm, 3:45pm and 5:15pm
St Mary’s 2:35pm, 4:05pm and 5:35pm
St David’s 2:45pm, 4:15pm and 5:45pm
Costs per term
Return: R3000 per term (R25.00 per trip)
Single: R2000 per term (R33.33 per trip)
Casual tickets available from the bus driver: R60 per trip
For Bus Timetables and Application Forms
www.stmarysschool.co.za/senior/content/blogsection/27/54/
Contact: Linda Kleyn (011 803 3678 (H) / 083 484 3488)
OR Terry Wharton-Hood (011 293 600 (W) / 083 256 2711)
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