ST
JOHN’S
PREPARATORY
SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
No. 6
27 May 2004
Dear Parents and Boys
We are now well into Trinity Term.
By now all boys should have settled
down into their new sporting and
cultural programmes. Herewith the
latest news…
CURRICULUM MATTERS:
Housemasters Weekend
The housemasters of The Prep held a
“Housemasters Bosberaad” on the
weekend of 22 to 23 May at
Kloofwaters.
The Role of the
Housemaster was discussed as well
as other issues concerning the
houses. A way of linking the Prep and
College house system was also
explored. It was a highly successful
and encouraging weekend.
C. McIlrath
Visual Dynamics: The Impact on
Reading
Three of our teachers (two from the PrePrep and one from the Pr ep) attended
this lecture on 12 May, by John Carey at
Bellavista.
John
Carey
is
a
Developmental Optometrist who has a
practice in Krugersdorp and also
lectures at RAU. It was a worthwhile and
informative evening, during which he
demonstrated the necessary visual skills
needed in order to comprehend visual
information and produce meaningful
output. These are eye movement, eye
focussing and eye teaming skills.
J. Arnold
SAALED Meeting: The Importance of
Literacy
South African Association for Learning
and Educational Difficulties held a
meeting at St Peter’s Prep School on 15
May. A good representation of our
teachers attended.
Topics included
“What is Literacy?” by Dr Anita Worrall
(Cape Town) and “The Dyslexic Child”
by Cynthia Horner (Bellavista). “Our”
speech therapists, Diane Irons and
Dana Altini gave talks on “The Writing
Process” and “Phonology and the
Alphabetic Principle.”
J. Arnold
Page 1
of
humour,
charm
and
encouragement to the contest.
As always, at events of this nature,
it is the children who come up
trumps, often effortlessly giving the
answers to some rather obscure
questions, leaving their parents both
proud and flabergasted.
Thanks go to our host Roedean
Junior, to the superb quizmasters
and all who helped.
Results
Bookaleidoscope
2004 Update
At Roedean, Founders Hall on the
the 12th and 13th May, the first
rounds of the Bookaleidoscope
quiz evening were contested by:
The Pink Panthers, Book Busters,
READ Party, (on Wednesday
evening) and by The Whomping
Willows,
Simply
Reds
and
VIRSYLS (on Thursday evening).
The teams battled it out in a
spirited and often competitive
atmosphere.
Karen Nelsen and Digby Ricci,
both of Roedean acting as the
respective quiz madam and
master for the evenings, each
added their own particular brand
12 May
Pink Panthers
Book Busters
READ Party
150
166
181
13 May
VIRSYLS
Whomping Willows
Simply Red
142
150
164
Please join us in Big School on
Thursday 3 June at 5:30pm for
our very exciting Final Quiz
Evening with lots of prizes to be
won and a celebrity quizmaster.
“It’s easy to make a buck, but hard to
make a difference.”
T. Brokan
Page 2
INdividual
ACHIEVEMENTS
SCIENCE OLYMPIAD
Congratulations to James Fenton
for achieving first place in the
Junior Science Olympiad and to
Alexander Rudd for achieving in
the top 10% of all candidates from
the various schools.
SCHOLARSHIPS:
Well done to the following boys
who won scholarships to St John’s
College next year:
HOCKEY:
Foundation:
Exhibition:
Exhibition:
Well done to William Whitecross
and Vincent Schaffler for being
selected to represent Central
District
hockey
team.
Congratulations are also extended
to Murray Workman and Adam
Duxbury.
Murray has been
selected as a reserve for the A side
and Adam has made the B side.
William, Vincent and Adam will be
taking part in further provincial
trials this weekend. We wish them
all the very best!
SOCCER:
KARTING:
SQUASH:
Well done to Chad van Beurden
who was awarded a trophy for 3rd
place at the Swartkops race on 22
May.
Brett Horne
Bart Ogonowski
James Williams
Congratulations to Potlako Borole,
Brendan
Pryke
and
William
Whitecross for making the Southern
Gauteng Soccer Squad. They will
play in the Bill Stewart Tournament
to be held in Pretoria, from 25 to 29
June 2004.
Well done to Chad van Beurden on
his U11A side who came second in
a recent soccer tournament.
Well done to Murray Workman who
has been selected to represent the
Southern Gauteng U13 Squash side
at the Inter-provincial to be held in
George from 30 June to 4 July 2004.
Page 3
GROUP
ACHIEVEMENTS
CHOIR:
Fifteen members of the Prep
Senior Choir joined the Schola
Cantorum
to
perform
with
international star Michael Dore at
Carnival City recently.
The
programme consisted mainly of
music from the shows. The choir
excelled,
performing
to
an
appreciative audience and received
wonderful
reviews.
We
congratulate these choristers for
being such wonderful ambassadors
to our school.
PREP SCHOOL SOCIAL
A huge thank you is extended to
the Upper III class Moms for
organising a ‘never to be forgotten’
social. To get a feeling of how the
boys enjoyed it, please read Boyz
Talk (page 4).
Please remember when
leaving the school
premises boys must be
dressed correctly, either in
a full tracksuit or in full
winter uniform.
Tracksuits may not be
worn to chapel on a
Thursday morning.
“You are not stuck where you are
unless you decide to be.”
W. Dyer
Page 4
latest tunes.
Boys and girls were
surreptitiously seated on multicoloured
bean bags in the corridors. Vodacom,
Cell C and MTN can thank our social for
the sudden rise of SMS’ received as
boys and girls shyly exchanged numbers.
BOYZ
TALK
The evening was not uneventful, as one
of the boys had an ear bleed and was
lapping up the attention, while being
surrounded by at least ten apologetic
female admirers. Fortunately there were
two doctors on call.
There were break-dancers, rappers and
dancing queens. The evening was the
most exciting event. All my friends were
happy and felt the same tinge of
excitement.
th
It was Saturday evening, the 15 May,
the highlight of our social calendar and
you guessed it, the long awaited Upper
III social!
The atmosphere was tangible and all the
St John’s boys arrived, most of us early
to survey the scene. We were met by
candles glowing in the dusk and the D &
T centre was transformed into a magical
setting with backdrops, lit up palm trees
and hundreds of helium balloons. There
were bag ladies, dads that were
bodyguards, people at the ticket sales,
stampers, the tuck shop ladies and an
electric atmosphere…
Soon, the girls started arriving in Pajero
loads. Never had I seen so many girls in
one night. They all arrived in different
colours, shapes and sizes.
The St
John’s boys too were decked out in
different outfits, markedly the pink shirts!
Anxious parents were peeping at the
door to see if all was well and I even
overheard one of the dads ask if he could
stay as the party looked so good. Then
the music started and soon everyone
was dancing with their friends to the
All too soon the evening had to come to
an end. All had to be cleared away and
tidied.
Special thanks to all the parents that
helped make this such a special night
and to Janet Landey for the loan of the
props and Mr Workman, Mr Macaulay
and Mr Janse van Rensburg for the loan
of the D & T centre. The evening was
for a purpose and we are donating
proceeds to the opening of a toy and
sports library at Masibambane College in
Orange Farm and the rest wi ll be used as
a school leavers’ gift.
All Upper III’s, if you have any ideas for
this gift to the school, please write them
out and place them in a box marked
“LEAVERS’ GIFT” in Mrs Herold’s office.
On Monday, as I sat in D & T and looked
around, I saw a string with a balloon that
had popped and it was hard to believe
that two days ago, in this very centre, our
social took place, but we have our
memories of this wonderful evening!
Until next time…
Bart Ogonowski
Page 5
SPORTS MATTERS
Soccer
Saturday, 22 May
St John’s vs Pridwin
2nds
3rds
4ths
U11B
U11C
U10B
Sharks
U9B
Wolves
Pros
Won
Won
Won
Won
Won
Lost
Drew
Lost
Won
Drew
2–0
3–1
6–1
2–1
4–0
3–0
0–0
2–1
1–0
1–1
Inter School Matches
Panthers vs Romans
Won
4–1
SJ United vs Cougars
Won
5–0
Bulls vs Strikers
Drew
Stars vs Chiefs
Drew
St John’s vs The Ridge
2nds
3rds
4ths
5ths
6ths
U11A
U11B
U11C
Panthers
U10A
U10B
Titans
Romans
U9A
U9B
Chiefs
Stars
Won
Drew
Won
Drew
Won
Won
Won
Won
Won
Won
Drew
Won
Won
Won
Drew
Lost
Won
1–0
1–1
3–0
0–0
4–0
2–0
3–0
4–0
4–0
2–0
0–0
2–1
2-0
2–0
1-1
2-1
3-0
Tuesday, 18 May
St John’s vs Hurleyvale
1sts
2nds
3rds
4ths
U11A
U11B
U10A
U10B
U9A
U9B
Drew
Drew
Drew
Won
Lost
Won
Won
Won
Won
Won
1–1
2–2
0–0
4–0
2–1
1–0
2–0
1–0
2–0
4-0
2–2
5–5
SJ Blues vs Titans
Won
4-2
Wednesday, 19 May
“Life is not measured by how many
breaths we take, but by the moments
that take our breath away.”
Unknown
Saturday, 15 May
Page 6
St John’s vs St David’s
1sts
2nds
3rds
4ths
5ths
6ths
Eagles
SJ United
Bulls
Strikers
U11A
U11B
U11C
Cougars
Panthers
U10A
U10B
Sharks
Romans
Titans
U9A
U9B
Stars
Wolves
Pros
Chiefs
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Drew
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Drew
Lost
Lost
Won
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Drew
Lost
Lost
Drew
Won
2–1
3–1
1–0
6–1
2–2
6–1
6–0
5–1
3–1
2–2
1–0
6–0
3–1
2–0
5–2
1–0
3–1
1-0
1–0
2–1
2–0
0–0
5–2
3–0
1–1
2–0
Wednesday, 12 May
St John’s vs Rembrant Park
1sts
2nds
3rds
4ths
U11A
U11B
U10A
U10B
U9A
U9B
Drew
Lost
Lost
Drew
Won
Won
Won
Drew
Won
Won
1–1
3–2
3–2
2–2
3–0
2–1
1–0
1–1
6–1
7–0
Cross Country
Monday, 17 May
Cross Country at St Benedict’s
UNDER 9
V. Pears
D. Maxton
K. Lion-Cachet
D. Ramushu
J. Laing
M. Stevenson
J. Berry
R. Graves
M. Tregoning
B. Rabie
B. van Staden
Position
32
34
36
42
46
52
61
72
78
80
93
UNDER 10
T. Macaulay
T. Pears
D. Fiser
N. Greeff
S. Bleloch
J. Cowper
P. Ontong
Position
9
33
35
39
42
66
72
UNDER 11
Position
Page 7
F. Pieterse
C. Grant
M. Trindade
T. Geffen
T. Bradfield
M. Delport
T. Martindale
K. McMillan
L. Buisson-Street
Z. Ncube
11
16
27
30
52
62
63
64
65
69
Tuesday, 25 May
St John’s vs KEPS, St Stithians
and St Mary’s
UNDER 12
R. Claven
J. Verhagen
B. Streeter
R. Goodlace
B. Dell
R. Chao
W. Marchant
L. Frewen
W. Ncube
J. Nevin
Position
3
11
20
24
27
38
51
63
72
78
Position
11
23
25
29
31
50
62
63
71
“Take time every day to do something silly.”
P. Wather
Squash
6
6
St John’s B
KEPS B
13
5
Saint’s Girls A
St John’s C
14
0
St John’s D
St Mary’s B
13
5
Tuesday, 18 May
OPEN
J. Woods
P. Cresswell
A. Rudd
M. Workman
W. Davies
J. Williams
A. Mackinnon
A. Laing
R. Rheeder
St John’s A
KEPS A
St John’s vs Cliffview and
St Peter’s
Cliffview A
St John’s A
14
2
Cliffview B
St John’s B
14
1
St John’s C
St Peter’s A
11
5
St John’s D
Cliffview C
11
5
Tennis
Page 8
Friday, 14 May
St John’s vs Pridwin
1sts
2nds
3rds
U11s
Won
Won
Won
Won
32 –
45 –
43 –
40 –
31
18
20
23
Chess
Tuesday, 18 May
St John’s vs St Andrew’s Junior
St John’s
St Andrew’s Junior
39
25
St John’s vs Trinity House
No show
“The true measure of a man is
how he treats someone who can
do him absolutely no good.”
S. Johnson
Please note that
the individual
photographs date
has changed to
Thursday,
17 June at 10h00
and not Tuesday,
15 June as noted
in the diary card.
Page 9
The Richest Man
A rich landowner named Carl often rode around his vast estate so he
could congratulate himself on his great wealth. One day, while riding
around his estate on his fav ourite horse, he saw Hans, an old tenant
farmer. Hans was sitting under a tree when Carl rode by.
Hans said, “I was just thanking God for my food.”
Carl protested, “If that is all I had to eat, I wouldn’t feel like giving
thanks.”
Hans replied, “God has given me everything I need, and I am thankful
for it.”
The old farmer added, “It is strange you should come by today
because I had a dream last night. In my dream a voice told me, ‘The
richest man in the valley will die tonight.’ I don’t know what it means,
but I thought I ought to tell you.”
Carl snorted, “Dreams are nonsense,” and galloped away, but he
could not forget Hans’ words: “The richest man in the valley will die
tonight.”
He was obviously the richest man in the valley, so he invited his doctor
to his house that evening. Carl told the doctor what Hans had said.
After a thorough examination, the doctor told the wealthy landowner,
“Carl, you are strong and healthy as a horse. There is no way you are
going to die tonight.”
Nevertheless, for assurance, the doctor stayed with Carl, and they
played cards through the night. The doctor left the next morning and
Carl apologised for becoming so upset over the old man’s dream.
About nine o’clock, a messenger arrived at Carl’s door. “What is it?”
Carl demanded.
The messenger explained, “It’s about old Hans. He died in his sleep
last night.”
Page 10
MICHAEL WORKMAN
HEADMASTER
Page 11