The school was abuzz with excitement this week when it was announced that Outward Bound for the Grade 7’s, 8’s and 9’s will take place this weekend. The event starts on Friday morning and the boys will spend the Friday and Saturday evenings in the Berg and return on Sunday.

INSIDE:

ABRSM AND TRINITY RESULTS

FULL STEAM AHEAD

CONCERT STATUS

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20/10/2017 I TERM 4 I NEWSLETTER

ISSUE

63

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank the School community for producing yet another great MiMs weekend. In particular, I would like to thank all the boys for their tremendous resilience, dedication and professionalism during the preparation and the event itself. We

GOODBYE TO STEVEN AND MELANIE…CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE HEAD

MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE HEAD

FULL STEAM AHEAD…CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

They should be back for lunch on Sunday. We are particularly pleased that a number of fathers of the Grade 9 group will be venturing on the hike with their sons. We trust that they will have an unforgettable experience. Appropriate supervision has been arranged for each of the groups and while we pray that it will not be needed, there are sufficient plans in place should an emergency arise.

It is very pleasing to see that many new boys are now achieving their Concert Status. Four boys were awarded Concert Status during the Thursday assembly and another four boys did their solo auditions yesterday afternoon. I have noticed that there is an eagerness amongst the new boys to get the Training Status behind them – rightfully so.

The arrangements for the Parent’s Weekend, which takes place from 3–5 November, was made available earlier this week and is attached to this edition of the Take Note. Most parents have already arranged appointments with the staff. However, parents can also communicate with staff by e-mail if there is a particular matter that you would like to bring to the attention of a staff member, or if you were not able to book a time slot which suits you. We are looking forward to welcoming our parents at the school.

This weekend will be the last weekend for parents to fetch their boys on a Saturday after their school commitments are completed. We are now entering that period where boys have to prepare for the examinations, and additional choir practice will be required in preparation for the Noël tours and the Christmas in the Berg Festival. It is not possible for the choir to rehearse if some members of the choir are absent. I thank you for your support and understanding in this regard.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Anton Redelinghuis

Anton Redelinghuis

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CONCERT STATUS

Stanley Horing Jonathan Frattaroli

Tiaan Esterhuizen Blessings Chiluba

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NEWS FROM THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT

CHOIR AWARDS FOR THIS PAST WEEK

COMMENDABLE PERFORMANCES

Armand Kriel

Sashin Rathinasamy

Seth Brown

Ntakaso Mbuli

Neo Ramalitse

Bandile Nzuza

Chisa Kaputu

Liam Muller

VOICE GROUP OF THE CONCERT:

SOPRANOS

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CHORISTERS OF THE CONCERT

Sihle Manonyane

SOLOISTS OF THE CONCERT

NEW BOYS OF THE WEEK

Bandile Nzuza

Matthew Tucker

Lukhanyo Zulu

Bokang Mmusi

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ABRSM PRACTICAL EXAMINATIONS 2017

Name Instrument Grade Result

STEPHEN BARNARD PIANO 05 M

ALEXANDER BRITS BASSOON 02 D

MICHAEL DE GOEDE PIANO 02 M

CHRISTOPHER DE SCALLY PIANO 04 M

OBAKHE DELUBOM SINGING 05 D

MATTHEW EVANS SINGING 05 D

MATTHEW EVANS PIANO 03 P

KIERAN GRIFFIN SINGING 03 D

KIERAN GRIFFIN DESCANT RECORDER 02 D

GEO KIRSTEN SINGING 03 D

GEO KIRSTEN PIANO 03 M

KYLE KROATS SINGING 05 D

KABO MADI SINGING 03 D

OKUHLE MADONDO PIANO 05 D

SAMKELO MDAKANE PIANO 01 M

ODIRILE MOKOMO TROMBONE 02 M

SEAN MORRICK SINGING 04 D

AYANDA NINELA DESCANT RECORDER 01 P

MMANGALISO PEPU SINGING 05 D

NEO RAMALITSE TRUMPET 02 P

SASHIN RATHINASAMY SINGING 03 D

SIPHESIHLE SIGWEBELA TROMBONE 03 M

SHELDON SPENCE SINGING 05 D

JOHANDRÉ VAN HEERDEN PIANO 03 D

KEANU VAN STADEN TROMBONE 02 M

D = Distinction M = Merit P = Pass

ABRSM RESULTS

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TRINITY RESULTS

Name Instrument Grade Result

STEPHEN BARNARD SINGING 06 M

ALEXANDER BRITS SINGING 04 M

NTSAKO LEKULA SINGING 06 D

SIHLE MANONYANE SINGING 06 M

LEFA MOTSHELE SINGING 06 D

LIAM MULLER SINGING 06 D

NATHANIEL STOFFELS SINGING 06 D

D = Distinction M = Merit

TRINITY PRACTICAL EXAMINATIONS 2017

In an effort to expand student knowledge and opportunity, Chef Bernard Krüger and I will be giving a few selected boys the chance to conduct the Concert Choir through one piece at a Wednesday concert. This week featured our DBCS Musical Leader, Stephen Barnard conducting "He Lives in You" from Broadway's The Lion King. We are proud of all of Stephen's accomplishments this year, including receiving Merits for both his piano and voice practical examinations. Stephen will be attending Hilton College next year and we look forward to keeping up with his future endeavours.

Kenny Kabak (Conductor)

DRAKIE CONDUCTORS

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NEWS FROM THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

GREY TROUSER DRIVE

Matthew Evans handing over the grey trousers donated by the parents of DBC to ………………………. A very BIG Thank you to you all.

Matthew Evans and Verna Ayliffe handing over the grey trousers donated by the parents of DBCS to Kwazamokuhle School’s staff members - Zenzile Nhanchen and Lindiwe Mkhize. Thank you to you all for supporting this worthy cause.

Verna Ayliffe

EMPTY MILK BOTTLES NEEDED

Please support us in collecting empty plastic milk bottles. Our target is to collect 1200 bottles. These bottles are then recycled and the school will be the proud owner of a recycled bench.

Drop of all bottles at the DBCS kitchen.

Your support will be appreciated.

Mikkie Enslin

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THIS IS HOW MUSIC CAN CHANGE YOUR BRAIN

By Melissa Locker

There's little doubt that learning to play a musical instrument is great for developing brains.

Science has shown that when children learn to play music, their brains begin to hear and process sounds that they couldn't otherwise hear. This helps them develop "neurophysiological distinction" between certain sounds that can aid in literacy, which can translate into improved academic results for kids.

Many parents probably read the above sentence and started mentally Google-ing child music classes in their local area. But if your kid doesn't like learning an instrument or doesn't actively engage in the class--opting to stare at the wall or doodle in a notebook instead of participating--he or she may not be getting all the benefits of those classes anyway.

Exercise Makes Kids’ Brains More Efficient

A new study from Northwestern University revealed that in order to fully reap the cognitive benefits of a music class, kids can't just sit there and let the sound of music wash over them. They have to be actively engaged in the music and participate in the class. "Even in a group of highly motivated students, small variations in music engagement — attendance and class participation — predicted the strength of neural processing after music training," said Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, in an email to TIME. She co-authored the study with Jane Hornickel, Dana L. Strait, Jessica Slater and Elaine Thompson of Northwestern University.

Additionally, the study showed that students who played instruments in class had more improved neural processing than the children who attended the music appreciation group. "We like to say that making music matters,'" said Kraus. "Because it is only through the active generation and manipulation of sound that music can rewire the brain."

Kraus, whose research appeared in Frontiers in Psychology, continued: "Our results support the importance of active experience and meaningful engagement with sound to stimulate changes in the brain." Active participation and meaningful engagement translate into children being highly involved in their musical training--these are the kids who had good attendance, who paid close attention in class, "and were the most on-task during their lesson," said Kraus.

To find these results, Kraus's team went straight to the source, hooking up strategically placed electrode wires on the students' heads to capture the brain's responses.

Kraus's team at Northwestern has teamed up with The Harmony Project, a community music program serving low-income children in Los Angeles, after Harmony's founder approached Kraus to provide scientific evidence behind the program's success with students.

According to The Harmony Project's website, since 2008, 93 percent of Harmony Project seniors have gone on to college, despite a dropout rate of 50 percent or more in their neighborhoods. It's a pretty impressive achievement and the Northwestern team designed a study to explore those striking numbers. That research, published in September in the Journal of Neuroscience, showed direct evidence that music training has a biological effect on children's developing nervous systems.

As a follow up, the team decided to test whether the level of engagement in that music training actually matters. Turns out, it really does. Researchers found that after two years, children who not only regularly attended music classes, but also actively participated in the class, showed larger improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers.

"It turns out that playing a musical instrument is important," Kraus said, differentiating her

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As to how to keep children interested in playing instruments, that's up to the parents. "I think parents should follow their intuitions with respect to keeping their children engaged," said Kraus. "Find the kind of music they love, good teachers, an instrument they'll like. Making music should be something that children enjoy and will want to keep doing for many years!"

With that in mind, it's not too late to trade in those Minecraft Legos, Frozen paraphernalia, XBox games and GoldieBlox presents that you may have purchased, and swap them out for music lessons for the kids in your life.

http://time.com/3634995/study-kids-engaged-music-class-for-benefits-northwestern/

Sean Morrick and Mr Keegan Bentley in action with their clarinets.

Alex Brits on the bassoon.

Odirile Mokoma on the trombone.

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Apologies to my loyal readership for the absence of Snippets in one or two recent editions of the Take Note. There are only about five of you so I don’t see it as a serious lapse. I suspect that even the Editor doesn’t read this drivel which – to be honest – is created entirely for my own amusement.

Yet another frenetic and interesting week has swept by. A highlight was the opportunity for DBCS staff to meet our new Executive Head. We’re impressed! And Mr. Brooks comes with an unusual set of skills for someone in his position – surfing and drumming included. The fact that he worked at his previous school for seventeen years also bodes well. Clearly he was much liked by the parents at that institution. We all know that it’s the parents that call the shots.

The boys have generally behaved themselves as far as health and injuries go. On Tuesday, an unfortunate collision on the academic block stairs resulted in a crunched foot. It is believed that excessive speed was a factor in the accident and an investigation is under way. Despite experiencing excruciating pain at the time of impact – it was a stomp and slide injury – the casualty’s recovery was quick. The other party escaped unscathed.

Huge excitement surrounded the departure of the Grade 7s, 8’s and 9’s on their Outward Bound expedition this morning. One always experiences a frisson of apprehension when the Grade 9’s set off. It’s not the boys that worry me, it’s their Dads. This year’s bunch appear reasonably fit, thank goodness, and (dare I say) they look in pretty good shape for men of their years.

Let’s hope that they return in a similar condition on Sunday. Tackling a gradient of 3:1 with a 15kg backpack isn’t quite the same as going to gym or for a jog in the suburbs.

Sister Lianne

SNIPPETS FROM THE SAN

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INTERNATIONAL CHOCHOLATE CUPCAKE DAY

It was a normal Tuesday, or so we thought. Until Mikkie Enslin surprised the staff and boys with chocolate cupcakes and we were told that it was International Chocolate Cupcake Day.

No one complained and everyone rejoiced in celebrating this newfound information. Everyone could not wait to consume these scrumptious treats.

Mikkie Enslin with the decadent chocolate cupcakes.

Wednesdays are not just about the Drakies’ performance - the treats are divine as well!

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NOëL AND CiB FINAL PREPARATIONS

With Noёl and CiB preparations well on the way I would just like to remind parents of a few things. Please remember to purchase the new shirts for the upcoming tour - they are available from the clothing store on a Tuesday and Thursday from Mrs Du Randt as well as over Parent’s Weekend. We have also managed to get some passport covers which will also be available from the clothing store for those traveling to Zimbabwe. These are very nice and add some protection to hold the passport in. We will be selling them for R15 each. I would encourage parents to purchase one for your child’s passport.

Also a reminder about the Thule bags - for boys who do not have one and would like one please contact Gregg on hiscock@vwsa.co.za or WhatsApp 0825534946.

If there are any Grade 9 parents that do not have tickets for the Noёl Gala Concert on Sunday, please contact me urgently so we can try make a plan for you. There is much excitement building for the end of year and I look forward to seeing you all soon. Watch this space for tour dates and schedules. Have a wonderful week ahead.

Tanya Hildebrand

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OUTWARD BOUND

The Grade 9 boys and their brave fathers getting ready to face the traditional Grade 9 hike to the top of Champagne Castle.

Luke Gallant and Okuhle Madondo

The Grade 7 boys ready and eager to start their hike.

Anthony Malunga

The Grade 8 boys ready for adventure!

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEDNESDAY’S CONCERT

Ntando Ngcobo and Daniel van Jaarsveld

Damien Butt enjoying every moment on stage.

Kabo Madi giving it his all.

Devon Williams enjoying the final applause.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Henno Klopper

22 October

Obakhe Delubom

23 October

Samkelo Mdakane

25 October

Richard Hildebrand

27 October

Andre̕ Wears-Taylor

28 October

DATE EVENT TIME

20 October Staff Briefing 10:20

21 October Academics 08:00-12:00

22 October Chapel

SCA

10:00-11:00

18:00

23 October Staff Briefing

Assembly

Prefects Tea

07:20

07:25

10:40

25 October Wednesday Concert 15:30

26 October Assembly 10:05

27 October SCA

Legacy Project: Music Workshops

Staff Briefing

09:00

10:20

28 October Choir 08:00-12:00

29 October IMC Rehearsal

Chapel

SCA

10:00-11:00

18:00

Calendar 20 October – 29 October 2017

DRAKENSBERG BOYS CHOIR SCHOOL

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