1

Merrifield’s Very Own Newspaper www.merrifieldschool.co.za 14 February 2019

From the Executive Head, Dr Guy Hartley

Over the next few months we are embarking on a mentored internal evaluation of our school. The

reason for the evaluation is two-fold. Firstly, Merrifield is a member of the Independent Schools

Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) and a condition of membership is that each school must

undergo a quality assurance check every six years. To this end, ISASA has appointed the independent

body, IQAA (the Independent Quality Assurance Agency), to assist with the running of the evaluation.

More importantly, though, the internal school evaluation is primarily about improving and developing

the teaching and learning at Merrifield to the highest possible standards. The process will help to

identify our strengths, as well as areas of concern, with strategies formulated to address the latter.

The school evaluation begins with a survey of the opinions of

three school constituencies: the parents/guardians, the

students and the staff. These forms will be optically scored

and analysed by IQAA and the analysis of opinions will assist

us in planning the rest of the evaluation. The questionnaires

will go live online from 25 February to 3 March and we would

greatly appreciate your heartfelt and honest input in order

for us to have a fair and valid picture of our school. We

thank you in anticipation for your involvement in what

promises to be an important and enhancing developmental

process for our school.

Love is in the air at Merrifield Prep School and College... Happy Valentine’s Day!

2

3

4

Pre-Primary Ballerinas

Grade 6s making Steady

Hand Games in Science &

Technology... learning about

simple circuits and

electricity.

Prep students are learning the wonderful art of knitting (above),

and students in the college have also taken up knitting to pass time (below).

5

Grade 5 Eco Club

working their

creative talents

and green

fingers.

Microscope work

for the Grade 10s.

The new prep woodwind band

learns to read music.

6

SWIMMING 11 February: Merrifield hosted a fun B-League gala at the Debbie Lacey Swimming Complex. Thank you to schools who par-ticipated and well done to our Merri swimmers. 1 February: Wet and rainy conditions did little to dampen the en-thusiasm of Merrifield College swimmers and spectators who gath-ered at the Debbie Lacey Swimming Complex on Friday, 1 February, to swim against each other or cheer on their team mates from opposing houses Aqila and Orion. Results: Best U14 Boy: Andrew Barnard; Runner up: Nathan Walk-er. Best U14 Girl: Sam Mouton; Runner up: Amy-Lee Drake. Best U15 Boy: Corbin de Villiers; Runner up: Robert Raats. Best U15 Girl: Megan Waechter (New record for IM); Runner up: Amy Swart. Best U16 Boy: Joshua Weppleman; Runner up: James Ford. Best U16 Girl: Pippa Sparg (Two new records); Runner up: Fatima Moola (New Butterfly record). Best Open Boy: Joshua Emslie (Four new records); Runner up: Luke Ansell. Best Open Girl: Erin Ramsay; Runner up: Jade Underwood. Victor Ludorum: Joshua Emslie; Runner up Victor Ludurom: Luke Ansell. Victrix Ludorum: Pippa Sparg; Runner up Victrix Ludorum: Megan Waechter. Winning House: Aquila.

TENNIS 8 Feb: U10 boys tennis lost to Hudson 4-2. U13 B vs Selborne B boys tennis: Merrifield lost 5 / 1. U15 boys vs Stirling: Merrifield won 5-1. 10 Feb: Joseph Townes won the Buffalo City Mini tennis tournament. 1 February: U10 tennis boys beat Stirling B 4-2. 2 February: The Merrifield Boys’ 1st team tournament was played in perfect conditions. Merrifield hosted Kingswood and Marlow from Cradock joining local sides from Grens, Selborne and Merrifield. The overall winners were 1. Selborne; 2. Marlow; 3. Merrifield. Merrifield results: vs Marlow lost 2-4; beat Kingswood 6-0 and Grens 6-0, before losing 0-6 to Selborne. 29 January: Congratulations to Lithabe Shweni and Qhawe Mbetshu for making the U13 EC team to play in the SA primary schools IPT in Bloemfontein. Calvin Richardson is the reserve for the U15 side. 30 January: Merrifield girls playing in the senior league at Cambridge beat them 6-0. Congratulations to Dylan Smith, Joseph Townes, Devina Pillay and Gizelle Swanepoel for winning their way into

being selected for the Border / Eastern Cape tennis teams. They will represent our prov-ince at the Interprovincial schools tournament in March. Devina Pillay won the Girls U16 Eastern Cape mini tennis tournament held in Grahamstown recently, beating her oppo-nents from Craddock, Port Elizabeth, Aliwal North and East London. Well done! GOLF 20 January: Heath Vallance took part in the Border Junior Golf Tournament (Novice Sec-tion) and placed 3rd for the day. The next leg of the tournament continues on 9 February at Fish River Sun and 10 February in Port Alfred. CRICKET 6 Feb: U15 cricket vs Lilyfontein at Beacon Bay Coun-

try Club. Merrifield batted first and scored 119 for 10. Lilyfontein batted next and were bowled all out for 111. Merrifield won by 8 runs. 7 Feb: Senior cricket vs Selborne 5th: Selborne won the toss and batted first, scoring 158 for 7 in 20 overs. Merrifield followed and were bowled all out for 100. Lost by 58 runs. 29 January: U15 cricket vs Stutt. They went in to bat and scored 145 in the allotted 20 overs. We followed on scoring 44 runs in 6 overs and the match was drawn due to lightning.

7

Sports cont…

WATERPOLO 7 Feb: Prep Waterpolo mixed team beat Clarendon U13B team 11-3. 9 Feb: Merrifield boys hosted Port Rex, Hudson and Cambridge at the Debbie Lacey Swimming Complex. Merrifield results: U14 vs Port Rex, Merrifield won 4-2; U15 vs Hudson Park, Merrifield won 7-2; vs Port Rex, Merrifield won 8-1; 2nds vs Port Rex, Merrifield won 6-2; vs Hudson Park, Merrifield won 4-1; and vs Cambridge, Merrifield won 13-0. Merrifield 1st vs Port Rex, Merri-field won 11-1; vs Hudson Park, Merrifield won 5-3. U14 polo from Jason Murray Tournament: vs Clarendon, Merrifield lost 0-8; vs Pearson, Merrifield lost 1-9; vs DSG, Merrifield lost 1-13; vs Kingswood, Merrifield lost 0-10; vs Stirling, Merrifield lost 2-8; vs Clarendon B, Merrifield won 2-1. First team girls girls waterpolo played in the Alex Road tournament and produced the following results: Merrifield vs St Dominic’s Priory, won 12-0; vs Alex Sharks, won 5-0; vs Collegiate 2nds, lost 0-5; vs Collegiate Colts, lost 0-6; vs York 2nds, won 3-1; vs Woodridge, lost 5-0; vs Outeniqua, won 5-4; vs DSG 2nds, lost 2-7; vs Herschel 2nds, won 4-1; vs Kingswood 2nds, lost 3-6.

HORSERIDING 8-10 Feb: Merrifield Prep and College riders took part in the Sanesa (South African National Equestrian Schools Association) evet at BEC Showgrounds. Congratulations to Rana Tolu, Sarah Dhoda, Samiha Dhoda, Leilah Du Plessis from Prep, and Simonique Rose, Erin Myburgh, Fathima Moola and Kristen Kaiser from the College on their respective achievements.

8

Thank you to all the sponsors who have made the

KFC Merrifield Mile possible:

9

Happy birthday to the following Merrifield staff and

students, from 26 January to 13 February:

Students: Blake Brown, Abel Telahun, Teia van

Rensburg, Jayden Ganda, Ryan Krummeck, Qhayiya

Madikane, Antonia Nannt, Jodi Nel, Inam Titus,

Iminathi Adonis, Rishen Govender, Mayibongwe

Pasiya, Michaela Webb, Luhlumile Ndwandwa, Asad

Zaman, Aerin du Preez, Daniel Emslie, Zane Moolman,

Yusuf Peer, Jessica Davies, Cooper Goliath, Sahana

Phillip, Louis Basin, Muhammad Peer, Sinokuhle Sibisi,

Lea Heyns, Madhia Shabih, Rebecca-Ann Walker, Jody

Harvey, Lilanga Mboniswa, Nicholas Gregoriou, Buhle

Daniel, Amy-Lee Drake, Sebastian Harris, James

Kumm, Shane Minty, Niccolo Beltrame, Mashudu

Moyo, Mthokozisi Nzuza, Amina Sany, Zizikazi Bidla, Emma Neethling, Yolo Sikuza, Vincent

Weppelman.

Staff: Debbie Lacey (26/1), Stella Gregoriou (27/1), Adele Waechter (1/2), Craig Giese (2/2), Una

Driver-Boon (7/2), Gill Howard (8/2) and Meghan Maconochie (8/2).

Special Mention: Sophia Denison-Brown, Grade 9, for receiving her Honours Award for Dancing.

At the end of 2018 Sophia Denison-Brown entered advanced AIDT dance exams in Modern Dance and

Tap. Sophia achieved results which were amongst the highest in the country. She received a Distinction

for her Modern Dance exam, attaining a result of 97%. Sophia also received a Distinction for her Tap

exam, attaining a result of 95%. Sophia is now eligible to do her Teacher’s exam in both these

disciplines.

Congratulations!