newsletter 1 - easter term - 2013

7/29/2019 Newsletter 1 - Easter Term - 2013

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NEWSLETTER

EASTER TERM No 1/2013

Dear Parents

I congratulate our 2012 Matriculants and A-Level candidates on excellentexam results. We remain the top boys school on academic results, which ispleasing. I also take this opportunity to thank our teachers who workextremely hard to prepare your boys and girls for these exams.

2013 opened with a full school and good numbers in boarding. We still havesome spare capacity in boarding, so if your son is interested, speak to MrsPat Schaerer, or one of the boarding housemasters. We have four boardinghouses, Nash, Hill, Clayton, and Hodgson. There are a total of 231 boys andgirls in boarding, including the 6th Form, Runge House.

Recently I was reading an article from Christ Church Grammar School inPerth, regarding their pedagogy. I was struck by how much it reflected whathappens at St Johns, and recognised that the DNAofboys schools is very similar across the continents.

Catering for individual differences

At St Johns College we cater for individual differences. Research shows that boys do not learn uni-

dimensionally. At St Johns we encourage teachers to know and love their students and to help them tolearn in the best way they can. Individual differences in learning styles can be catered for by providing arange of ways for boys to learn a subject. For example through a combination of reading, annotateddiagrams, video, research, group work, collaboration, teaching to others, and testing, more areas of thebrain are engaged, optimising their learning. This is a learner centred teaching approach.

Provide structure and feedback

Another boy friendly teaching approach is to provide structure and feedback. Providing structure andfeedback is core to motivating boys in the classroom. Structured lessons with clear objectives,expectations and task stages, are a key part of forming a safe learning environment. Boys needboundaries to thrive. Boys will push boundaries, and they need to know that they are fixed, that is why it is

essential to deliver on the consequences that boys expect from stepping over those boundaries.

Providing feedback is also integral to creating a safe learning environment. Encouraging questioning,asking the right questions, leading students to their own answers and providing affirming and constructivefeedback allows boys to have a sense of security and freedom to be themselves. This structure andfeedback, dressed in a good dose of teachers being fair, firm and funny, are key to reaching boys.

Enhancing personal bests

Flowing on from the role that structure and feedback plays in motivating boys is the need to discover andenhance a boysstrengths and abilities. Expecting high standards, stretching boys abilities, setting goalsand coaching boys to persevere, are key to achieving this. As a close score at half time serves to motivate

the losing team to win the game, having an achievable goal that is in reach and setting tasks at the rightlevel too low or too high, they will be bored or give up. Encouraging healthy competition between the boysin the classroom is also important in making the personal quest to achieving excellence a fun experience.


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Motivating teachers to become life-long learners

St Johns College recognises that the culture of learning for teachers needs to be aspirational. We workwith teachers to set realistic goals and focus areas for development. We also promote a culture of life-longlearning and provide on-going support for teachers to accommodate professional development and growthin their busy schedules. Teachers are encouraged to challenge themselves as they challenge theirstudents to learn and grow. We have a fantastically skilled set of staff and there are abundant opportunitiesfor professional dialogue, to learn from each other and gain peer support.

How parents can motivate their boys to learn

As boys enter their pre-adolescent and teenage years, a parents role shifts from nurturing the boy tonurturing the man he will become. Setting boundaries, letting boys experience the consequences of theiractions and giving boys greater responsibility are key to engaging the adult within the boy. It is aboutsupporting boys to be self-directed and meet their responsibilities. As parents, being available and presentand reminding boys of their future goals to see them through those times when they are feelingunmotivated helps boys navigate through the transition to manhood.

On Valentines Day,St Johns College, in conjunction with the boys schools in Gauteng Pretoria Boys

High, St Albans, Afrikaans Hor Seunskool, St Stithians, King Edwards, Parktown, Jeppe, St Davids, StBenedicts and CBC, gathered at 12 noon to be part of the 1 Billion Rising movement to stand against theabuse of women. Gianluca Agostinetto, our Head of School, addressed the boys and Lizo Rensburg, ourSecond Prefect prayed the following prayer:

Creator God, You created the earth and everything in it.You created everything inter-dependent and

You created everything good. You created menand women in Your image, You blessed them both.

Help us to see Your image on the faces of the victimsof our violence. Help us to remember we

have no right to subject anyone to violence. Helpall of us who live in violence to realize and affirmour own dignity. Help us to realize we are made in

Your image.

Help us to remember that we should never tolerate violence.Help Your church to realize that

Jesus did not tolerate violence against women.Help us to fight violence in this era,

We pray. Amen

Finally, the boys and girls of St Johns College made a pledge, using these words:

As a true JohannianI pledge to speak out against any form of abuse against women of all ages.

I pledge to treat women with respectand to oppose fearlessly those who abuse women verbally, physically and psychologically.

I also pledge not to remain silent against sexism, jokes or languagethat demeans women.

We live in challenging times, and it is important for our boys and girls to stand firm against violence andabuse. Please continue this conversation at home.

Kind regards

Roger CameronHeadmaster


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I E B MATRICULATION 2012

St Johns College is proud of the excellent results achieved by our Matriculants in the 2012 IEBExaminations. Congratulations to all our Matric pupils!

St Johns pupils once again achieved a 100% Matric pass rate with 96% achieving University Entrance atDegree level.

5 pupils achieved over 90% average30 pupils achieved over 80% average24 pupils achieved over 75% average

(LEVEL 7 - OVER 80%) SUBJECT ACHIEVEMENTS BY THE FOLLOWING PUPILS:

9 Subjects: Muhammed-Ismail Bulbulia, Pele Collins, Mohammed Kaskar, Dylan Potgieter,Kyle Robertson, Nabeel Seedat, Bradley Stocks

8 subjects: John Atherfold, Matthew Koevort, Himal Kooverjee, Bryan Moore, Kevin Murning,Irakli Rekhviashvili, Mohamed Sacranie, Jacques van Rhyn

7 Subjects: Septimus Boshoff, Jack de la Fargue, Cameron Foster, Bhaveen Kalidas,Niels Kuhnemann. Gerhard Olivier, Jason Smythe

Our 5 top academic pupils this year are:

94% average: Jacques van Rhyn and Nabeel Seedat91% average: Mohammed-Ismail Bulbulia90% average: Mohammed Kaskar and Himal Kooverjee

368 Level 7 (80% and over) subject aggregates were achieved in the following subjects:

54 of 117 candidates writing Mathematics (of which 18 achieved over 90%)29 of 62 candidates writing Maths Paper 311 of 19 candidates writing Maths Literacy18 of 53 candidates writing Advanced Programme Mathematics61 of 136 candidates writing Life Orientation29 of 111 candidates writing Physical Science

30 of 67 candidates writing Geography39 of 136 candidates writing English16 of 85 candidates writing History16 of 59 candidates writing Life Sciences12 of 19 candidates writing Dramatic Arts

6 of 17 candidates writing Information Technology19 of 120 candidates writing Afrikaans

5 of 10 candidates writing French6 of 16 candidates writing IsiZulu, first additional language6 of 23 candidates writing Visual Arts5 of 7 candidates writing German6 of 7 candidates writing Trinity Music

Muhammed-IsmailBulbulia

PeleCollins

MohammedKaskar

DylanPotgieter

KyleRobertson

NabeelSeedat

BradleyStocks


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Outstanding Achievement:

78 pupils were ranked in the top 5% of the IEB in 6 or more subjects:Over 80%: Muhammed Ismail-Bulbulia, Pele Collins, Himal Kooverjee and Nabeel Seedat

Commendable Achievement:

63 pupils were ranked in the top 5% of the IEB in 5 or more subjects:

Mohammed Kaskar, Bradley Stocks and Jacques van Rhyn

The following pupils were ranked within the top 1% of candidates in the following subjects:

Nabeel Seedat English, Geography, History, Life Orientation, Mathematics, Physical ScienceJacques van Rhyn Afrikaans, English, Mathematics, Maths Paper 3Bradley Stocks Information Technology, Physical ScienceMohammed Kaskar English, Life SciencesHimal Kooverjee Physical Science

Pele Collins Mathematics Paper 3Gerhardt Olivier Afrikaans

Muhammed Ismail-Bulbulia EnglishMohammed Sacrane EnglishMurray Steinhobel EnglishAlexandre Jelonek FrenchKeegan Leslie isiZuluKevin Murning Trinity Prac 7Jason Smythe Trinity Prac 8

2012 AS and A-level results

We are delighted to announce our 2012 AS and A-level results.

The subject pass rate of the students who wrote the A-Level examinations was 98%. Overall 78% ofstudents achieved A-C symbols across all subjects. 12% of our symbols were over 90% in one or more A-Level subjects. An additional 32% were over 80% in one or more subjects.

Results:

Shuo Cheng 1 x A* 3 x A; 1 x BRachel Davidson 3 x A 1 x BThomas Donoghue 1 x A* 2 x A; 1 x BSophie Harbour 2 x A* 1 x A*; 1 x BMeiyan Jiang 3 x A 1 x BMegan McFie 1 x A* 2 x ARichard McIlraith 2 x A* 1 x A; 1 x CInes Obregon 3 x A 1 x BCharles Price-Smith 3 x A* 1 x B

Nicholas Redelinghuys 1 x A* 3 x A

We are hugely proud of the Sixth Form class of 2012 and look forward to similar success from the SixthFormers of 2013.

ShuoCheng

RachelDavidson ThomasDonoghue NeiyanJiang MeganMcFie RichardMcIlraith InesObregon CharlesPrice-Smith NicholasRedelinghuysSophieHarbour


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Academic Awards - 2013

Academic Honours

Matthew Koevort (Matric 2012)

Academic Colours

Jordan CutifaniNishal DullabhChristopher Huntley

Daniel KatzNeil Viviers

Service Award Colours

First Aid

Liam Chew

First Aid

Callum Leesum has been awarded his First Aid tie.

Music Awards

International Rock Music Exam Board

Dino Sotiropoulos Passed with merit Drum Kit Grade 3Christopher Bellew Passed with merit Drum Kit Grade 7Prashant Venkatakrishnan Passed with merit Electric Guitar Grade 6Nicholas Devonport Passed with merit Electric Bass Guitar Grade 2Jake Alfred Passed Electric Guitar Grade 4Antonio Osato Passed Electric Guitar Grade 3Enrico Queiros Passed Drum Kit Grade 3

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music

Jordan Williamson Passed with merit Theory of Music Grade 2Stephen Maycock Passed with merit Theory of Music Grade 5Stephen Hunt Passed Theory of Music Grade 5

Michael Bucher Passed Theory of Music Grade 5Zachary Bowditch Passed with distinction Theory of Music Grade 5Daniel Arnot Passed with merit Theory of Music Grade 5Khensane Ngwenya Passed with distinction Theory of Music Grade 1Kgonamotse Kgole Passed with distinction Theory of Music Grade 1Sean Wynne Passed Theory of Music Grade 3Daniel Stevens Passed with merit Theory of Music Grade 2Merlin Love Passed with merit Theory of Music Grade 2Claudio Di Giacomo Passed with distinction Theory of Music Grade 2Matthew Davies Passed Theory of Music Grade 5Andrew Fletcher Passed Theory of Music Grade 5Logan Geldenhuys Passed with distinction Theory of Music Grade 5

Tamlin Love Passed with merit Theory of Music Grade 5Sibonelo Magagula Passed Theory of Music Grade 5Daniel Slater Passed Theory of Music Grade 5Jesse Stevens Passed with merit Theory of Music Grade 5Kaleem Ahmid Passed with merit Theory of Music Grade 5


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Music

Jordan Sunnasy participated in the St Andrews "VIEBZ" competition held on 7 February, and took 1st prizein the Senior Section.

SPORTS NEWS

S A Schools

The following boys were selected to the SA Schools teams in December:

Water Polo - Wesley Antonites, Roarke Olver & Dan Trninic

Cricket - Wesley Coulentianos

Bradley Dial selected for the SA U/19 team to play England ina T20 match in February

Rowing

1st 8 came second in the Boat Race Port Alfred

Cricket

Wesley Coulentianos was selected for the SA Schools team after the commencement of the U19 NationalCoca-Cola week which took place in Potchefstroom from 16 to 19 December 2012. They played in onegame against the NW provincial team.

Bradley Dial was selected to represent the SA U19 one day team in a one day testseries against England taking place in and around the W Cape. The series consists of 5one day games from 11 to 22 February 2013.

1st Cricket team played in the Paarl Boys Cricket Festival - played 4 matches - won 1 lost 1 and drew 2

Golf

Congratulations to Jono Whitehouse on making the cut for the SA Amateur Open down at Oubaai. He shot77 on the Tuesday, but played amazingly well on the Wednesday, shooting 71. Average age at the

competition is 25! A superb achievement.

Squash

Bradley Dial won the Gauteng Squash U/19 Tournament this past weekend. Dean Maxton came 2nd

Tyrone Dial won the U/16 Section

Bradley Dial will be participating in the U/19 test series against England this coming week and wish him thebest of luck

Water Polo

Wesley Antonities, Roarke Olver and Dan Trninic were members of the Gauteng U19 water polo team, andall were selected for the SA U19 team at the SA Schools Inter-provincial water polo tournament held in PEfrom 10 - 14 December 2012.

Bradley Dial


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Tennis

Congratulations to the following boys who participated in the annual St Benedict's tennis tournament overthe weekend of 26 January:

1. Stephen Mark (Captain)2. Nicholas Zille3. Michael Copeland

4. Hugh Morgan

St John's placed fourth this year. This is a remarkable achievement as most of the teams we played arepremiere-league teams: last year we placed eighth.

SwimmingINTER-HOUSE GALA THURSDAY 24 JANUARY 2013

Positions

Houses Number of Places

TOTALSInter House 2012

F

irst

Se

cond

T

hird

Fo

urth

F

ifth

S

ixth

Seventh

Ei

ghth

N

inth

Tenth

7 N Nash (2) 3 1 8 7 5 8 12 9 2 246

5 A Alston (8) 6 5 10 12 6 6 4 3 0 308

8 H Hill (7) 8 4 4 3 5 6 9 7 0 240

2 C Clayton (4) 11 10 4 10 10 9 3 1 0 364

6 HD Hodgson (9) 6 4 2 11 12 6 8 7 3 291

4 T Thomson (5) 6 17 8 1 8 5 7 4 1 342

3 F Fleming (3) 12 10 8 5 5 8 6 2 1 354

1 CE Clarke (6) 8 9 14 9 9 7 2 2 0 379

9 R Runge (1) 0 0 2 2 0 3 3 4 8 63

St Johns Parents Prayer Group 2013

Take your everyday, ordinary life your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around-life and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you isthe best thing you can do for him. Dont become so well-adjusted to your culture that youfit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. Youll be changed fromthe inside out. Romans 12 (The Message).

Every Thursday morningduring the term, a group of St Johns parents meets to pray in the CommunityRoom from 07h30-08h30. This hour of prayer focuses on the school and its community, and all parents aremost welcome to participate.

Prayer requests may be given to the secretaries who will then notify us, and there are also prayer requestboxes, in the College (at the top of the stairs leading to the Community Room), Prep (opposite the bagroom in the library) and Pre-Prep (outside the secretarys office), which anyone in the school can use tocommunicate their private prayer requests to us. All prayer requests are kept strictly confidential.

Prayer has to do with inner resonance and a capacity for mutuality. it waits for, expects and receivesguidance from Another Richard Rohr

To join us, or for more information, please contact: Susan Bentley on 082 882 5210 [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Internal evaluation & IQAA survey forms

Thank you to those parents who completed and returned the survey forms. We had a high percentage of returns,which is a good sign for the rest of the internal evaluation of our school. The entire process is intended to gatherevidence of levels of satisfaction in a number of areas, and to report back facts and recommendations to the Collegecommunity, Council and Executive.

The survey forms have identified areas that need to be investigated further. This will be done through focus anddiscussion groups comprising parents, students and teachers. The topics for discussion will be published shortly and

parents will then be invited to attend the focus groups. These will take place during the week starting on Monday, 11March. Class visits and discussions with students and teachers will also be undertaken by the internal evaluationteam during this week.

Although our membership of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) requires a full auditevery six years, we see this as an opportunity for authentic reflection and growth. It is also an opportunity to assessthe outcome of some our medium term strategies that have been implemented.

The final report will be available in June. The executive of the school will then have the opportunity to implementchanges, and will be in the position to use the findings to direct further strategic planning within the school.

St Johns is committed to maintaining and improving standards with its vision of creating an environment in which ourpupils can live their lives to the full, learn accountability, fulfil their potential and reach their dreams.

If you have any queries, please e-mail the following people who are co-ordinating the evaluation teams in the variousschools: College Warwick Taylor [email protected]

Prep Margot Long [email protected] Elaine Owen [email protected] Bridge Jenny Lobban [email protected]

We are looking forward to your participation in the focus groups. We assure you that information collected throughthese discussions will be reported on with integrity. The identity of participants will be kept confidential, but we hopeto retain the essence of the concerns raised.

Thank you for your input in the process and for your support of the school.

Yours sincerely

Warwick Taylor(Deputy Headmaster)

Join us on 28 March, 30 March and 1 April at this years St Johns College Easter Rugby Festival. Enjoy a trueShowcase of Schoolboy Rugby, with games relayed on big screens.

A great week-end of schoolboy rugby is planned, with fun and entertainment for the entire family. Well have a varietyof gastronomical delights and traditional family-based entertainment.

SuperSport Rugby coverage will be screened on TVs in the main marquee.

Funds raised from each years Festival have traditionally been utilized for various projects and activities throughout the school. Thesecontributions have benefited the entire school from Pre-Prep through to College.For comprehensive information, please log on to the school website: www.stjohnscollege.co.za
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.stjohnscollege.co.za/http://www.stjohnscollege.co.za/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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newsletter 1 - easter term - 2013

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