NEWSLETTER

TRINITY TERM No 3/2013

Dear Parents As I write this newsletter, Dr Nelson Mandela has for several days been in a critical condition in hospital. The nation is preparing for a South Africa without Madiba. We as a school wish to acknowledge the iconic role that Madiba has played in the country, in Africa and the world. He has been a statesman of immense stature, and led our country through a critical time of transition when the world predicted violence and bloodshed in South Africa. It was his extraordinary ability to see that we all needed each other for the success of our country that enabled him to hold out a vision to all South Africans of a united democratic, peaceful and joyful country. Under his leadership we were able to show the world how people of difference race, religion, gender and culture can live together in harmony, and work together for a productive future. We still need that vision, and the legacy of Madiba will be his inspiration to this country and the world to put aside our differences and live together as Gods children. We honour him for his immense contribution and we are proud of his association with St Johns through his visits to our Rugby festival in 1998; as our guest speaker at Speech Night, and as a visitor to the opening of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Bridge in 2003. Two of his grandchildren attend St Johns College, Ziphokazi Manaway at The Bridge Nursery School, and Ziyanda Manaway in our Prep School. We give thanks for his life, which we celebrate. Madibas challenge to the young men and women of St Johns College, and his challenge to all of us is to hold onto his ideals and his vision. We need men and women with that vision to go out and serve our country.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Prayers for Madiba, and those who watch and wait with him Below is a prayer used on visiting Pretoria Heart Hospital on 25 June 2013, to offer spiritual support to, and pray with, Me Graa, the family, and all attending to Madiba. Scripture says that Rachel wept for the loss of her children and could not be consoled. Yet it also tells us that you, Lord Jesus, who wept at the death of your dear friend Lazarus, promise to be with us, and to stay with us, to the end of time. Thank you that you who have walked the long valley of the shadow will never forsake us, neither in life nor in death and your everlasting arms embrace us always, in this life and the life to come. Make your compassionate and strengthening presence known to Graa, and to all who love Madiba, at this hard time of watching and waiting. Fill them with your holy courage and the gift of trusting faith, and take away their fears so that they may dare to face their grief and bring it to your presence. May they know the truth of your promise that blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Guide the medical staff so that they may know how to use their skills wisely and well, in caring for Madiba and keeping

him comfortable. And uphold all of us with your steadfast love so that we may be filled with gratitude for all the good that he has done for us and for our nation, and may honour his legacy through our lives. And so we bring our prayers to you: Lord Jesus Christ, you are a God who knows vulnerability, weakness and frailty, You are Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Lord of life and death, Your power sustains us in life and death. May your arms of love, stretched wide on the cross for us, Now enfold Madiba, and Graa, with compassion, comfort and the conviction that you will never forsake them but that you will grant Madiba eternal healing and relief from pain and suffering. And may your blessing rest upon Madiba now and always. Grant him, we pray, a quiet night and a peaceful, perfect, end. The peace of God, which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

IQAA The Independent Quality Assurance Agency (IQAA), which monitors quality of all ISASA schools, has recently completed a quality assurance process with St Johns College. The final reports are being written up, and will be discussed by the Campus Executive and the College Council. They will be placed on the school website for your perusal. The process involving pupils, teachers and parents has taken several weeks, and I am grateful to all who took time to complete questionnaires and attend focus groups which investigated areas of concern. As a general comment, it is pleasing to report that overwhelmingly, parents, boys and staff are pleased with the performance of the school, and are satisfied that the boys are receiving an excellent education. There are areas for improvement, and when the final report is published we will indicate how we intend tackling these concerns. Please recognise that if your particular concern has not been addressed, our door is always open for discussion, and the structure of the school provides for them to be addressed. The first port-of-call for all pastoral, discipline, and academic issues is your sons Housemaster. Obviously teachers and Heads of department will also address your concerns about academic issues. Mrs Anne Nettleton and Mr Warwick Taylor can assist you with academic matters and Mr Martin Huysamer with all issues relating to discipline and pupil welfare. There are several support staff in the form of chaplains, a psychologist, and learning support teachers. These men and women are experts in their field and have assisted many pupils and parents. Centenary Scholarships As a school we have since 1998 supported Centenary Scholars at St Johns College. These scholarships have been awarded to talented black boys who would not have been able to afford to come to St Johns College. The star of this group is Melvyn Lubega who in 2007 was Head of School and matriculated with a 90% average. He has completed a Business Science degree in Actuarial Science at the University of Cape Town in 2011, and as previously announced, has been awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University in September. He is presently in management consulting in Johannesburg for the Boston Consulting Group. Another star is Tshepo Mashele who matriculated in 2005 with a 70% average after graduating with a B Sc Honours from Wits University. He is presently working as a manager at Standard bank CIS in Global Markets: Structured Sales Equities Derivatives. Since our first Centenary scholar matriculated in 2002, there have been 49 scholars, the majority of whom have gone on to university and subsequently gained degrees. There were only two boys who did not make it to Matric. There are many more who are doing well at university and in the work place. When I see the areas of expertise psychology, business science, accounting, politics, philosophy, civil engineering,

electro-mechanical engineering, agriculture, film, music and commerce, we can be proud of their achievements. We constantly get updates from the universities about the success of our boys and girls. We do seek donations to support our Centenary Scholarship programme, and if anyone is able to support these boys through St Johns, please contact Mrs Heather Cooper in the Foundation or myself. Tour de France Chris Froome, Nash 2003, has gone on to become an international cyclist. We wish him every success as he takes on the Tour de France. I wish you a peaceful and safe half-term.

Roger Cameron Headmaster

Music Trinity College London - Music Examination 2012 - Grade 6-8 - Congratulations to STEPHEN MAYCOCK on winning a Centre Medal, for achieving the highest distinction mark in Johannesburg during 2012. Lovemore Yamaha Competition More than 100 musicians from 30 schools entered the Lovemore Yamaha competition this year in four categories: Strings, Woodwind, Piano and Voice. Two of St Johns pupils excelled during the competition: Stephen Maycock (teacher Allan Thompson) took third place in the Woodwind category with an outstanding performance of Webers Grand Duo Concerto for clarinet and piano, accompanied by Mr Jean-Pierre Calitz. The trombonist Hamish Mollett (teacher Justin Sasman) won first prize in the brass category, with a brilliant performance of Serockis Sonata for Trombone and Piano, also accompanied by Mr Calitz. We congratulate these two boys in particular for their outstanding achievement, but also several other boys from St Johns College who performed during the first round.

Public Speaking Stefan Massyn won the cup for the best junior impromptu speaking in the first term. He will receive this award at Speech Night later in the year.

DRAMA REPORT FEDA AND STRAPS Both of these festivals involve creating productions that are completely driven by pupils. Teachers are allowed to be involved in a supporting capacity only. The Festival of Dramatic Arts [FEDA], hosted by the Crawford schools, took place across the week of 1824 May, with the finals held on 25 May. The venue this year was the Joburg Fringe Theatre and all who participated agreed that it was a wonderful space in which to perform and watch the production. A record number of 35 productions were performed. The two St Johns entries, Invincible [directed by Sbo Nene] and The Compleat Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [directed by Francois Elliott], were performed on Friday 24 May and the Compleat Works was selected to go through to the finals. Two awards were made at the finals: the director, crew and

cast won Best Comic Ensemble and Travis Hornsby won Best Actor. The performance was outstanding and they were unlucky not to win Best Play, which was awarded to St Stithians Boys. A number of other certificates were awarded to both productions: Acting Lubabalo Kahla, Eric McLaughlin and James Sulter Directing Francois Elliott Best Comic Ensemble The Compleat Works Scriptwriting Sbonakaliso M G Nene
The Producer, Director, Cast & Crew of 'The Compleat Works'

STRAPS [Save the Raps Festival] is the play festival that was created by a group of concerned Drama teachers who, after the cancellation of RAPS this year due to a lack of funding and sponsorship, decided to continue with a festival that was aimed at showcasing the work of the schools who would have ordinarily performed in RAPS. The preliminary rounds of STRAPS took place across the week of 27-31 May and our two entries were performed on 25 May at Greenside High. An impressive 13 merit awards and 6 nominations were awarded: MERIT AWARDS [given in recognition of outstanding work] Merit awards for Acting James Sulter, James Barton-Bridges, Nick McLaughlin, Lubabalo Kahla, James Gooch, Eric McLaughlin and Gianluca Agostinetto Merit awards for Technical and Backstage awarded to both plays [Invincible stage managed by JeanAndre Deenik and The Compleat Works stage managed by Richard Mackie] Merit award for Costumes and Lighting The Compleat Works Merit award for Sound Invincible Merit award for Play Motivation Francois Elliott St Johns hosted the finals of STRAPS on Saturday, 1 June. 4 plays were performed, selected from the preliminary rounds. The Compleat Works went through to the final round. The following nominations and awards were made: NOMINATIONS and AWARDS Nomination for Best Play Motivation Sbo Nene Award for Best Director Francois Elliott Award for Best Lighting Matthew Irvine [Invincible] Award for Best Original Script Sbo Nene Award for Best Actor Travis Hornsby Award for Best Ensemble The Compleat Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) The Drama department is immensely proud of these results and of the superb efforts of the directors, casts and crews of both productions. INTER-HOUSE PLAY FESTIVAL 2013 This years festival took place across the week of the 10-13 June. Our adjudicators, Jane McMurray (Head of Drama at St Marys, Waverley) and Mrs Wendy Young (Head of English at SJC) were impressed with the quality and variety of the plays.

The awards were as follows: Best Ensemble Nash [Blackout] Best Cameo Performance Anneline Mabile [Runge], Cynthia Mbuthia [Runge] & Buhle Blose [Hill] Best Original Script James Gooch [Nash] The Unusual Suspects Best Supporting Actor Nicholas McLaughlin [Clarke] Most promising Junior Actor Angus Paterson [Clarke] Best Actor Gianluca Agostinetto [Clarke] Best Director James Gooch [Nash] The final placings were as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Clarke Nash & Alston Runge Clayton Hodgson Fleming Thomson Hill

From the Librarians desk:

Some boys do; Most boys dont; All boys should READ FICTION. There is a growing consensus among psychologists that it is necessary to develop perspective taking in todays world of social networking and people centered business and management with its emphasis on emotional intelligence. Perspective taking enables people to understand the perspectives and beliefs of others, developing empathy. Perspective taking also enables one to explore abstract concepts of human existence such as love, hate, goodness, evil, etc. Several articles relating to this concept argue that reading fiction develops perspective taking, more so than any other interaction with media. In Psychology Today, Keith Oatly poses the question: Why read Fiction? in his answer he points out that narrative fiction is a simulation. It is a simulation that enables us to enter social contexts that otherwise we would never know. He elaborates that entering a world that is different from our own allows us to compare our own reactions, emotions and thoughts with those of the personae in the stories. Self-knowledge and knowledge of others is the result. Novelists heighten our sensitivity to common human experiences. Insight is gained in human motivation and human experience in the world. Novels can also be a rich source of learning. New words and literary concepts, new historical facts or even scientific information in sci-fi novels can enrich the young males thought life. An excellent article worth exploring on the reading of novels is neatly explained in the article: Why Men Should Read More Fiction http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/04/29/why-men-should-read-more-fiction/ In this article the authors refer to Theory of Mind. This concept roughly equates with the psychologists concept of perspective taking. Please explore this article, and also this web site it offers excellent guidance to your son in all aspects of life. During my many years as College Librarian at St Johns College I have had the honour of introducing many gifted boys to the realms of literary genius, but have experienced even greater fulfilment and joy in guiding new readers to new authors and enabling personal growth to maturity through reading fiction. I have seen boys build up resilience to cope with their stressful environments after reading fiction. Sadly our boys are getting busier and what is termed novel reading or recreational reading is usually discounted as a frivolous activity, a luxury in the ever increasing time-poor life in high school.

Let us re-label fiction reading as ESSENTIAL READING. Let us encourage our boys to read novels. If you are still not convinced, have a look at the following article: How Nonsense sharpens the Intellect in http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/health/06mind.html?_r=4&em& This article reports interesting findings in experiments conducted with students intellectual performance after they had read a bit of Kafka... Any comments to: millward@stjohnscollege.co.za

IN THE COLLEGE MUSEUM

Spanish Steel Helmets Carbasset and Marion, dating from 1580

Roundhead War Axe

17th Century pair Gauntlets

The Next Draft Tiltshift Summit 2013 held in Singapore On the 15th of June we: Mrs. Byrne, Francesca Batault and Samantha Wise embarked on a life-changing trip to Singapore. We represented St. John's, South Africa and Africa at a Global Alliance of Leading-Edge School Initiative 'The Next Draft' Tiltshift Summit 2013 which included 25 schools from 20 different countries. The initiative of the conference is to find opportunities within the world's dilemmas, be it migration, poverty, biodiversity or healthcare and it is up to tomorrow's leaders to learn the art of dilemma-flipping without the fear of criticism or failure to be an obstacle to finding solutions. On the first day we had the privilege to hear the views of the ambassadors of France, Norway, the Philippines and the High Commissioner of South Africa of the summit themes. Every country has its own experience with the summit themes and it is interesting to know how all these themes are linked to each other. After the opening ceremony we met the South African High Commissioner, Hazel Ngubeni and we were offered to have lunch with her Excellency at the Cricket Club! We attended a media workshop which focused on how effective photos and videos are when it comes to delivering a message. We learned about different angles, perspectives, colours and size and how each tiny detail can play a significant role in delivering a message. During the conference, we were honoured to receive talks by many inspirational people, including Mr Ray Jefferson who spoke about 'The One Thing That Matters Most', Ms Zhang Ting Jun, who presented her organization called 'The Chain Reaction Project' which focuses on helping to change lives in some of the world's least-developed nations, Dr Tan Lai Yong, who discussed 'Understanding Villages as Way of Understanding Globalization'. Through these talks we gained invaluable knowledge and new perspectives of the world. The delegates went on site visits at different parts of Singapore to learn about the various social problems that Singapore faces. As members of the group, Lifeline, we visited to organisations that support the intellectually disabled: MINDS (Movement for the Intellectually Disabled Singapore) and AWWA (Asian Woman's Welfare Association) (the Singaporean's enjoy using acronyms). Here we learned about the backgrounds of these places and the challenges that they currently face. We received tours of both places. MINDS took us by surprise when we saw the various things that the clients were doing: fantastic drum performances, dancing, cooking, creating beautiful pieces of art and running a store. We were also

intrigued to know that they have a partnership with Singapore Airlines to de tangle the aeroplanes headphones. At AWWA we made friends with the children and played a few games. Although the site visits were fun, it was evident that these organisations were in need of help. After the site visits we engaged ourselves in 'breakout sessions' where through discussions and planning in groups with peers from all around the world we attempt to flip the world's social dilemmas. One of the functions of the conference was Project Fair, where each school showcases their school's social projects and we proudly showcased The Eagle Awards amongst many other great programmes that St. John's has participated in. The conference was filled with many fun activities including games and movie night to create international friendship. The breakout sessions came to an end and it was time to put to present our solution. The final presentation was a big deal, it included microphones, a large audience and q&a! A lot of preparation and work went into creating these presentations, it was nerve-wrecking and knee-shaking, but it was delivered successfully and with enthusiasm. We are so grateful to have been given this opportunity. We gained a rich, diverse experience that will be engraved in our minds forever. We learned of many different cultures and made friends from all over the world. We engaged ourselves in Singaporean culture, viewing all the beautiful sights and eating their flavourful (and quite spicy) food. We'd like to thank our Raffles Institution staff, the student hosts, the inspirational speakers, the delegates and our teachers and classmates for all their support. We hope to give back to South Africa what the conference has given us. We must strive to live more simply, and resolve the problems of the future.

Sporting Highlights The following boys have been selected for provincial or national teams: Rugby Devon Henson has been selected for the Craven Week A team, and Joseph Kamangu made the Grant Khomo U16 A team. We are also proud that our Head Coach, Mr Stefan Lourens, has been selected to coach Craven Week for the next two years. Hockey The following boys have been selected for the South Gauteng U18A and B teams: Kyle Lion-Cachet (A), Nathan Elliott (A), Walter Pfaff (A), Joshua Hooper (B), and Ndumiso Mvelase for the South Gauteng U17A, and Alastair Fletcher as a non-travelling reserve. Mr Patrick Tshutshani has been selected to coach the SA Womens U21 team. Squash Our 1st squash team after winning the Top Schools Tournament in Gauteng, will now represent Gauteng at the National Top Schools Tournament. The team consists of Bradley Dial, Dean Maxton, Tyrone Dial, Cameron Dry, Brett Le Roux and Martyn Strydom. Rowing The following boys have been selected to represent South Africa in the Eight to row at the Junior World Championships in Lithuania in August: Sean Verheul, Nick Papas, Andrew Morgan, Jason McNeil and Joe Savenye-Terblanche. Mr Grant Dodds, our head coach, is coaching this team. Mr Rod Macdonald has been selected as a coach for the South African University Rowing team, which will compete at the World university games to be held in Russia in July.

Sports News
HOCKEY PLAYERS SELECTED TO PROVINCIAL TEAMS - 2013 South Gauteng U/18 A - Playing in the SA National IPT 1-6 July at Rondebosch in Cape Town Kyle Lion-Cachet Nathan Elliott Walter Pfaff

South Gauteng U/17 A - Playing in National festival at Grey College 8 12 July Ndumiso Mvelase Alistair Fletcher

South Gauteng U/16 B - Playing in the SA National IPT 1-6 July at St Johns College Hugh Ledlie

South Gauteng U/16 C - Playing in National festival at Grey College 26 30 June Brett Le Roux

South Gauteng U/16 D - Playing in National festival at Grey College 26 30 June Morgan Fairbairn Piers Rodger

South Gauteng U/14 B Playing in National festival at Kearsney 22-26 June Patrick Land

South Gauteng U/14 C Playing in National festival at Kearsney 22-26 June Timothy McKernan Jordan King Sameer Nazeer

South Gauteng U/14 D - Playing in National Festival at Kearsney 22 - 26 June Alexander Bester

Rowing Boys that have been selected for the Gauteng Provincial Squad and SASRU: Riaghan Davie-Webb (U4, C) Graeme Betty (U4, T) Daniel Carter (U4, A) James Mitchell (U4, C) Ayrton Da Silva (L5, C) Cycling Joshua Buchel (L5) has been selected for the South African National Track Team to compete in the Junior World Track Championships to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 7 11 August 2013.

Climbing Matthew Robinson and Brandon van Houten were selected to compete in the Selection Trials for the South African National Climbing Federation (SANCF) Youth on Saturday the 4th of May. This was used to select the SANCF team to compete at the 2013 IFSC World Youth Championship in Canada. Brett Nicholson was there with the boys and his support and coaching was really appreciated. Both climbed well and were advised that they have been selected to compete in Vancouver, Canada on the 15th and 16th August 2013. This is wonderful news and now they will begin training in earnest with the team.

Chess Sachin Modi (Rem) has been selected to represent South Africa at the 2013 World Youth Olympiad U16 Chess Championships, to be held in Chongqing. China from 21 30 July 2013. He is being awarded South African National Colours for Junior Chess as granted by the National Sports Council, SASCOC. eSports St John's eSports First Team qualified for National Team Trials on 4 May 2013. They were the only school team to qualify, so this is a very great honour. The trials will select a team to represent South Africa (ranked 16) in a test match against Rumania (ranked 3). It is a testimony to the continued strength of eSports at St John's, and follows hot on the heels of our success at the SA Schools Championships last year. Chris Maree Johann Muller George Stanchev Stephen Havenga Matthew Adams MAFG MAFG MAFG MAFG MAFG St John's College St John's College St John's College St John's College St John's College

http://e-sport.co.za/index.php/MSSA_-_Dota_2_National_Team_Trials Some exciting news is that Mind Sports (including eSports) has been classed as a category one sport by SASCOC the South African Sports and Olympic Committee. This has important ramifications in terms of media coverage, funding and eligibility for events such as the All Africa Games and Olympic Games, as well as governmental support in schools. It is understood that Morabaraba is to be made a school sport in all government schools this year! The trials are not a regular tournament as its aim is to select a national team so no positions or results are released. However, the selectors reported that the team impressed them very much. St John's was the only school team to qualify for trials, and the only non-professional team! As one boy commented all the other teams are sponsored! The selectors were impressed by the conduct of the team - what nice young men they were, and by the fact that they came into the event quite out-classed, being beaten 42-0 in their first game against the crack Bravado Gaming squad (which was selected to represent South Africa), but went on to learn very rapidly, and in their last game of the day they played Energy Gaming, the second best squad in the country, and pushed them hard, being beaten only narrowly. This is a remarkable achievement! The ability to learn quickly was noted by the selectors and stands them in very good stead in terms of selection for any youth events which might crop up. Dorian Love

Hockey Kyle Lion-Cachet played his 100th match for the 1st XV Hockey Team during the Independent Schools Festival at St Albans over the holiday. Squash The following boys have been selected for the Gauteng Squash Teams: U19 Bradley Dial (A), Dean Maxton (A), Cameron Dry (A) U16 Tyrone Dial (A), Brett le Roux (B) U14 Jordan Williamson (B) Water Polo Roarke Olver and Dan Trninic have been selected to represent the South African Under 20 team at the Junior World Water Polo Championships to be held in Hungary in August 2013. This is an impressive selection as they are both 18 years old and playing two age groups ahead. They outplayed many South African water polo players, and will be playing against young men of 20 years of age from across the world. OJ Eagles Water Polo club won the SA Nationals/Currie Cup held in Port Elizabeth from 10 - 13 April 2013. This is The OJ Eagles 10th win in the past 11 years, which is one of the longest winning streaks in Currie Cup history which commenced in 1898! OJ Eagles results: vs Western Province A vs Western Province B vs Central Gauteng vs KZN drew 9 9 won 19 1 won 9 5 won 13 1
Photo: Standing L to R: Lucky Letshabo, Doc Mkhabela (Manager), Roarke Olver, Dan Trninic, Christopher Icely, Nardus Badenhorst, Jordan Zoghby, Garreth Prout, Andrew Ridley Kneeling - front row: Vlado Trninic, Etienne Le Roux, Dwayne Flatscher, Pierre Le Roux, Jon Marc de Carvalho, Nicholas Rodda

Semi-Final: Vs Central Gauteng Final: Vs Western Province A won 10 - 7 won 10 - 7

OJ Eagles players who qualified for the SA Squad to take part in the World Champions in Barcelona in July 2013: Pierre Le Roux (OB), Etienne Le Roux (OB), Christopher Icely (OB), Jon Marc de Carvalho (OB), Nardus Badenhorst (SJC coach), Andrew Ridley (ex SJC coach), Dwayne Flatscher (SJC coach) and Nicholas Rodda (SJC coach) Roarke Olver (U5) and Dan Trninic (U5) qualified for the SA U20 (Junior) Squad for the World Champs in Hungary in August 2013. Comrades Marathon - Well done to: Adrian Carolan Ephraim Ngcobo Henry Madiba Bridget Shelton Michael Bornman Ben Bornman (finished 9:51:44) (finished 10:00:06) (finished 10:26:17) (finished 11:41) (finished 11:41:10) (finished 11:43:59) First SJC runner home!

Her first Comrades!

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