Weekly Newsletter 2 – 9 December 2011

CAMPUS CAROL SERVICE

The annual Carol Service, traditionally held on the last Sunday of the school term, had to be shifted at the last moment from St Georges Cathedral to St John’s in Wynberg. The congregation entered into the spirit of the occasion and with the campus choirs leading the way, it really was a wonderful festival of carols. For the Wynberg family, the Carol Service heralds the beginning of the Christmas season.

The following was one of the readings:

Teach the children…

Late one Christmas Eve, I sank back, tired but content, into my easy chair. The kids were in bed, the gifts were wrapped, the milk and cookies waited by the fireplace for Santa.

I don’t know how long I slept, but all of a sudden I opened my eyes, and you can imagine my surprise when I saw Santa Claus himself standing next to my Christmas tree.

He brought out a beautiful wreath made of fresh, fragrant greenery tied with a bright red bow and gave it to me. “The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection, which is love. The wreath embodies all the good things about Christmas. It contains the colours of red and green and the heaven-turned needles of the evergreen. The bow tells the story of good will towards all and its colour reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice. Even its very shape is symbolic, representing eternity and the eternal nature of Christ’s love. It is a circle, without beginning and without end. These are the things you must teach the children.”

I asked, “But where does that leave you, Santa?”

A smile broke over Santa’s face. “Why bless you, “he laughed, “I’m only a symbol myself. I represent the spirit of family fun and the joy of giving and receiving. If the children are taught these other things, there is no danger that I’ll ever be forgotten.”

“You’re the adult,” said Santa. “If you don’t teach the children these things, then who will?”

HOUSE DAY

The last week of term sees a number of social activities for the boys. One of the highlights is the House Day where House Heads and their tutors undertake together activities which bond the house. House spirit and the feeling of belonging are important ingredients in the development of confidence in our boys.

UNIFORMS – 2012

Parents are reminded that grasshoppers are not acceptable footwear for pupils. They have been given fair warning over a number of terms that when they outgrow their shoes, they must replace them with conventional school footwear.

A number of boys are telling their parents that charcoal is acceptable in winter for their longs. This is not the case. This school wears grey longs in winter. However, we have informed our stockists to lay in a supply of navy blue short-sleeved jerseys for those who wish to purchase them in winter. The grey jersey still remains the official jersey for those who wish to purchase a long sleeve jersey.

NS sports have entered into a cricket partnership with Wynberg whereby they are supplying kit for touring teams. As the school suppliers (School and Leisure) do not supply cricket shirts, shorts and longs – which parents are free to buy at any stockist – NS have designed WBHS cricket match kit with the school badge. They guarantee that these are cheaper than anywhere else and good quality. When replacing cricket clothing, parents are requested to purchase the NS clothing which may be procured directly from their outlet at 1 Okiep Road Rondebosch East. They also have special deals for WBHS with regard to cricket equipment.

Practice kit is is still the school sports shirt obtainable at School and Leisure. The practice kit supplied by NS is optional.

The school has also signed a deal with Mr Price and their sport arm, Maxed, to sponsor the 1st XV rugby and the 1st X1 hockey in 2012.

JONNY COOPER CONCERT

A new event on our calendar is the Jonny Cooper Christmas Concert in our Outdoor Theatre on Christmas Eve. The Jonny Cooper Band is arguably South Africa’s top Big Band and always sells out Kirstenbosch when it plays there. It takes place at 17h00 and is an hour duration. Tickets are a giveaway at R40 – with children U12 free – and may be booked through Computicket. We anticipate making this an annual event and hope that we have a packed out theatre on Christmas Eve.

SPONSORS OF WYNBERG

Parents of Wynberg are encouraged / urged / exhorted / advised to support our sponsors during this festive season:

Pastis Restaurant and Mugg&Bean (Cavendish and Constantia Village) both give a percentage of the meal ticket back to WBHS if you sign your slip and put it in the box provided.

Claremont Mekor who sponsor our school Ford.

MySchool Card – are you swiping every time you go to Woolworths? (Engen Meadowridge is now on board as generous sponsors of Wynberg)

NS Sports for your cricket equipment

USB

The school will be marketing USB’s (4 gigabytes) with a Wynberg Badge and the boy’s name engraved on the USB. Anyone who wishes to have theirs ready by next term must bring R120 to the Bursars, when they collect their reports on Tuesday.

NEW BOY SPORT’S DAY

Last Friday we had all next year’s grade 8s attend an afternoon of sport. The young Tennis and Basketball players got to watch and play with the 1st team players. The 1st team Waterpolo players played a demo match for the new boys introducing them to the sport before they got into the pool themselves. There was big turnout at all the sports, but particularly cricket where there were about 60 boys all keen to show what they were worth. It was a very worthwhile afternoon introducing these soon-to-become young Wynberg men to Wynberg sport.

PROVINCIAL SPORT OVER THE HOLIDAYS

We have a huge number of our waterpolo (28) and cricket players (16) of all age groups taking part in inter-provincial tournaments in the next week. It is a big honour to represent your province and play representative sport. We wish them all the best and trust that they will do Wynberg proud on and off the field.

SPORT NEXT YEAR

 
A reminder to all under 14 and 15 players that sport’s practices will start on the first day back at school which is Wednesday 11 January. All senior practices will start on the Thursday.

WYNBERG CONGRATULATES

Russell Gaynor has over the past few months been participating in the BSG Energade Triathlon Series and after the final race in Johannesburg Russell was placed 2nd in the country for the entire series. This is an outstanding achievement.

Bjorn Isaacs was also recently awarded his Junior Protea Colours for Karate. Well done, Bjorn!

SERVICE

RED CROSS WAR MEMORIAL
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
RONDEBOSCH, CAPE TOWN 7700, SOUTH AFRICA

Dear Mr Richardson

I am writing on behalf of the patients of the G1 Haematology-Oncology Service to thank your students for their efforts in collecting gifts for our annual Christmas party.

The party, hosted by the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Clubs of Cape Town and Tygerberg, is one of the major events on our calendar and as you can imagine is always a big hit with our children.

It’s heartening to see how young people view themselves as part of the community and take the trouble to care for others.

Please convey our thanks and warm wishes to whole Wynberg Boys High School family.

Kind regards

Alan Davidson
Associate Professor and Head
Oncology/Haematology Service

DECEMBER REPORTS AND HOLIDAY TIMES

Parents are again reminded that report envelopes may be collected (and signed for) in the school foyer from 07:00am on Tuesday 13
December. It this is not possible, reports will be left in the front office. The Secretarial Staff will be on duty until Thursday 15 December and the school will close for Christmas on Wednesday 21 December.

The school will re-open on Tuesday 3rd January and matric results come out on Thursday 5th at 12h00.

Teachers return on Monday 9th, new boys report in on Tuesday 10th at 8h00 with the rest of the school returning to start off our 171st year
at 8h00 on Wednesday 11th.

FINAL THANKS

Now that our 170th year is coming to an end, thanks are owing to all our parents who have contributed to all the activities of this school. Many serve on committees and others help out at functions and events when requested. Thank you for walking the Wynberg Journey with your sons. It is so important in bringing up boys that adults walk this journey together.

Secondly, thanks to all the boys who so positively and enthusiastically participated in the activities of the school. They have ensured that the 170 year has been a memorable one.

Quote of the Week

Our final Quote of the Week is a message for all returning next year:

Don’t try to be better than anyone else. Try to be better than you were yesterday.