Weekly Newsletter – 26 August to 2 September

Founders’ Day Ceremony

The morning of the 170th Founders’ Day Ceremony dawned cloudy and overcast, which dismayed all the boys who knew that the occasion was being used for an historic photograph of the entire school, with Table Mountain in the background. The rain held off long enough to allow the moment to be captured and the school, joined by their parents and numerous Old Boys, assembled in the Clegg Hall for the main ceremony.

The ceremony was made more special by the fact that the Dominee of the NG Kerk, Dr Danie Nel emulated the prayer of his forebearer, Rev Philip Faure, 170 years before when he opened the school, which was reported in the Cape newspapers of the day. Boys representing the different cultural groups of the school, also offered prayers in their respective languages. Colonel Lionel Crook (Matric 1948) concluded the prayers with one for his fellow Wynberg boys (many of whom he knew), who fell in the world’s major conflicts. He joined the Headmasters of the High and Junior schools in laying wreaths at the Memorial Wall.

The Head Prefect, David Maasch, read out the names of every Wynberg boy who lost his life in war and Siyabonga Beyile took on the inspiring task of paying tribute to those names with his rendering of the Last Post on his trumpet.

JD Breytenbach, RCL Chairman, informed the audience about the 170 Time Capsule which he was burying in front of the Memorial Wall to be dug up at the school’s 200th Anniversary in 2041. He included a letter to the (yet unborn) matrics of that year from David Maasch. This letter can be read on the school’s website.

Matric pupil, Louis Mbuyu, gave the first of the Keynote Speeches, telling the audience what Wynberg meant to him. It was an outstanding and moving effort. He was followed by guest speaker, John McInroy, originator of the Redsockfriday Charity, who gave the John McNaughton Address. He urged the school to follow the example set by Wynberg Old Boy, Phil Masterton Smith, who won the Comrades Marathon eighty years ago in 1931 as a 19 year old, before losing his life in North Africa during the Second World War.

Teaching Awards

Congratulations to Roland Rudd on his award of ‘Excellence in Secondary School Teaching’. He will now represent Metropole South against nominees from other areas in the Province. He is a worthy winner and we wish him well.

Wynberg Congratulates

- Nicholas Haralambous was awarded 90% for his UNISA Grade 8 Piano exam – this is an amazing achievement for a school pupil. There are university students that do not achieve such high marks for this exam. Grade 8 is the final grade before the teacher’s, or performance diploma.
- Josh De Klerk and Sean Bradley were selected for the WP U18 and U16 Golf Teams respectively.
- Vikash Parbhoo was awarded the Bronze medal in the annual Eskom Expo, Regional Finals for his Project titled “The Natural Breakdown of Various foods (Commercialized vs. Organic vs. Takeaway)”.

Sport this past week

It has been a big sporting week for Wynberg in terms of the number of fixtures, but also with some outstanding achievements.

Our first golf team won the southern league. This is an outstanding achievement and the first time that our first team have done this. They will now play the winners of the northern league for the title of WP champion. Our second and third teams are also likely to win their leagues, and if the second team do this, it will be the 5th year in a row that they have done so.

Our hockey teams have done exceptionally well with 4 of the 5 teams that we entered in the knock out, getting to the final. Our 14As, 16As and 1st team are all in the astro finals, while our 16Bs are in the grass final. This is an exceptional achievement getting all three of our A teams in the final. Our 14As play SACS; our 16As play Rondebosch and our 1st team play Bishops. Our 1st team also produced a good win against SACS, but the team that deserves special mention is our 16A team. They lost to SACS on Friday night, but turned this around on Tuesday, by beating them 4-1 in the semi-finals of the KO.

Saturday’s rugby match against SACS attracted one of the biggest crowds to Wynberg in many a year. It was a great atmosphere, but unfortunately our 1st XV could not repeat their excellent performance of the first round game, and went down 26-29.

On Wednesday this week, three matric teams played against three Old Boys’ teams. The matches were enjoyed by all and some really enterprising rugby was played. The 2nd and 3rd team games were both won by the Old Boys, but the 1st team game was won 40-36 in the last minute by the school. It was great seeing some of the faces from the 90s returning to play against their old school.

Soccer Season

Rugby and Hockey season has officially ended, and for the next 4 weeks, we try and play as much soccer as possible. On Monday next week is the Junior Interhouse Soccer and on Tuesday is the Seniors turn to play. On Saturday next week is the annual Wynberg Soccer Festival. Please support this event.

Brendon Venter

Various teachers, parents and old boys enjoyed listening to Brendon Venter in the termly ‘Open Mike’, organised by the Old Boys’ Union on Wednesday evening. He gave his opinion on the upcoming World Cup, as well as a no-holds barred opinion on match officials! He had the audience murmuring their approval when he stated that in South Africa, we concentrate on brute force and strength, rather than a skills approach. This is applicable, of course to all sports where he maintained that no-one can query the commitment, strength and fitness of South African teams – but fingers can be pointed at basic skills and the ability to read a game. An interesting evening’s discussion!

Weekly Rugby Report

If you wish to see this week’s rugby report, go to the School Communicator (make sure you PERSONALISE it to receive rugby NEWS)
You can also access Wynberg Rugby on Facebook, click on www.facebook.com/Wynberg.Rugby or www.facebook.com/Rugbymatters

Wynberg Hockey News Updates

For all those interested in keeping abreast of the latest news, fixtures, results and current happenings of Wynberg Hockey, please visit our Wynberg Hockey Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Wynberg.Hockey. Should you wish to receive updates, “like” the page and all updates will come through your Facebook profile.

Ford Figo

Claremont Mekor have been extremely generous in donating a brand new Ford Figo to the school for a year. It is now being seen proudly displaying the “PROUDLY WYNBERG 170” logo, as it travels around the streets of Cape Town.

The main purpose of the car is to enable those of our boys with Learners’ Licenses, to learn to drive under an experienced instructor. There is no charge for the use of the car, and the rates for tuition have been reduced by the instructor, Mr Williamson. For many years, he was in charge of testing new drivers for the traffic department so he is the ideal instructor.

Lessons may be booked with Mrs Manley in the front office.

Szygium Guineense

As a gift for our 170th Anniversary, the Centre for Conservation Education based in Aliwal Road, presented the school with a Water Pear – a shade tree found in many parts of Africa.
We thank them for this most worthwhile gift.

Quote of the Week

“Our goal at Saracens Rugby Club is to produce human beings who can make a contribution to society. Producing rugby players is too short a goal.”
Brendon Venter (Springbok, Saracens Coach) talking at the Open Mike.