Jeppe High School for Boys NEWSLETTER 03/2019

FROM THE HEADMASTER’S DESK Dear Parents, We have come to the end of an exciting and frenetic first term, a term that seems to have

flown by and which has been, in the opinion of many staff, the busiest in recent memory.

Since our last newsletter, we have concluded the summer sports season which included rowing, basketball, waterpolo, cricket, orienteering, tennis, golf, e-gaming, chess and a range of additional cultural activities such as public speaking and debating and which culminated in an extremely busy, and successful, first weekend of March. Congratulations must go to the coaches, boys and parents who put so much effort and passion into their chosen sport over the past few months - it was certainly reflected in the results which are detailed later in this

newsletter and which have been extensively reported on via our various social media channels.

I would like to thank and acknowledge the coaches, particularly those who are fulltime educators, for the many hours of sacrifice, time spent away from their families, weekends foregone and their overall dedication to our boys and our school over this term. We are extremely blessed to have such a large group of educators who selflessly give of their time in order to coach our boys. I was also humbled at the dedication and commitment of our patrons at the various sporting events, particularly over the final weekend of the summer season. The sacrifices, time and hard work that these parents put into the boys and our school is massively appreciated and is yet another reason that makes being

part of the Jeppe family so special. Thank you!

Our Open Day was also held on Saturday, 2nd March and saw over 1,000 new parents and potential pupils spend a morning with us learning about our school. Feedback from all concerned was that the day was a great success and my thanks go to Mr White, the patrons, prefects and staff who assisted in putting on the Open Day. Our Matric Dance, held over the past weekend, was also a wonderful occasion and greatly enjoyed by the matrics, their partners and the

staff who attended. Thank you to Mrs White and her team for arranging such a fantastic evening.

As we transition into the very busy winter sports season, I remind all parents that in order for your son to participate in a school sanctioned sporting event on a Saturday, your son is required to be at school on Friday. If he is not at school on the Friday, he will not be allowed to participate in a sporting activity the following day unless such absence has been cleared by the Director of Sport. This protocol has been in place in previous years and is not unique to Jeppe - it is designed with both the health and safety of boys in mind and to ensure that the boys (and parents) place their

academic commitments at the top of their priorities.

It is therefore concerning and frustrating that a relatively large numbers of pupils continue to be signed out early on Friday's after the cycle test programme or when we have events such as inter-house activities. Days on which non-academic events and programmes are arranged are an integral part of the educational process and facilitate the

learning of valuable life skills and lessons. If this continues to happen, we will consider moving the cycle test programme to later in the school day (as occurred today) so as to ensure attendance in the activities and the academic lessons which follow the cycle tests. As stated on various occasions, academics are my priority and focus and I once again appeal to parents for your support in this regard and to ensure that, wherever possible, your sons are at school

and attending classes.

I remind parents of the Parent Evenings scheduled for the first and second week of Term 2 (see "Upcoming Events" section of newsletter) whereat staff will be available to discuss the first term academic performance of the boys. In this regard, please be aware that reports have been issued electronically, via the Parent Portal, at 12 noon today. Should parents have problems accessing the portal or be unsure of how to do so, please refer to previous communication sent

in this regard or contact Mr Radebe on mradebe@jeppeboys.co.za.

As a result of a very busy but successful trials week, we currently have 25 rugby teams and 15 hockey teams in place for the winter season - the largest number of teams in Jeppe's history - and many of these teams are participating in festivals, tournaments and (in the case of the hockey club) overseas tours during the two week holiday period. I wish all these teams, their coaches and supporters the best of luck at these events and trust they will make wonderful

memories, cement friendships and develop their sporting talents.

To the entire school community, I wish you a restful and relaxing period over the holiday break and safe travels for

those of you who will be journeying on holiday.

School re-opens on Tuesday, 2nd April and I appeal to parents to ensure that the boys are compliant with the hair and

uniform rules, as per Mr Ruh's letter in this regard later in the newsletter, when they return.

Dale Jackson HEADMASTER JEPPE OLD BOYS - AUSTRALIA Darren Normand (Tsessebe 1988) popped in to see us during the week, and to take a look at the projects at the school that the Australian chapter of the Jeppe Old Boys have contributed

to.

The latest one is the outdoor chessboard in the triangle at the bottom of Boarders Walk, and before that they helped with the refurbishment of the main gate and the 125th Anniversary paved

mosaic badge outside the Memorial Hall.

“There are 216 Jeppe old boys that we know of in Australia and about 32 of them contribute to our fund-raising efforts,” he explained. “In the last five years we have raised close to a

quarter million Rand and our aim is to get to one million.”

Darren comes from a solid Jeppe family his father is the legendary “Grazer” Norman and his brother played 1st team and Craven Week in 1988. “My six years at Jeppe was the happiest time of my life,” he said. “I was way too small physically to cope with my first year here, so I repeated grade 8, and from then

things were great.”

mailto:mradebe@jeppeboys.co.za

FND OFF BROADWAY CULTURAL EVENING On Friday 8th March, the Jeppe Cultural Department hosted the second instalment of "FND off Broadway" the evening was a resounding success. The Pipe Band kicked off the proceedings by performing out on the school driveway whilst the guests arrived, the band put on it's biggest band in history, and performed with 33 members in it. It is always

impressive to hear and see the Pipe Band marching down the driveway, playing

crowd favourites, such as Scotland the Brave and Amazing Grace.

Guests entered the Memorial Hall and were then greeted by an impressive art exhibition, which Mr Van Dorp worked hard at setting up, it certainly was a breath taking exhibition of some of Jeppe's finest art pieces, all of which were created by the boys themselves. The Public Speaking boys MC'd the evening, they did so impressively, by finding just the right mix between humour and insightful information for each act. The Drama Department put on a fantastic play, "Outside the Maths Class", which was Koodoo's inter-house play from last year, the play is humorous and it deals superbly well with the everyday trials and tribulations of the "average" Jeppe Boy. The play was written by David Newton (class of 2018) and Kevin Newton (Grade 10), brother of David, appropriately performed the lead role. If you missed out on this brilliant play, the boys will be performing it in the Drama festivals later in the

year.

There were also some Music Society boys who played a few pieces on the piano, they were delightful to watch and listen to, another example of the fine talent that Jeppe Boys have to offer! The Pipe Band's drummers then appeared on stage and, for the first time in history, performed an extremely impressive drumming salute, a piece of music which is only played by drummers. If you are into drumming and want to see the drummers doing something completely out-of-the-box, it is strongly recommended to watch the pipe band at a parade to witness this brilliant exhibition

of drumming!

The marimba band performed a 20-minute piece, these boys are absolutely incredible, they demonstrate a mixture of passion, sublime rhythm and musicality, these boys certainly didn't disappoint the audience! The school now boasts two marimba bands, a junior band and a senior band. The senior band will be repre-senting Jeppe at the International Marimba Festival, in Johannesburg, later this year. Another first was the pipe band and marimba band collaborating for what is believed to be the first time to happen, in the world! Hopefully, this will be built on and the two bands, which are vastly different, will form a successful and unique

musical relationship.

The evening drew to a close with an impressive amount of staff members performing in the staff Marimba Band, which seems to have taken off with much enthusiasm, since it's inception at the beginning of the year, and then a hilarious

skit which was performed by the boys and staff.

By all accounts, the evening was thoroughly enjoyable and we have had a number

of enquiries as to when the next one will take place!

JEPPE CRICKET ROUND-UP

Jeppe High School for Boys ended their cricket season on a high note with an emphatic. 288-run win over St Alban’s College in their last fixture. The victory was their 16th in a season stretching back to the beginning of the fourth term last year. They played 19 matches in that time and lost just one, a last ball defeat at the hands of St Stithians in the Johnny Waite semifinals two weeks ago. Two games were abandoned without results due to rain.

Seven first team players were included in Central Gauteng Lions provincial teams that played in interprovincial weeks during the December holidays,

including Linda Ndlovu and Kgaudise Molefe who were in the U19A team.

Jeppe’s director of cricket, Mr Mike Bechet, said that he is happy with the progress that the team has made. “The boys showed character and pulled off some good wins,” he said. “More importantly, we are rebuilding a culture of cricket at Jeppe. Teams in all the age groups have done well and we have increased the number of teams we fielded, with every team paying at least one game every week. “It’s all about putting the proper processes in place and I

believe we are getting there.”

SPORTS TOURS - MARCH/APRIL The school closes on Friday, but there’s not much of break for the boys in the winter sports programmes and the teachers who coach and look after them. It all started yesterday, where the U14A rugby team went to the Parktown Festival - they will be playing matches today and tomorrow. This morning, our 1st hockey team and a Colts team leave for Singapore and Malaysia. Whilst overseas, they will play eight matches each in what promises to be the toughest hockey challenge the players will face in their careers so far. “We will be playing against hockey academy sides in Malaysia,” Jeppe’s director of hockey, Mr Bryan Hillock explained, “they are basically provincial teams, in a hockey-mad country, so it isn’t going to be easy. But we have a very talented group of boys coming through and I believe this sort of tour is exactly what we need ahead of the domestic season that follows it. Following that, the majority of the Jeppe rugby teams will be in action somewhere or other. The 1st team and all the A teams go on tour to the Eastern Cape. They stop over in Queenstown on the way where the U16A, U15A and U14As play Queens College, and then meet up with the 1st team in Port Elizabeth for the Grey High festival. All the teams meet Selborne on Thursday March 21st, with the juniors playing Grey High on Saturday 22nd and the 1st team taking

on St Andrew’s College.

“We see this a return to the good old-fashioned rugby tour,” said Jeppe director of sport, Mr Brendan Gittins. “They will be travelling by bus and hosted by families, it’s will be a great team-building exercise.” The lower teams, in the meantime, will be going to the Amajuba Week in Volksrust. The 2nds, 3rds, and U14, U15, and

U16 teams will play three games each there.

The U14A hockey team will be playing in the Nomads festival in Cape Town. At the end of the holidays the U16Bs will be playing in a festival tournament in Bloemfontein. At the same time, we will be hosting an U16C festival at Jeppe. In the mean time, when the rugby players played their combined fixture against Kempton Park, Hans Moore and Benoni High on Wednesday there were 24 Jeppe teams in action – and the 1st team didn’t have a game – that’s 25 teams in action

on the day, the most, Mr Gittins believes, the school has ever fielded.

Breidyn Schaper

ELITE ATHLETICS

The following athletes qualified to compete at SA schools championships during the holidays: Gabriel Zeid - Long Jump (Boys U17) Lesedi Moloto - Long Jump (Boys U17) Hopewell Nkosi - Steeple Chase (Boys U17) Ntuthuko Ndimande - 1 500m (Boys U19) They will be competing at the SA Schools championship in Port Elizabeth during the holidays on 21, 22 and 23 March 2019. DEBATING REPORT

The Jeppe debating club has been hard at work this term and is in the middle of their Atheneum and SACCE league debates. The first team has broken into the Provincial Cup league, while the second team has broken to the Provin-cial Plate league. The Junior teams will be completing their regional rounds next term. On the Model UN front, our boys have kicked off to a great start with our A team, comprising of Rorisang Rasagoete, Brendan Griffiths and Dan-iel Moffet achieving first place as the best delega-tion for representing Japan in a UNESCO de-bate.

We are looking forward to a busy Term 2.

ADMISSIONS DEPARTMENT NOTICE

The admissions office is open for enquiries and document delivery as follows Strictly: 08:00 - 14:00 Monday to Friday

Documents delivered outside these hours can be left with the Security Officer Enquiries outside these hours can be directed by email/phone to the staff listed below

Please use these contact details only as no other staff member can assist with Admissions Department matters!

Estelle Carstens = ecarstens@jeppeboys.co.za Ronald White = rwhite@jeppeboys.co.za

School Telephone: 011 614 1938 ext 231 or 232

mailto:ecarstens@jeppeboys.co.zamailto:rwhite@jeppeboys.co.za

NEW COLOURS RECIPIENTS - MARCH 2019

IMPORTANT DATES

RUGBY: AMAJUBA WEEK 2NDS, 3RDS, U16B/C SUN-WED, 17-20 MAR VOLKSRUST

RUGBY: U14A, U15A, U16A EASTERN CAPE TOUR MON-SUN, 18-24 MAR EASTERN CAPE

RUGBY: 1ST XV GREY PE FESTIVAL WED-SUN, 20-24 MAR PORT ELIZABETH

RUGBY: AMAJUBA WEEK U14B/C, U15B/C SUN-WED, 17-20 MAR VOLKSRUST

GR 9 JOURNEY WED-FRI, 27 MAR-5 APR DRAKENSBURG

HOCKEY: U16C EC FESTIVAL THU-SUN, 28-31 MAR BLOEMFORNTEIN

HOCKEY: U15A FESTIVAL FRI-SUN 29-31 MAR JEPPE HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS

GRADE 8 PARENT’S EVENING THU, 4 APR MEMORIAL HALL @ 18:00

GRADE 9 PARENT’S EVENING TUE, 9 APR MEMORIAL HALL @ 18:00

FET PARENT’S EVENING THU, 11 APR MEMORIAL HALL @ 18:00

RETENTION MEETINGS (SAME AS PARENT’S EVENINGS) - BY INVITATION MEMORIAL HALL @ 17:00

Scroll Dylan Authers

Half Colours

Connor Brinkman Dylan Brown

Jaydin Crickmore Cameron de Araujo

Joshua Pearson Zain Saeed

Kudzai Sojane

Full Colours Dameon Westley

Scroll Connor Cottam

Scroll Adam McLean

Sebastijan Stojanovic Jaren Wicht

Full Colours Kyle Gericke

Congratulations to the following learners on their sporting achievements for the Summer Season. Here are our colours recipients

for March 2019:

Scroll Ntando Ngwenya Lonwabo Dyantyi Allibhai Sohayl

Half Colours

Vincenzo Buczynski Justin Kalamer Simon Smith

Siphiwe Skosana Ocean Tshimbalanga

Full Colours

Peter Blackman Koketso Kekana

Scroll Shaveer Khan

Half Colours Joshua Taylor Brayden Hicks

Full Colours

Jared Laughton Cian Robertson

SWIMMING

TENNIS

WATER POLO

Scroll Remo Flaiani

Adam McLean

Half Colours Matthew Du Preez

Kyle Gericke

Full Colours Claus Kaminski

SOCCER

RETROSPECTIVE AWARD 2018

Half Colours Chad Le Roux

ROWING

ORIENTEERING

Scroll Taggart Campbell Pranav Harrichund Jadon Sundhowitz

William Sakir

Half Colours Brett Harzon

Matthew Leishman Timothy Lincoln

GOLF

Scroll Gregory Andersen

Half Colours Connor Jones Reece Palmer

BASKETBALL

CRICKET