The Manic Matric Outing to Robertson

The purpose of the weekend was to build up some team spirit and for the Housemaster to get to know his matrics better outside of the the White House walls and the Bishops environment.

We departed just after two on Saturday the 16th, after the tough Paarl Gym fixture, where only a handful of sides managed victory, but this was not of any concern as the 1st XV won so nothing else really mattered. The boys were hardly out of the gate and the housemaster found himself driving alone in spirit not in body with his bus heaving to the rythm of sleep, some other gutteral noises post the House lunch and the blast of the South Easter which seemed intent on shoulder charging us off the road at times. The Siyaya bus is not designed for heavy weather! It was to be a very long trip as we were held up for an hour on the N1 just past Century City - an ideal place to have an impromptu Geography lesson on land use zones and outlying business centres, I thought, but like my usual classroom attempts to smarten them up, the boys were fast asleep. In fact, Brandon Wheeler was seldom awake on the whole trip except to eat and this he did with exuberance. Before we reached the tunnel, Foxcroft phoned me, "Sir, is Earl in your bus?" he asked timidly. NOT. So much for team work! He had fallen asleep after lunch and never woke until after three. Earl would not be joining us, sadly. 

Through Paarl, Worcester, and Robertson on our way to our first stop for wine tasting at the very invite of a past head of White House, Jamie deWet, who now assists in the running of the family farm, Arabella. While taking the boys through some of their range, he explained certain important nuances of the various wines which for some of the boys was a first. There is not a lot of wine up in Namibia for the likes of Shiraz, ironic I know, and Kevin. Jordan, also Namibia, who does not drink, showed some serious interest in the aroma of the various vintages. I am sure in an attempt to cleanse his nasal passages after having to share the back seat of the bus with blustery Brandon.

We were also treated to an intriguing tour of the wine cellars and distilleries. The magnitude and intricacy of the farm's wine operation was fascinating. An interesting tit-bit was the reason they produce mainly screw tops. Not as you would imagine for the freshness, or the cost as it is more expensive but for convenience. They also export 40% of their wine. Luckily the boys have not acquired the taste for wine yet so the experience was a good and wholesome one.

We then arrived, famished again, at our destination, Nerina Guest Farm, right on the bank of the river and had an amazing braai where adding brown onion soup as a sprinkle to the chops before braaing was discovered to be delicious! I will certainly try it again. Everyone was exhausted after the trip and the rugby so bed was called for much earlier than expected after some intriguing banter around the fire in the boma.

We awoke to a huge farm breakfast after a good nights sleep and soon afterwards departed for Bonnievale Golf course. Teams were drawn and the game was for the team to only share three clubs and a putter. The best shot was where all the others then played from. It was soon evident that the golfing ability of the group was abysmal so I knew it unlikely that we would all finish the round. Jordan missed his first three attempts but eventually got the ball to launch. Carl the stooge also struggled admirably but toiled on into the steadily growing heat. Ultimately, only two lads finished the round, Tshepo and Kris, who had obviously played before. By the end of the golf it was early afternoon and the heat had become stifling. We ambled aboard the busses and tragedy struck. KB on entering a bus bumped his head on the door arch which had lost its rubber protection and literally sliced his head open. Blood poured from his head like a leaking tap and most boys recoiled back into the bus, but for Mike Foxcroft and Mike Korniew showed no signs of squimishness and assisted me in trying to stop the flow. Getting the doctor out on a Sunday afternoon in Bonnies is not easy, but she arrived and then embarked the cleaning, stitiching and injecting. It was a long and horrible affair which left us only to return to base, pick up our goods and depart. Again, the boys were famished as we had missed out on our promise of braaied toasties due to the KB affair, not that the boys were at all hungry at that stage so we stopped in Worcester, mainly due to Cameron's menacing grimmace which was becoming more and more threatening so it was thought wise to stop. Apparently he becomes quiet violent when not fed. KB looked ridiculous with wads of head bandage rapped around him as he strutted to collect a Steer's Burger, but obviously he was obviously feeling better.

My summary: Too far, too short a time, but spending time with these boys is always going to be worth it. Characters they all are; weird and wonderful without doubt. It was memorable.

So much for etiquette - no shirts, slops and Alex McGregor's textbook-perfect bad swing. At least he was dressed properly. KB looks more like swotting flies.

Some serious tasters.

Our friendly and accomadating host, Jamie deWet

The hero of the trip- still smiling!

Welcome Back from the Housemaster

Hi Boys and Parents


Welcome back to term two and what an odd term it appears to be.

I have just returned from a magnificent trip and stay at the Ocean View Hotel in Coffee Bay on the Wild Coast. My family and I had a marvellous time and although it was a long way, it was worth every hard kilometre of tarmac to get there and back as the weather was

cosy, just how I like it, the beach was pristine and the water like bath water. Once again, I proved a brave fisherman, but had a lot of fun doing it. My two eldest girls learned to surf while I flopped around in the large and consistent surf, mostly off board. It is so wonderful to visit a place that is so wild and a throwback to years gone by. It is also good to see that some strides are being made to ease the lives of the poor rural communities in the area, but not enough I think.

Ten days of school and then another ten days of holiday! The chilling thing is that in total there are only 22 school days before mid-year exams. If this does not send the shivers through the boys then nothing will....unless they are of course completely prepared and ready.

So the boys should realize that there is no time to dawdle and all class time must be sacred time and not be wasted. I am sure all of you will also agree that the next holiday must be seen as a working holiday in which to catch up on work missed and start putting together revision and preparation for the forthcoming exams. I know my daughter in grade 8, although we will be at the Breede River, will be hard at work for 3 hrs a day! PLEASE SEE THE TERM CALENDAR ALONGSIDE THE BLOG- just click to open.

We also have the Eisteddfod at the end of the term and I know that the leaders in-charge here, specifically K-B, Andrew and Alex. I know the lads are determined not only to beat a day boy house in the singing, but also to beat them one over all. Despite this being the start of the Winter Sports Term, our focus is very much as a House on academic and cultural pursuits. It comes a welcome relief from the testosterone flexing of the first term.

Last term was a very long term and an exceptionally busy one. It never ceases to amaze me how busy Bishops is. More than other schools? I am not so sure. I taught at Sacs for a number of years in the mid 90s and always remember that after 5-30pm the school emptied almost entirely and it was often the headmaster who closed the massive front door behind him signalling the end of the day. I often take a stroll with Eddy, my side-kick, before supper in Summer and am always astonished by what happens here in the evenings when most people are knocking off. The music school is heaving with choir, band practices and other assemblies of sound; the shrill blast of a Fox water polo whistle signals only the start of a practice for some ; clanking of weights and grunts from those under them can be heard from the gym; shouts of ‘howzat’ echo on the Frank Reid as the lights flicker on for yet another 20/20 or day night match; boys dart around chasing a white oval ball, and each other, for yet another game of ‘touchies’ on the Sahara or Avenue; a teacher pulls up in a well used car, returning to school for ‘Dance Club’ or a society with another extraordinary guest speaker; the Theatre doors swing open in preparation for the evenings rehearsal as an assortment of stage hands drift in. No boarder could tell me he does not have enough to do and it is normally the opposite. Being busy and tired are not bad things. To the contrary, it would be more of a problem if this was not so. However, I do know that your sons were exhausted when they returned and this is both good and normal....for Bishops boys. I do know that the boys deserved and needed a holiday.

I know boys swear a lot and for so many unconscious and conscious reasons. However, I have noticed that it is on the increase and when I chat to some older members of staff they will tell you it is definitely worse. It is interesting to note that some research will tell you that swearing was more prevalent in the 80s when I was at school and I am sure many of you were to. Did we swear as much? Do you remember our parents hating our music as well? Do you hate most of your son’s music – maybe hate is too strong a word, but yes I hate a lot of my daughters’ music. Swear words flood through my mind when I want to describe it. That type of swearing is understandable as it is the very worst description I can give to something I loathe or detest. I do keep it to myself. However, this is not the type of swearing I loathe. This type of swearing is like using the hooter on your car, which can be used to signify a number of emotions (e.g., anger, frustration, joy, surprise). When I blast my hooter, it is therapeutic. Unless the person stops and gets out of their car, of course.

I think almost all people swear, and people swear pretty consistently throughout their lifetime — from the moment they can speak to the day they die. Swearing is almost a universal constant in most people’s lives. Apparently research has shown we swear on average from 0.3% to 0.7% of the time — a tiny but significant percentage of our overall speech. Swearing is more common than you might think, especially by those from ages 12 to 25.

Personality research suggests that people who swear more, not surprisingly, score higher on traits such as extraversion, dominance, hostility and Type A personalities. Swearing is not just for the uneducated or people of a lower socioeconomic class — it knows no social boundaries in its expression, but it does have social consequences.

I really do think we need to make our boys more aware of the consequences of swearing and the image it creates of them. I have not even got onto the subject of swearing on Facebook,BBM etc.I am going to make this a focus of the term and we will be having an initiative to make swearing a conscious decision. However, here are some reasons not to swear:

Your parents really like it

Other people really respect you for it

It shows you are well brought up

It reflects your admirable thinking skills

It shows how well educated you are

Your girlfriend will love you for it and

Girls find it an attractive qulity

It impresses strangers enormously

It will attract first-rate people to you

and above all

It proves you are a man!

On the last Monday evening of term, we had the end of term sports awards dinner. It was a marvellous evening with lots of well deserved awards being handed out to so many of our sportsmen. On top of this, we were able to thank Miss Zandy Bryant our san sister who will be leaving us at the end of the term. I know the boys have enjoyed her quirky humour and lively personality on top of the care she has given our lads. She admitted to the staff in attendance that secretly she preferred the White House lads! The best part of the evening was that our leaders- in-charge of sport, Michael Foxcroft and Kris Otto, both organised and led the whole event exceptionally well. Well done to both of them. The spoon banging and each boy’s toasting the House was certainly something to savour. You can seed Michael Foxcroft’s speech and see the awards in the previous blog and main pages.

Congratulations Jaydon Farao and jack Hanekom who have been selected to go on the grade 10 exchange programme. Jaydon is going to St John’s School in England and Jack is going to Geelong Grammar School in Australia. Well done to both of them especially when one considers how rigorous the selection process is.

Jack Nebe returned from Mexico playing ice hockey for South Africa U18 at the end of last term and was awarded the top goalie in the tournament award. Considering the competition at the tournament, Jack can be very proud of his achievement. Well done Jack!

James Drummond is in Amsterdam at a training camp for hockey for preparation for duty in South African U18 side later in the year. Staying on the hockey front, Matthew How Saw-Keng , Jack Nebe and Francesco Paulucci de Calboli all ravelled to Port Elizabeth with Mr Wallace’s 1st Team Hockey to the Grey High School Festival.

We had a number of rugby players going to PE to the same Festival, but the rugby part; Cameron, Vinokur, Tshepo Motale, Kris Otto and Jason Morris where they will be representing the 1st XV. They beat Maritzburg College, but lost to Selborne College.

Congratulations to Michael Korneiew (Head of House) who was awarded full colours for shooting at the end of the term and to Egor Archipov (grade 11) who was awarded half- colours.

The matrics will be away after the rugby this weekend until tea break on Monday morning. We will be on camp!

Please also note the date of our Pub Quiz Evening which is set for the 20th May. We will be having a parents committee meeting next week to discuss arrangements for this evening and I will post information to you. This is the function we postponed from last term.

Excuse the lengthy newsletter.

Take care

Angus