Edition 6: 27 February 2020

Dear Clifton Family

The past seven weeks have been busy yet fruitful. My thanks to all FP parents, teachers and boys for what has been achieved so far. As always Clifton has been a very exciting and action-packed place for the boys!

I have recently been visiting the Grades 1 to 3 classrooms and observing all the great teaching and learning taking place. The boys are being kept very busy and are equally excited about their ever-increasing knowledge. I am continually impressed with the boy’s positive learning attitudes and how much they are willing to help and support each other. Teachers will give them challenging activities and they will constantly try their best and never give up. There is always a positive ‘buzz’ in the classrooms and the boys want to talk about their learning and share their achievements. One thing is for sure; your son’s never have the chance to get bored at Clifton!

A glimpse into Gr R…

Play forms a big part of the curriculum in Grade R. The benefit of play for learning at this age simply cannot be discounted. It is always a delight to watch the Red Ants at play. This truly energises the soul! On one end of the ‘astro’, you have soccer being played with the space being transformed into a stadium. On the other end, you can find boys in the sandpit or playing basketball. What an awesome sight to behold!

At the end of last year I moved out of my office to make room for a Fantasy Area for Grade R, which thus far has been the best move ever. The Fantasy Area provides an opportunity for deep learning and social skill building through imaginative play.

The boys have thoroughly enjoyed using the space and all the new fantasy furniture purchased. This is so in line with Albert Einstein’s eloquent statement: “Imagination is everything. It is the preview for life’s coming attractions.” 

Clifton congratulates…

Jack Spence who competed in the Troutbeck ATU Triathlon Africa Cup in Zimbabwe last weekend. Jack placed second in the Junior Elite Men’s U19 race. An excellent achievement, Jack!

Ollie Rey who won the KZN U10 Mini Tennis Tournament at Westridge in February.

Rishabh Nathwani, who has made the eThekwini Primary School Under 13 District Tennis Team and will be taking part in the KwaZulu-Natal Inter-regional Trials from 28 February – 1 March.

The following College boys who won their sections in the Ethekweni Tennis Trials:

U19: Thomas Rey, Calum Jestin and Karan Varyani

U15: William Hermelin

Dwala Mkuzo is also through to play in the KZN trials and Ysusf Habib has been selected as a non-travelling reserve. They will be playing in the KZN Schools Inter-Regional Tournament, from 6 – 8 March.

Well done to the Clifton gents who competed in the KZN Junior Lifesaving Championships held on Sunday 2 February.

The results were as follows:

U19

• George Edward 41 points and winner of the title of U19 Competitor of the Championship
• James Matthews: 39 points
• Scott Cliff: 37 points
• Matthew Doyle: 36 points
• Conna Steadman: 34 points
• William Pearse: 30 points
• Brent Pearson: 9 points

U17

• Luke Achmad: 25 points
• Matthew Reinders: 23 points

U15

• Matthew Coetzer: 59 points and winner of the title of U15 Competitor of the Championship
• Kristian Muller 31 points

The KZN Senior Lifesaving Championships was held on Sunday 23 February. This is actually an event for men 19 years and older, however, our Junior men competed, and their results are as follows:

Competitor of the Championship: George Edward

• George Edward: 26 points
• James Matthews: 12 points
• Matthew Doyle: 11 points
• Conna Steadman: 9 points
• Brent Pearson: 9 points
• William Pearse 8 points
• Scott Cliff: 2 points

Congratulations to our newly elected Student Council for 2020!

We wish our 1st XI and their coaching staff who are on tour at St Alban’s all the best for the Independent Schools Cricket Festival. Keep up the great play, gents!

The Grade 6 Outreach Club enjoyed a visit from KZN Valley Dogs. The boys collected dog, cat and chicken food to donate to this organization. The KZNVD staff go into the Inanda Valley every Sunday to help to feed the animals living in the poor communities of the valley. They also help with sterilization projects and an array of other things! Greyhounds JJ and King came along to visit us as well as little Munchkin. The boys thoroughly enjoyed having them here and racing the dogs across the field!

Clifton Old Boys

We were very grateful to have a visit from Cameron Maingard (Deputy Head Boy and proxime accessit Dux 2015), who popped in to speak to the Clifton College Accounting boys about the  BCom Acc degree, life at university and the Board 1 exam. He is travelling overseas shortly – leaving next week – so we were very lucky to catch him before he left!

Thanks for joining us, Cameron!