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With the end of the academic year racing to the finish line the grade 9 class made their decisions on subject choice for the final phase of their secondary education. These life-changing decisions will not only impact the rest of their schooling career, but their futures as well.
Not too long ago, I sat in a webinar and listened to the great Anil Kumble give advice about leg-spin bowling. He played 132 Test matches and 271 ODI’s for India - taking 956 international wickets along the way (which ranks him as the third highest wicket taker in the history of the game). He was also a former head coach of the Indian cricket team. In 2015 he was inducted into ICC Hall of Fame and in 2005 he was awarded the Padma Shri, which is one of India’s highest civilian honours.
With exams having begun for most of the high school boys this week, many of the boys have reached a saturation point and cannot wait for the final examinations to be completed, so that they can enjoy a good break from the daily routine of school life.
Our community was rocked by the tragic passing of an Old Grameian recently; of course, all our thoughts and prayers are with his family. A colleague also had to say good-bye to a very dear family friend recently as well. When I read this extract, I knew that I needed to share it with them and our community. As always, I searched for the origins, and sadly, found the emotive story behind it wasnt that accurate. I am referring to the poem written by the Cranky Old Man. I was probably a little disappointed to discover that it was actually written by a nurse more than 50 years ago. Although the original is equally as powerful and emotive as the edited version. The Sunday Post explains the origins more accurately:
We had a very moving Grade 12 Prize Giving and Valedictory Service on Wednesday. It was so amazing for the Grade 12 class to still have this event, even though we had to limit the number of people in attendance. Interestingly, the same theme ran across all the speaker’s messages. That being in this difficult time, we simply cannot focus on what we have lost and havent had, but rather on what we can be grateful for. We can acknowledge that the year has been difficult, but we always need to look and find the positives. Only then will we be able to really move forward in a positive and constructive way.
We have come to the end of the Grade 12 Trial Examination period and have completed the prescribed assessments for all the other grades. Next Friday (23 October) the third term reports will be handed out. The marks reflected in these reports should be used as a guide to assess academic progress so far.
We had such an amazing celebration of leadership on Thursday. Our new leadership team was inducted, in what was the first gathering/ assembly in the hall since March. Due to covid limitations, we could only invite the Grade 11 group, staff and parents. We were thrilled that Professor Tabensky was able to join us as the guest speaker. Prof Tabensky is part of the Graeme family, and his son, Noah, is currently the Head Monitor of the junior school. He is the founding director of the Allan Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics (AGLE), Department of Philosophy, Rhodes University. He is the author of Happiness: Personhood, Community, Purpose and of several articles and book chapters. He is currently working on a book on Albert Camus and Frantz Fanon, two philosophers that were thinking deeply about the Algerian War while it was happening.
The 2021 Leadership Body/Portfolio Heads of Graeme College were announced this week and we congratulate this fine group of young men as they assume their new leadership roles and responsibilities.
One of the biggest values that we keep talking to our learners about, is integrity. Just by typing that, I realise how many newsletters have used that topic as the weekly focus. There was a significant event a few days ago, which has grabbed many headlines around the world with regards to sportsmanship and integrity.
Mountains, like rivers ,have been among our richest nature-drawn metaphors for making sense of our human lives and values. I recently came across a blogger on the internet who used the analogy of climbing a mountain to describe a good teacher. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.