We recently held our Junior School Prizegiving, and it was a wonderful celebration of our learners’ hard work, growth and achievements over the year.
A special highlight was a stunning speech delivered by Mr Swift, our Junior School Head of Department. His words were both inspiring and heartfelt, capturing the spirit of the school and the dedication of both learners and staff. It was a proud moment for everyone in the room.
We are so proud of all our prizewinners and grateful to our teachers and parents for their continued support throughout the year.
Message from Mr A. Swift:

“It is a privilege to be a South African and it is a privilege to be working at Graeme College. Being a Grade 12 History teacher is also a privilege – as I am reminded on a daily basis where we have come from as a nation. Engaging with our history also makes me determined to be a part of building a South Africa that most of us want to see in the future – which is why I teach at Graeme College. So where are we going as a school? To answer that question, I will start in the past.

The Grade 7 learners visit the Steve Biko Museum in Qonce (formerly Kingwilliamstown and Mr Ralo’s territory) as part of their Grade 7 camp. How many of you boys have heard of Steve Biko? Steven Bantu Biko is a South African hero. He is a hero because he gave up his life, fighting for a just and peaceful South Africa. He was a highly intelligent young man, who was studying to become a doctor. However, he realised that he had a more important task in life and that was to defeat apartheid, so he gave up his medical studies. In fighting apartheid he became an enemy of the government and he was arrested and beaten to death by the police.

We are an interesting country in that we have produced many people who one would consider heroic – you may have your won specific hero. Often, however, that heroism was in response to things that were dark and evil. So we can’t necessarily celebrate our past, but we can celebrate what that past brought out of people. South Africa has been – and still is – a breeding ground for heroes.

I asked the question earlier – where are we going as a school? Well, that depends on all of us sitting here together in his hall. Steve Biko decided that he was willing to die for a better South Africa. What are each of us willing to give, as we strive to be the best public boys’ school in South Africa?

I think a great many of us are willing to – and already do – give a great deal to the College. The one way that I like to think about Graeme College is as a community of heroes. Should it be necessary to be a hero to make a school work? Maybe not. But we are no ordinary school and we live in a not so ordinary country. So yes, I believe that in many ways we will have to be heroes if Graeme College is to remain at the forefront of education in South Africa.

Our Graeme parents are our first heroes. To be a successful parent in the 21st century is no easy task. To raise boys who are successful, respectful, ambitious, caring, honest and upright is hard. It’s hard – but if you are willing to do that hard work, it’s doable. If you are getting this right, as a great many Graeme parents are, then you are my hero. Graeme College parents also have to make financial sacrifices. For example, you pay to travel with the Graeme family to watch and support our rugby teams, you pay your school fees on time and in full – to the great many who do, you are my heroes.

Our teachers are our next group of heroes. And understand this clearly – teachers at Graeme College are most definitely heroes. They are heroes because of how much they give. Graeme teachers give and give and give – and importantly, they give without receiving any additional financial remuneration. They give because they believe in Graeme College and they believe in your boys, our Graemians. Heroes make sacrifices. One of the ways in which Graeme teachers sacrifice is through the amount of time that they commit to the school and the quality of work that they do during that time – often, way beyond the call of duty. Some examples – Mr Fischer, Mr Mafane and Mr Schneigansz are heroes because they coach cricket and rugby. This means that every single Saturday of their year (sometimes even in the holidays) is given over to their cricket and rugby boys. And what a job they do. Mrs Danilatos and Mr Dettmer are heroes – giving up a week of their lives to give a group of Grade 7s the experience of a lifetime in Cape Town. Mr Bodenstein is a hero – single-handedly organizing a primary schools squash festival that is attended by schools from around the country. Mr Kilian is a hero – organizing multiple rugby fixtures for every single Junior School rugby team over a 20-week season. Mrs Greyling is a hero, who in her 30th year of teaching at the College, becomes a Graeme legend. Consistent decency, kindness, professionalism day after day after, for 30 years – and counting. Mrs Banks is a hero for getting the Junior Choir up and running and performing. Mrs Busshion is a hero for the beautiful artwork that comes out of the art room. Mr Xonxa is a hero for being a fantastic role-model to our boys in showing what can be achieved in life and having a proper spirit of adventure. Ms de Jongh is a hero for her acts of kindness and creativity, such as her t-shirt design competition. Finally, Mr Watson and Mr von Molendorff are heroes, for being willing to lead in the tough, tiring, energy-sapping environment that public school education can be. The list goes on and on…and the high school or Foundation Phase would tell exactly the same story. Good people of the Graeme College community, recognise what you have here at Graeme College – and out of that recognition let gratefulness, thankfulness, appreciation, support and protection flow.

Our next group of heroes are the Graemians seated here today. Often, a hero is a hero because they achieve something even though the odds are stacked against them. We have heroes in spades here. In every test passed, in every distinction gained, we have a hero. In every act of respect, such as greeting an adult and allowing them to walk first through a door, we have a hero. In the Grade 5 boy who saw something that he knew was wrong and immediately reported it to his class teacher, we have a hero. In every act of determination and courage on the sports field, we have heroes. In publicly performing as a music student, as an individual or as a group, we have heroes. In a Grade 7 monitor putting up and taking down the South African flag every single day, without fail, we have a hero. In our 4 best speakers operating at the highest level we have seen in years – we have heroes. The list goes on and on and on. Well done boys, understand what your achievements – big and small mean – you are my heroes. Keep it up. Keep fighting the good fight. And, through your heroic acts – big and small – continue to make the College the magnificent and special place that it is.

I believe that Graeme College is a community of heroes because of what it achieves with what it has. We remember David defeating Goliath because it was an unlikely outcome – a young boy volunteers to fight an enormous adult warrior, who none of the adult Israelite soldiers are willing to fight and he defeats him. Graeme College achieves beyond expectations time and time and time again. Graeme College is a modern-day David, staring down whatever it faces – because the battles are many and can be properly intimidating – and prevailing and emerging victorious – time and time again.

So my challenge to all of us seated here today – as well as those who are not present – is that we will all have to be heroes if Graeme College is going to continue to succeed and flourish in the future. We will all have to continue to make sacrifices. As a teacher with a few decades of experience under the belt I’m telling you that teaching at Graeme College is hard – but it is hard in a good way. Graeme College is a place of purpose where you know that the hardness of the work is OK because it is making a proper difference in this community, in this special nation of South Africa. So to all of us, continue to be a David and continue to slay the Goliaths. This is a school that deserves it. And this is a school that is worth it.

God bless Africa
Guard her children
Guide her leaders
And give her peace
And let that peace begin with me
Virtute et Opera
Courage and Toil
I thank you”