Termly Reflection 

Of Kites and Wood Owls…

In one of our previous missives, mention was made of Mr Julian Roger Ellis (1968) sharing stories of kite-flying on Sunrise Ridge during his years at Clifton. He would have been thrilled to see our Grade 4s hurtling around a week or two ago, with kites either bumping along the ground, spiralling like Whirling Dervishes or taking flight. While there were a variety of kite designs, there was only one type of smiling… the biggest kind!

It has been yet another fulfilling, busy term for our children, with all the end of year excitement adding a certain flavour to events. For the Grade 7s, of course, there have been a great number of ‘lasts’; bittersweet moments as they prepare to depart our gates. They will have experienced their last Grade 4 Farmer’s Market, Inter-house Gala, Carol Service, Inter-house Music Competition, Boeresportdag, Remembrance Day, and Boarder’s Dinner, amongst a number of other events… and yes, possibly their last night run, too! That said, the number of night runs is reportedly on the decline of late. This may be as a result of Colonel Greene’s ghost’s visit to Grade 5 Neary, who were the winners of the ‘Night in the Library’ sleepover… the good Colonel wasn’t present at the Grade 4 trip to Roselands, somehow. Interesting.   

It's been a wonderfully busy calendar for our children… what a range of activities. Clifton College, Durban (the ‘big boys’) visited us as part of their tour. We were also fortunate enough to have the Senior Primary Art Exhibition, with Sarah Richards as our guest. The Junior Primary have been off to Hilton and Michaelhouse campuses for visits to their reserve and very impressive Science labs, respectively. Add to this a Christmas Café, a day trip to a farm, some tunnelling, Nativity Play, more tunnelling, a first-time playing hardball cricket, Teddy Bear’s picnic for the Pre-Primary, ‘Talking Drums’ visit, a trip to the Crane Foundation, overnighting at Tala Game Reserve, a day trip to Peter’s Gate Herbs, and more tunnelling, and you have to agree that the children are being exposed to such good ‘stuff’ and grown in so many ways. The teachers are also being grown – we now have a good few more Level 2 First Aiders, as well as firefighting personnel, both thanks to in-house training sessions.

Change is exciting within a school context, and we are most fortunate to have an active, passionate Trust to facilitate and oversee our upgrades. If you haven’t visited the school in a while, please do. There has been an intentional upgrade to the Grade 4 area, including the San, with the bathroom area of Grade 5 a further advantage. Beyond the San area is a fresh page of hillside. While there may have been initial consternation at the creation of ‘Chopped Woods’,  a short stroll to the hillside will allow the ‘consterned’ (a new word invented for this piece) to see that there are several hundred indigenous trees and shrubs replacing the end-of-life Gums that have served their purpose as windbreaks and homes for various birds. One of these are the African Wood Owl. One cannot help but smile when the female calls. Never heard it? Click this link

It was with great excitement that a group of our Grade 7 twitchers summoned Mr Veenstra into the woods to show him not one, not two, but four African Wood Owls. Two of them are fledglings. With the mournful calls of the Buff-Spotted Flufftails joining the owls at night, the woods are very much alive. It may be of interest to know that a total of over 2500 indigenous trees and shrubs have been planted this year! The Lorax would be so very proud. The ability to dig holes is a wonderful skill for small boys to develop. Young Spencer Purdy proudly presented us with a perfectly preserved inkpot, found in the newly exposed area of Top Woods recently… now how did that get there?

With Speech Day now behind us, and the campus without the happy shouts of children, it all seems to have happened a bit too quickly. The school will prepare for the arrival of Mr Brown, Clifton’s 11th Headmaster, and have time to reflect on the legacy left by Mr Fleischack. It is one for which we are grateful.

Mevrou Liza Borgen has retired, along with Mrs Sylvia Zuma and Mrs Jeslina Ngcobo, with a combined total of 76 years of service to the school. How fortunate we are to have benefitted from their passion expertise and selflessness. 

With 2026 earmarked as a year for upgrading of facilities (Grade 4 block, Library, Boys’ House) there will be a little more activity on campus than usual. Perhaps we shall take our lead from the African Wood Owls in adjusting to this with little fuss. It’s going to be quite an experience watching our beautiful campus transform and begin its next metamorphosis in ensuring we provide the very best for our children.

What a gift.