Fathers do Make a Difference

I asked one of our music staff, Albert Combrink if he would train up some of the girls who were attending the Fathers/ Daughters evening to sing Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’ at the Fathers/Daughters dinner. The girls sang it beautifully. The lyrics can be used in so many different situations, but at an evening like this, I used them to sum up what every father would like to say to his daughter:

When you're weary, feeling small

When tears are in your eyes, I'll dry them all

I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough

And friends just can't be found

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down

When you're down and out

When you're on the street

When evening falls so hard

I will comfort you

I'll take your part, oh, when darkness comes

And pain is all around

Like a bridge over troubled water

I will lay me down

It is not easy going through teenage years - the bridge between childhood and adolescence - as there are so many ‘sharks' and ‘piranhas' out there in the rivers which all teenagers have to cross in the form of alcohol, drugs, sex, clubs. Good fathers are there building the bridges for their daughters to use so that they can cross these dangers safely.

At the same time, fathers provide the role models against whom all future male friends and partners will be measured. Do they display the virtues of kindness, consideration and respect which one day our girls will expect from all men? I urged the fathers present to ‘make memories’ with their daughters as, before they know it, the teenage years would have flown past. Walking up the mountain together, a father/ daughter beach trip, a movie, a drive on a rainy day. I elicited a laugh when I suggested that they asked their daughters out for a date - dressing up, opening the door, pulling out the chair, choosing from a menu together.

Back at school after the dinner, I asked some of my classes what they are learning from their fathers.

‘My father is very successful in his business and I see how hard he works. He has taught me that if I am to be successful, I must work just as hard.’

‘I was always taking life far too seriously, especially in the junior grades. My Dad taught me a sense of humour and to see the funny side of life.’

‘My father has always insisted that I keep a balance about everything I do at school. I now sing in the choir and play sport - and if anything, my schoolwork has improved.’

‘Most of my friends say that they fight with their fathers. As I have grown up, I have found that I can speak to my father about so many things. He is such a good listener - and he only gives me advice if I ask for it.’

‘My Dad is super-strict. I always have a curfew but if I stick to it, everything is fine. I once blew it and he grounded me for over a month!’

And then came the ultimate accolade. ‘My Dad is always going on about what my mother has achieved. I hope I can live up to what my Mom has done.’

Virtually all the girls were appreciative that their fathers made the effort to come to the dinner. On one aspect there was no accord - whether their fathers looked good in pink. Some girls were openly embarrassed while others pretended to ignore the dress sense of their fathers. I, of course, was wearing a pink shirt with matching cuff links and was quite proud of myself - until someone made a remark that dressed in all that pink, clearly I was aspiring to be at Herschel. Not easy to have a come-back line to that!

I chatted to one of our Springfield mothers at hockey on Saturday. ‘That was such a special time for the two of them at the dinner. She needed that Dad-Time.’

On the way home, I kept wondering whether Simon and Garfunkel realise what effect their song would still be having nearly fifty years after they first sung it. We are now two generations on from that time and our children today, who are journeying over that bridge, still need the guiding hand and encouraging support of their fathers.

Well done to all who attended. It really was a good evening. It is a pity that no girl knew who Simon & Garfunkel were.

Keith Richardson

Headmaster

At the age of 5, he wrote a concerto for the harpsicord, before he was 10 he published several violin concertos, at the age of 12 he produced his first opera and was invited to conduct the celebrated Salzburg Philharmonic. At 35 he had written 48 symphonies and by the time he died had produced 600 serious bits of music.

For all this prodigious output Mozart lived with the greatest shadows hovering over him. For most of his adult life the spectre of poverty hung over him, he struggled with meaningful relationships, had an unhappy marriage, suffered serious bouts of illness and died in obscurity. Only a handful of mourners attended his funeral and as the cortege left the church an almighty storm broke loose and no one followed the funeral procession to the cemetery with the result that to this day no one is absolutely sure of the site his grave.

Yet, across the world in opera houses and concert halls amidst diverse cultures and throughout the past centuries, no one remembers those details, no one judges his failures or his circumstances, what lives in people’s hearts, what has caused the human spirit to soar, what has pierced cultural darkness and triumphed over despair is the legacy of his music.

Real leaders says Paulo Coelho in one of his novels, leave legacies that liberate.

So take heart Sylvester, take heart as you embark on this ministry of leadership…..the world and it’s people will not (as with Mozart) keep an account of your mistakes, they will not remember forever your poor decisions or lapses in judgement, those will fade but they will remember the legacy that your ministry amongst us, shapes. They will remember your ministry on the margins and the way it liberates and offers agency to the poor and those who have no voice in the institutions of power or in the church.

They will remember the acts of humble service to those whose intellectual journeys and human experiences, force them to raise questions which are awkward and provoke new thinking.

They will remember the times your legacy liberated hearts that hurt. The times when being in touch with your own humanity: the disturbed, the doubting, the disillusioned felt the arm of a non-judgemental brother around them and the heart of a humble shepherd beat alongside them. In William Sloane Coffins poignant words, ‘those who discover in your ministry that your heart is a little to the left.’ Corragio my brother! It is the Lord who calls and who calls you tonight to the legacy and the liberating presence of the towel and the basin.

Your Oblate brother and friend Ronald Rolheiser reminds us that as Jesus approached the basin and the towel, he took off his outer garments. The reference is not primarily to the Gucchi outfit or the Gammerellis watersilk soutanes, although those were taken off as well. No, he took off, rather, the outer garments, those seductive tentacles of status, of power, of class, of elitist titles, the stirrings of ambition that lurk in our secret places, the outer garments that masquerade under the allure of race and privilege and instead he reached out as a man among others, he touched people like himself and entered a world of unrestricted, unbounded service: where that service, and not the outer garments became the sign of his identity. Sylvester we pray that you will find your identity and your dignity there amongst the smelly calloused feet of the broken, struggling people.

Just two weeks ago that legendary Jesuit theologian, Michael Buckley died.

My generation have written into our hearts that magnificent sermon he preached to a group of Jesuits, where he considered the great needs of the priesthood, the need for ever greater professionalism, for intellectual rigour, for confidence and capabilities that indicated worthiness in any profession. He paused for a moment and compared Jesus’ death to that of Socrates. He noted in passing that Jesus wept over Jerusalem but Socrates never shed a tear over Athens. He noted that Socrates went to his death unflinching, unemotional and stoic. While Jesus went to his death thirsting, crying in desolation, feeling forsaken, suffering in spirit and deeply vulnerable. He told those Jesuits that that truth reversed the normal question for leadership in the Church. It was not so much about whether you are confident, inflexible, capable and strong enough for ministry, but rather are you weak enough, vulnerable enough, to reach out and to become what we touch daily…..the broken Body of Christ.

Sylvester our prayer for you tonight is not that you will be strong, powerful, strident or politically correct church wise, but that you will, in service, always be weak enough to be in touch with your own humanity, with the places where you experience brokenness, so that you will treasure the fragile humanity of others and not trample on it. That you will be weak enough to know daily your need of God whose dwelling is most often in unexpected sometimes scandalous places. That you will be weak enough to know that there are often more questions than answers and that you do not and will not and need not have all the answers and that that’s ok.

Pope Francis who leads us so wonderfully, so prophetically in these days, bids you especially to increasingly smell like the sheep. Live with us, brother. Smell like us, search with us, struggle with us, offer us your friendship and share your wisdom, knowing all the time that we also have ours. Pray with us, theologise with us on the margins and where you must, lead us gently, step by tentative step, so that together we will journey into the realisation that slowly the kingdom of this world is becoming the Kingdom of our God.

Ad multos annos.

Rev Fr Peter John Pearson

Scaffolding in St John’s Road

One of the houses in St John’s Road is doing alterations and there will be scaffolding in the road for two weeks. We urge drivers to be patient while waiting for their daughters and not to park in St John's Road as this will cause further congestion and delays.

Engineering Graphics and Design as an Additional Subject

Engineering Graphics and Design is a technical subject consisting of a pure drawing component. It provides a foundation and understanding of engineering and architecture in Grades 10, 11 and 12. The subject develops pupils' mathematical and technical skills in preparing them for the demanding study and work industry. Although this subject is not available at Springfield, it can be taken as an additional subject at the New Dimensions School of Design. The classes for Grade 10 in 2020 will take place on Mondays from 15:30 - 18:00 and cost R250 per month, running from January to November. Assessments take place according to the CAPS document and marks are communicated to the school for inclusion in our termly reports. Further information is available on the New Dimensions School of Design's website http://www.schoolofdesign.co.za or from Mr Riedewaan Bassier at ND@schoolofdesign.co.za or 083 461 0750.

Grade 10 2020 Subject Choice

This year's Grade 9s are busy choosing their subjects for next year. If your daughter is in Grade 9, please ensure that the subject choice form is submitted by 6 September 2019. Once the subject choice has been finalised, appointments will be made for any consultations that need to take place before a written confirmation is given to each learner.

English Alive

Congratulations to the following girls for having their writing selected for publication in "English Alive": Claire Campbell wrote "Impure" (Grade 10), Cara Ronan (Grade 10) wrote "Passing by", Jess Holing (Gr 12) wrote "in our hands" and Kylie Venter (Grade 12) wrote "The Kalahari". As "English Alive" receives thousands of entries and is a National publication, this is a huge achievement.

Kaapse Afrikaanse Eisteddfod

Kirsten Stabrey participated in the Kaapse Afrikaanse Eisteddfod on the 4th of August and received a Silver medal in the Woodwind Age 16 category and a Gold medal in the Woodwind Senior Category

Cape Town Ballet Eisteddfod

Grace Welfare in Grade 8-1 recently participated the Cape Town Ballet Eisteddfod. She was the winner of the classical solo set and achieved a diploma in the demi character solo set and danced in the finals. She was also a winner in the small group and large group items.

Debating

Congratulations to our brilliant Junior debating team (Morgan Leak, Kate Thomas, Rachael Muller, Olivia Fuller and Angelique Cohen), who won the Rotary Western Province Junior Debating league competition . After an exciting debate, they retained the trophy that they won last year. Thank you to all the Springfield parents, staff, students and Senior Debating team members who came to support them.

Please remember to support Sunflower Day and/Or Casual Day by clicking on the link below to place your order for a sticker or tope by end of today (Wednesday, 28 August): You will be informed when the topes and stickers arrive and where you can collect them.

On the Sunday the U12, U14, U16 and U19 teams played at an InterFaith tournament hosted by Herzlia. This tournament gave the teams a chance to get to know people of other faiths and to learn a little bit about them. In particular the girls appreciated being part of all the different morning prayers. This was a successful day for Springfield netball with all the teams winning all their matches and winning the tournament. Congratulations to Gina du Toit (Gr11) for being named senior player of the tournament and well done to all the teams on a great end to the season!

Leah Schreuder, Maryam Abrahams and Nuha Hassen

Leah Schreuder Grade 8, Maryam Abrahams Grade 8 and Nuha Hassen Grade 9 and were selected by the adjudicators to exhibit their work in Zeitz Moccaa as part of the Provincial Visual Arts Celebration in October. The girls received their awards at the District Visual Arts Awards on the 22 August at West End Primary School.