The week is passing like sand through an hour glass and yet another Take Note is being prepared for the parent body and broader community. I found this article below, related to assessment and schooling in the UK, but which is nonetheless relevant to our schooling system in RSA.

POLAR BEAR SWIM

JAPANESE SALARYMEN

Follow me to page 2

16/06/2017 I TERM 2 I NEWSLETTER

ISSUE

52

INSIDE

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank the School community for producing yet another great MiMs weekend. In particular, I would like to thank all the boys for their tremendous resilience, dedication and professionalism during the preparation and the event itself. We

JAPANESE SALARYMEN…CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

My son recently received his preliminary exam timetable for matric, which includes thirteen exams in eighteen days, and the ‘system’ expects distinctions in every exam, and from every boy? How realistic is that? Caitlin Moran has some insights into this, and like all thinking people, we should consider our views on the matter. Enjoy some brain food for the weekend.

Japanese Salarymen

By: Caitlin Moran

“Hello, people out there dealing with the last, sweaty summer days of exams. SAT’s, GCSE’s, A-levels. Handing in your work and waiting to be told if you’re a 1, or a 4, or a 9, an A, a B or a D. Where do you score on the centile? What answer will you get from the academic Sorting Hat about your current potential; your future prospects? You are waiting to be told – let’s be honest - about how happy, and hopeful, you should feel about being you. And later, you will find out how everyone else did – how this year’s GCSE and A-level results compare with last year’s. How successful our children are. Our yearly audit of progress.

I know we all live in echo chambers and bubbles these days, but I don’t know any parent not helpless with fury over all the testing and pressure 21st-century children go through. For a prosperous county not at war, these seem times of inexplicably high anxiety to be raising a child. Yes, the economy and, yes, the housing market and, yes, the speed of modern life – and yet, even these things do not explain the scale of mental illness in the young; the NHS and Department of Education reporting the number of girls being treated for self-harm has risen 285 percent, and treatment for eating disorders is up 127 percent. A third of teenage girls in the UK say they suffer from depression or anxiety. A third. Perhaps you know one of these unhappy children. Statistics suggest you do.

These figures cannot be anything but a source of deep, deep, shame for our country. I wonder how we would feel – how politics would change - if, instead of reporting on the fluctuations of the Stock Exchange, we had nightly reports on admissions to mental health services for the young instead. In a few short decades, these troubled, self-hating children will run this country. Britain – as with every country – will become its young. What can that country be?

As we swelter through a summer of tests, and exams – learning statistics, evaluating them – there’s another statistic we should attend to: The Warwick Commission’s findings on arts education in schools. They found a steep decline in pupils taking arts GCSE’s: a 23 percent drop in drama, 50 percent in design and technology, 25 percent in crafts based subjects. At the same time, physical exercise is in decline in Wales, only 15 percent of secondary schoolchildren do two hours of PE a week; 70 percent of under-tens no longer learn dance.

We are programmed to think these are ‘soft’ subjects – nothing to do with the building of a strong economy! Luxuries! – but these are the hours in which young people do that vital thing; lose themselves for a while. Where they step out of the brittle cocoon of their thoughts and metamorphose

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE HEAD

MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE HEAD

JAPANESE SALARYMEN…CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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We are programmed to think these are ‘soft’ subjects – nothing to do with the building of a strong economy! Luxuries! – but these are the hours in which young people do that vital thing; lose themselves for a while. Where they step out of the brittle cocoon of their thoughts and metamorphose into something else. Running in the rain: striking out in a front crawl; singing until their throats are hoarse; dancing until they become a blur. Using a satisfyingly scratchy black pen to start making out pictures on fresh, white paper.

To be a young person is to be someone who strobes though many settings, many different iterations. That is the nature of the young. To be pinned down in one mode – someone who will not dance, or take part in a play, but must stay in school until they pass English and Math, in this chair, doing nothing but staring at text books – is to be a polar bear in a zoo. You become frantic. You start to pace. You start to harm yourself.

I have had my time in the world of self-harm, panic and anxiety. These disorders aren’t like viruses – you don’t get infected, battle them off and then declare yourself virus-free. They are part of your wiring – just as some people are naturally anxious, depressive or compulsive. It’s there forever, rearing up, dying back down again. At the back of the crowd in wedding photos, its in shoulder in shot as you blow out your birthday candles.

And if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, in the years of dealing with my natural tendencies, it’s that happiness isn’t a thought. It’s not how you think or what you are thinking. More often than not, happiness is, simply, what you do. You cannot expect someone to work like a dog, in anxious, competitive conditions, and expect them to remain non-anxious.

Our children have lives of Japanese salarymen: highly technological, highly regimented, tightly scheduled, and, from the age of seven, regular tests and goals set for them, which will – obviously – make them feel in sharp, obvious competition with their peers. Simultaneously, we have a generation of anxious, self-harming, depressed children.

The last question of this exam season is:

“An era of early testing, reduced arts and compulsory academic education coincides with a sharp rise in child mental health issues. What are your feelings?”

Caitlin Moran

Enjoy the debates over the weekend, and at least know this…. your boy is getting a whole heap of “Arts and Culture” at Drakies.

Enjoy the rugby (another type of culture)!

Andrew Stead

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NEWS FROM THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT

CHOIR AWARDS FOR THE PAST WEEK

COMMENDABLE PERFORMANCES CONCERT CHOIR

Sabelo Mazwi

Bandile Nzuza

Qhawe Mafika

Liam Muller

Alex Brits

Odirile Mokoma

Johandré van Heerden

Max Tanesse

Kyle Kroats

Lwenzi Sibiya

Voice group of the concert:

Basses

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NEW BOYS OF THE WEEK

Luke Torres

SOLOIST OF THE CONCERT

CHORISTERS OF THE WEEK

Bandile Nzuza

Angus Sommerville

Damien Butt

Henno Klopper

Josh da Fonseca

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Father

Oh my Father.

How I love you dearly.

When I’m down or in a rut,

You take it to heart sincerely.

Mother, you mean the world to me.

So forgive me for what I say.

‘Cos fathers are more special,

Here on this special day.

When I’m in trouble, you’ve been there,

And will be there ‘til the end of time.

I wish I could’ve given more

Than this poor example of a rhyme.

How you love and understand me

Even when I’ve done you wrong.

It’s actually quite peculiar,

Since I haven’t even sung YOU a song.

I know I don’t much notice enough,

But now, it’s my cue.

To express to you my love and respect. So…

Happy Father’s Day! It belongs to you.

Matthew Evans

To the time…

To the time when I first opened my eyes.

To the time when my hair was beyond size.

To the time when I took my first steps.

To the time when I made a table mess.

You were there…

To the time when you taught me how to ride a bike.

To the time when I first held a mic.

To the time when I had stolen a toy car.

To the time when we drove to the Spar.

You were there…

To the time I scraped my knees.

To the time I didn’t eat peas.

To the time when we moved houses.

To the time we caught two “mouses”.

You were there…

To the time when I turned double digits,

To the time when I couldn’t stop to fidget.

To the time when you passed away,

To the time when you showed me the way.

Father I love you. Father I miss you.

Happy Father’s Day!

Mmangaliso Pepu

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO ALL OUR SPECIAL DRAKIE FATHERS

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The Drakensberg Polar Bear Swim Challenge is taking place on Saturday, 24 June at 12:00, at the Dragon Peaks Dam. The Swim supports the Estcourt Animal Shelter (Formerly Estcourt SPCA) and Khetani Animal Rescue in Winterton.

The Drakies have swum this event a few times when school terms coincided with the actual date of the swim. For the past 2 years I have had a special arrangement for Drakies to participate at a later date but they have missed out on all the lucky draw prizes and the general vibe.

The entry fee is R50.00 /swimmer. They will receive warm vegetable soup, a certificate and a chance to win one of the many lucky draw prizes and at the same time knowing that they are supporting a worthy local cause.

If some of the boys would like to participate it would be appreciated if they could fill in an entry form, which I have attached and you could copy and print. If the teacher in charge of the event could collect the money and bring the entry forms, it would make registration so much quicker on the day. The boys would only need to have their arms marked for the lucky draws.

Spectators are more than welcome and are encouraged to bring packets of dog/cat food, blankets or bowls.

Kind regards

Ann Gray

Mama Bear

DRAKENSBERG POLAR BEAR SWIM

Donations for the Polar Bear Swim can be left in the Admin Building at DBCS with Marelize Espag.

Entry Forms must please be handed to Erika Linde.

HEADBOY OF 2016

NEWS FROM THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

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BE PART OF THE 2017 COMMERATIVE PUBLICATION!

Don’t miss this opportunity to appear in the Drakensberg Boys Choir’s 2017 school magazine, featuring our journey of the past 50 years and this year’s celebration highlights. Simply complete the booking form below and email it to bespag@dbchoir.com.

Be part of this publication by sponsoring a page as a family at only R250 per page.

Create lasting memories for your son.

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‘’

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK’S CONCERT

Geo Kirsten

Nathaniel Stoffels

Kabo Madi

Bandile Nzuza Sabelo Mazwi

Okuhle Madondo Daniel van Jaarsveld

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SNIPPETS FROM THE SAN

There is little of interest to report today. A couple of boys with chilblains doesn’t quite cut it as riveting news. This allows me to get on with the serious business of the San Sliding Scale of Sympathy.

As explained previously, a number of random variables influence the quantity of sympathy each case gets. Let’s start with a simple one called the Credibility Factor. Credibility, for example, plummets when a boy forgets why he wanted to see me. Even furrowing a brow as he trails through his memory bank does nothing to improve the minus-rating due. Boys who gumboot dance in the line - and then complain of a troublesome hip/knee/ankle/foot - get a similarly reduced credibility index.

Personality type, combined with prevalence of visits to the San, has a big impact on sympathy calculations. Chaps who have only ever darkened my door with compound complicated femoral fractures are warmly welcomed. A strong score ensures that their symptoms are listened to attentively. One needs to remember that these fellows are at high risk of rupturing an appendix before they admit to a little abdominal discomfort.

On the other hand, we have the Frequent Flyers, who are less warmly received. These are the guys who are in and out of the San all day, every day. They accost me at every opportunity – in the corridors, dining hall and anywhere else I’m spotted. It’s because of them that I sometimes just hang out in the broom cupboard for hours. Their symptoms range from feeling weak, to unseen bruises, mosquito bites, fatigue, hunger and lost choir files. What really gets my goat, is a vague claim of being unwell – usually expressed in a pained whisper for added effect. I need specifics. If you can’t give me a symptom – your toast!

The negative miles earned by Frequent Flyers, severely hamper their chances of a sympathetic response. They’re more likely to have the “Cry Wolf” story thrown their way. That useful old adage remains eternally relevant to the human condition. Occasionally, habitual complainers are treated to an exclamation of “Oh my gosh – you’ve got a small bruise! You only have five minutes left to live!” This causes gleeful spectators to spontaneously burst into an excited countdown.

Surprisingly, aesthetic problems receive a good score - meaning that pimples, cold sores and facial injuries are handled sensitively. This is because of the incontrovertible fact that an excessive and rampant vanity is prevalent in teenage males. It commonly persists into late adulthood. Some boys put more effort into their hair, than books in this place! While closely resembling narcissism, this self-obsession is not considered pathological. In fact, most psychiatrists are reluctant to make any definitive diagnoses in adolescents. The water is too murky.

Now for a final point on the Sympathy Scale. The algorithm used is constantly being revised and is by no means perfect. For example, on days that I neglect to take my anti-hallucinogenics, results become seriously inconsistent. I do have more fun in the broom cupboard on those days, though.

Sister Lianne

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GOLF DAY IN JOHANNESBURG

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GOLF DAY IN DURBAN

Ntokozo Dlamini, Luke Brown, Luke Torres, Lwenziwe Sibiya, Kabo Madi and Sean Morrick

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Neo Ramalitse

18 June

Ntando Ngcobo

22 June

Zipho Mpofu, Ntando Ngcobo, Pierre Esterhuizen, André Wears-Taylor, Daniel van Jaarsveld and Matthew Tucker

DATE EVENT TIME

16 June Exams

Staff Briefing

10:20-10:40

16-18 June Durban Tour

18 June Chapel

SCA

10:00-11:00

18:00-19:00

19 June Staff Briefing

Assembly

Prefects Tea

07:20-07:30

07:25-07:45

10:40-11:40

21 June Wednesday Concert 15:30-17:30

22 June Assembly 10:05-10:25

23 June Staff Briefing

SCA Youth

10:20-10:40

19:00-21:00

24 June Choir

Polar Bear Swim

08:00-12:00

12:00-13:00

25 June Chapel

SCA Youth

10:00-11:00

18:00-19:00

Calendar 16 June – 25 June 2017

DRAKENSBERG BOYS CHOIR SCHOOL

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Tel: +2736 468 1012 | Fax: +2736 468 1709 | Email: administration@dbchoir.com | www.dbchoir.com

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