1. education
2. school

NEWSLETTER
EASTER TERM
No 3/2015
Dear Johannian Community
As I write this, the 20th St John’s Easter Rugby Festival has just drawn to a close. It
has been an extraordinary success, with large crowds enjoying some wonderful
schoolboy rugby, involving some of the best teams in the country.
I am staggered by the amount of work that goes into organising a festival of this
nature and I am deeply appreciative of the major sponsor, Standard Bank, and the
other sponsors who have made this festival possible. The organisation of the
festival involves months of planning and is essentially a great team effort, involving
parents, staff and sponsors. On behalf of St John’s I would like to thank everybody
involved in ensuring that our festival retains its place right up there as one of the
premier events of the South African Schools’ sporting calendar. Well done indeed!
The G20 Schools
I will be leaving before the end of term for the United Kingdom to take part in the annual G20 Schools’
Conference, which will be held at Wellington, Marlborough and Stowe Schools in England. The G20
Schools is an informal association of secondary schools initiated by David Wylde of St Andrew’s College,
Grahamstown, and Dr Anthony Seldon, of Wellington College, in 2006. All the schools claim to have a
commitment to excellence and innovation of some sort. The G20 Schools annual conference aims to bring
together school Heads who want to look beyond the sometimes parochial concerns of their own schools
and national associations and to talk about some of the key issues facing education. This is the first G20
Conference that I have attended as a Head and I look forward to discussing issues of leadership and
education and bringing some new ideas back to St John’s. The Second Master, Mr Robert Long, will be
acting as Headmaster in my absence.
Staff Announcements
Dave and Denise Campbell joined St John’s in the English Department from Somerset College in January
2011. We thank them for their tremendous contribution to St John’s and to the community, and Dave in
particular for the roles he played as the inaugural co-ordinator of, and interface between Maretlwane and
the school and for his role as Deputy Head and Senior Housemaster. I have greatly appreciated his input,
wise counsel and sense of humour. We wish them well as they return to the Cape.
Mr Derek Bradley has been at the school for the past seven years and is taking up the headship of
Parktown Boys’ High School from the beginning of May. He is a Housemaster, a Science teacher, he
coaches the 2nd XV rugby and the 4th XI cricket, but most importantly he is a good, old-fashioned
schoolmaster with an excellent rapport with the boys. We wish Derek every success as he takes up his new
role.
We say farewell and thank you to Mrs Maretha Laubscher, for her contribution to the Afrikaans
Department over the past term.
1
Staff Appointments
I am pleased to announce that we have secured the services of Mrs Fiona Kampmann and Mr Luke
Simpson, in the English Department from the beginning of Trinity Term. Mrs Kampmann is currently the
Subject Specialist Languages at the IEB and has considerable experience in boys’ schools, at King
Edward’s and Parktown and before joining the IEB, she was at St Peter’s College. Mr Simpson, an Old
Parktonian and UCT graduate, joins us from Pinelands High School and has taught previously at King
David, Linksfield and Parktown Boys.
Mr Garret Muller, joins us in the Afrikaans Department at the beginning of Trinity Term. He comes to us
from CBC Boksburg.
Mrs Rita Kelly, has been appointed as Financial Manager from 1 May, to replace Mr Nick Norman, who will
be leaving us at the end of May.
Mrs Abby Smith has been appointed as Admissions Officer from the beginning of Trinity Term. Mrs Smith
is no stranger to the College as she currently works in the Foundation Office and in the Old Johannian
Association.
Mr Rod Macdonald, Science Teacher, Master-in-Charge of Rowing and Assistant Housemaster: Clayton,
has been appointed as Thomson Housemaster from the beginning of Trinity Term.
Athol Fugard – A Celebration
Despite several interruptions caused by load shedding, our major production, Athol
Fugard – A Celebration played to full houses and rave reviews. The production has
been lauded as superb in every aspect. The cast had an in-depth feeling of the man,
captured in a most professional way, from the direction, casting, lighting, setting and
all that added to celebrating the essence Athol Fugard. Congratulations and thanks
to Russell Untiedt, Pippa Sandilands, Moshe Singer, and all who contributed to a
magnificent production.
Congratulations to Keegan Leech, Tamlin Love and Stefan Massyn who share the
R10 000 prize they won in the recent Pop Poetry competition.
Our boys continue to excel on many fronts and our warm congratulations go to Michael Copeland on being
selected for the Under 19 South African Tennis team. They will be touring England and Scotland during the
first week of July. He played in the final of the Nationals over the past weekend and was declared South
African Under 18 champion.
School Librarians’ Conference
An International Librarians’ Conference, with more than 200 delegates in attendance has been coordinated
by Mrs Nikki Sulter, Prep Librarian, and is to be hosted at St John’s from 19 – 22 April. An outstanding
programme has been put together and Mrs Sulter and her team are to be congratulated.
It has been a frenetic first term and I hope that you all have a chance to get your breath back over what is
rather a short holiday. School reopens on Tuesday the 5th of May for the boys, the start of the long winter
term.
Kind regards
Paul Edey
Headmaster
2