MESSAGE FROM BELINDA WILLOWS

Thank you to Bianca Livesey and the Highbury Parents’ Association for the truly

festive Welcome Party on Thursday evening. It was a beautiful evening of enjoying drinks,

burgers and music while building friendships, both new and old. We had the

biggest turnout for this event ever with over 160 parents joining in!

PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Dear Parents

Although we have been back at school for almost 5 weeksalready it is still appropriate, given that this is the first newsletterof the year, for me to welcome you all back to the start of whatpromises to be an engaging and exciting 2017 school year. Inparticular, I would welcome all new children and their mums anddads, and would wish you all a long and very happy associationas members of the extended Highbury family.

New beginnings bring great opportunity, yet remaining ever inconversation with the very solid foundation and roots of ourproud heritage, values and tradition on which our school isfounded and has built on over the past 114 years.

On the first day of school our Grade 7 lads, in keeping withtradition, proudly wore their white pullovers to school on thefirst day – notwithstanding the 30° heat – before leaving for theShongweni Valley for two days of leadership training at Spirit ofAdventure.

In our effort to continue highlighting and reinforcing our Cultureof Honour, the Silver Tree Badge is a noticeable symbol ofrecognition for Senior Primary boys who have displayed itsaspects. Boys are nominated by their teachers, and theparticular character trait that they displayed is mentioned.

These 'floating' badges are awarded fortnightly, at SP Chapel each Friday. They are very special and we hope that theywill be something that boys aspire to and come to value highly. Lethu Chonco, one of the first to be acknowledgedwithin this new tradition, is featured on the front page proudly wearing his ‘Honour’ badge on his shirt collar.

These are just two examples of the present talking to the past in a meaningful conversation. One of our visitors onOpen Day commented, “When I visit a school, I am always struck by the traditions and rituals that help establish theschool’s identity and signal what a school values. Before we left the Chapel I knew what Highbury was about and thatthis is where my family belongs.”

We look forward to engaging and partnering with parents as 2017 learning adventures for the Highbury childrenunfold and as together we promote the values, traditions and ‘heart beat’ of our remarkable school.

Warm regardsBelinda WillowsActing Head of School

STAFF NEWS

Join us in welcoming our five new teaching staffFrom left: Mrs Devon Coetzee (Grade R), Mrs Merle Viljoen (Grade 0000), Mrs Deidre Dahl (Grade 0000),

Mr David Burns (Head of SP), Mrs Belinda Willows (Acting Head of School), Mrs Suzi Roberts (Grade 5) and Mr Shane Dennis (Grade 7).

Our strong internship programme saw us welcoming 20 student teachers to our team.From Left: Chanais Gibson, Tyla Goddard, Hannah Tedder, Ezra Willamson, Justin McNamara, Dominique

Burrows, Taryn Holden, Nicolette Weidemann, Paige Kelly, Chris Parker, Caitlyn Frayne, Brandon Smith, Samantha Divano, Demi Linington, Rebecca Harvey, Andrea Stephenson, Mrs Lara Plotts, Michelle Ison,

Jessica Seymour, Jessica Elliott and Jaclyn Neethling (not in photo)

NEW REPORTING SYSTEM

In line with our partner schools wehave decided to move our reportingsystem within our Pupil Managementsystem (ADAM) to a digital platform.As an Eco-School this aligns with ourvision to save paper and ink and allowparents to keep digital copies of yourchild’s report for future reference. Inorder to receive your child’s report,you will need to log into our ADAMmanagement system via the ParentPortal. Please follow the step by stepguide outlined in the upcomingcommunique from the I.T.Department. We request that alllogins be completed by Friday 24February, 2017 in order for us tocheck that you have access to yourchild’s report on the release datewhich will be 23 March 2017 at 08h00

HIGHBURY OPEN DAYS

Highbury hosted two successful Open Days this week. Our visitors were very impressed with our beautiful estate and all that our school has to offer. Great foundations start at

Highbury! Thank you to James Sutherland, Highbury Old Boy and Kearsney Deputy Head of School, for addressing our

visitors at our Open Day.

ENVIRO WATCH

The year of Living Green

Following the many important advances made in the area of Going Green during the past six years, we are really looking forward to the 2017 campaign getting off the ground. There will be lots for boys to be involved in during each term, so we encourage parents to stay tuned in to activities that their sons or daughters will be involved in. At this early stage a reminder that the days for boys to bring items for recycling are ... • Washed and rinsed, clean cans (Tuesdays)• Paper and cardboard (Wednesdays)• Ice-cream tubs and yoghurt tubs with lids (Thursdays)

We support CROW by collecting ice-cream tubs and yoghurt tubs with lids. CROW use these items to freeze food for the animals.

Boys will know where to take their waste on these days.

VALENTINE’S DAY

Our corridors were red, pink and white to celebrate Valentine's Day!

Our children donated towards CHOC (Childhood Cancer Foundation) and our

school was full of love.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Highbury showed their support for our community by joining the Upper Highway Air Toxic Trekheld in Hillcrest on Saturday 4 February. The Highbury Management Team manned a water table and

handed out frozen splashes to the grateful trekkers.

Our first Kool-to-Care of 2017. The Grade 5 boys are pictured getting to

know their Grade 1 buddies.

WEAVERS’ NEST

Our little ones in our new Grade 0000 wing of Weavers' Nest are too adorable and are settling in beautifully. Look what fun they are having!

The Grade R parents turned out in full force for the Activity Evening held in the Grade R classrooms on 2nd February. Mums and Dads were tasked with creating something special to leave in their son’s locker

to be discovered the next morning. There was great excitement as the boys ran to their lockers to discover rockets, aeroplanes, boats and car masterpieces made by their parents. What a successful

evening and a wonderful opportunity to welcome parents into the Highbury Family.

GRADE R

We have this‘Evacuation drill’ all

sorted!

FOUNDATION PHASE

There was much excitement as the Grade 3s now get to enjoy their lunch in our Dining Hall.

Grade 3 pupil Jared Gibbs, (above) was Highbury’s very first ‘star’

listener of the year. His named star is up on the Highbury Listening

Board at the entrance to the Foundation Phase Quad.

Our boys just love their annual visit from Sharkie!

Big toothy smiles all around!

Love was in the air at the FP Highway Valentine Swimming Gala held at Highbury on Thursday 16 February

SENIOR PRIMARY

The Jaguar Primary School Challenge of 2017 was held atHighbury on Monday 13 February. Teams, comprised ofGrade 6 boys, created pit displays, presented the racecars they had made with 2D CAD/CAM techniques andthen raced them against each other using CO2compressed gas for propulsion. Thank you to JaguarHillcrest and SMG for making this awesome eventpossible and well done to Team Reverends (pictured left)who came out tops. Their race time set a new SouthAfrican Record in this event.

What a wonderful way to start the year in the beautiful outdoors with your friends! Our Grade 7 boys enjoyed team building, camaraderie and exciting challenges at Spirit of Adventure

The SP Gala was another festive event! The rain meant our new awning was much appreciated by our parents, and our boys

thoroughly enjoyed their chanting and swimming. Robinson’s was the Champion House with Duff's making Mrs Arde proud by

claiming the Spirit Cup for the night.

GRADE 7 SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE

CULTURAL & ACHIEVEMENTS

Benjamin Burton (7W), pictured right, is a promising

young musician who has recently been accepted

into the KwaZulu-Natal Youth orchestra and is one

of the youngest members . We are extremely proud

of him becoming a member of this orchestra.

The KZNYO consists of talented young musicians

between the ages of 12 and 22 from all around KZN.

They meet once a week on a Friday and in addition

to performing around South Africa, they have also

travelled overseas. We wish Ben a successful year

with this prestigious orchestra.

Our Orchestra captured deep in concentration getting ready for their

performances for our Open Days!

Congratulations to the following boys who received certificates from Trinity College:

Thomas Hulse Grade 1 Theory of MusicJack Leigh Grade 1 Theory of MusicBenjamin Livesey Grade 1 Theory of MusicThomas Hurley Grade 2 Theory of MusicSandiso Hlongwa Grade 2 Theory of MusicSachin Bhagwan Grade 2 Theory of MusicAaron Osborn Grade 2 Theory of MusicLuke Hepker Grade 2 Theory of MusicBradley Curtis Grade 2 Theory of MusicStuart Camp Grade 3 Theory of MusicHayden Jackson Grade 4 Theory of MusicBenjamin Burton Grade 5 Theory of Music

Alexander Nortje was awarded the Trophy for Best Junior Exam Result for 2016 for his Trinity College Recorder mark of 90%.

SPORT & ACHIEVEMENTS

Johnathan Van Zyl, Grade 7 pupil was

awarded two trophies at the end of last year after participating in a

U12 KZN Cricket tournament, namely:

Player of the Tournament and Most

Wickets.

Mayaskar and Chaitan Nair,

participated in the national

chess championships in

December. Mayaskar came 1st

in his age category (U12) as well

as in the team. Chaitan

participated in the U8 Team that

won bronze for KZN. He is

ranked 3rd in the U8 group and

7th in the country.

Cobey Marks, Grade 6

pupil, participated in the

KZN Karate

Championships on 4

February. He was awarded

a Bronze Medal for

Kumite. He received his

KZN Colours for Karate

and will represent our

province at the South

African Championships to

be held in March.

Matthew Lamplough, Grade 5 pupil,

participated in the Wilsons Tennis

Tournament which ran throughout 2016. He was awarded the

trophy for Sportsmanship for

Boys U11

Congratulations to our boys who came second out of 7 primary schools at the Swimming Gala hosted by Westville Boys High.

SPORT & ACHIEVEMENTS

Congratulations to the Edley Twins!James (left) and Alex (right) played in the U14

Premier Tennis SA events in PE, Cape Town and Pretoria over the December/January Period.

Alex made 3 semi finals and a quarter and has risen to number 3 in the country rankings.

James made 1 final, one quarter and two top 10s. James has risen to number 8.

Congratulations to Old

Boy, Gavin Morris, Class

of 2011. He participated

in the Khaya Majola

Cricket Week in

December.

Subsequently, he was

selected to represent the

Dolphins Cubs team at

the National Cubs

Week. He has played for

the U19 Dolphins Cubs

for 3 years, Grade 10, 11

& 12. He has now been

given a semi-pro contract

with the Dolphins and is

playing for the KZN men's

team in their one-day

games.

KZN Athletics Championships Results

Congratulations to the following boys who participated in the KZN Championships on Fri 10 and Sat 11 February and were awarded Medals for their achievements:

Ruben Visagie Gold for 1st place U11 1500mRhees Hall Gold for 1st place U11 Shot PuttLuca Borrageiro Bronze for 3rd place U11 High JumpAlexander Schoombee Bronze for 3rd place U11 Long JumpJason Brien Silver for 2nd place U13 Shot PuttLuke Farndell Silver for 2nd place U13 800m

Congratulations to Old Boy Lungi Ngidi, Class of 2009 who was selected to represent the Proteas in the T20 series vs Sri Lanka. His debut was outstanding, with 12 - 2 and he received Man of the Match. We are all so very proud of you Lungi.

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