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St Andrew’s
COLLEGE
Academic Newsletter | November 2020 Michaelmas Term #35
Dear parents, staff and College boys
‘The basic impulse underlying education is the willingness continually to revise one’s own location in order to
place oneself in the path of beauty’. -Professor Elaine Scarry
Schools are, generally, not beautiful places. Kimberley Boys’ High School, my alma mater, was founded
in 1887 before the “Milner schools”, and the gabled, red
When people design churches, they make every effort to make roof-tiled building was built in 1913 and designed by DW
them beautiful. Government buildings, even, are designed to Greatbatch, an Old Andrean. The curved façade with a central
impress and take your breath away. The Union Buildings. The hall creates two beautiful quads (actually trapezoidal spaces)
Kremlin. And nothing is more stunning than the Hungarian with rose gardens, fish ponds, statues, geese, sundials and
government building in Budapest, fronting on the magnificent lawns. They were just lovely, happy, green, nature-filled spaces
Danube River. – how could boys not have thrived in that environment?
The Hungarian Parliament Building (Hungarian: Országház,
pronounced [ˈorsaːghaːz], which translates to House of the Kimberley High School building designed by DW Greatbatch, OA
Country or House of the Nation)
And for the last 20 years I have witnessed how St Andrew’s
There are some beautiful schools but, by and large, they are College has become even more beautiful under the loving
designed to be functional: 8m x 8m classrooms; floors and care and skill of prodigiously creative people.
walls that can take the wear and tear of boisterous traffic;
neutral, uninspired colours; functional and sensible halls When I was the Housemaster of Graham House, I remember
and offices. There is a standard design for a school hall stage a new parent walking into the Quiet Room and seeing the
with velvet curtains – who designed this? It is not useful at Heinrich von Michaelis (of Michaelis Art School at UCT fame)
all (certainly not for theatre) but they still put one in every painting on the wall, and the Tori Crampton painting of
school. donkeys in the Common Room, and saying that he could not
believe that his son was going to a school where there were
I have been privileged to teach in two beautiful schools. original oil paintings on the walls in the boarding houses.
St Andrew’s College
I think it is important for children to live and go to school in and you don’t want it to stop. Your act of duplicating the
a beautiful environment. What is the effect on a person of beauty of that moment is not by capturing it in a painting,
being in the presence of beauty – the lived experience of film, poem or music but by continuing to see it – to not
looking at something beautiful or a beautiful person? want it to end, to explore every powerful movement and
graceful action of the animal. It leads to a contemplative and
thoughtful state of being which unlocks layer after layer of
meaning and understanding and appreciation.
The Moscow Metros that were constructed under Stalin’s regime,
in the style of socialist classicism, were meant as underground
“palaces of the people”
One of my most treasured gifts (from parents a couple of years
ago) is a book called “On Beauty and being Just” by Professor Through a long career in schooling and education, my
Elaine Scarry. (Only at Harvard could there be a Chair for the understanding of what it is all about has changed and mutated
study of Aesthetics!) so much over the years. But today, after a disrupted year that
has ripped out most of the guts of what a school usually does,
She writes that beauty ‘seems to incite, even to require, I am left with quite a starkly simple understanding – one that
the act of replication.’ Whether it is a view of a landscape, a I did not realise was happening all the time over many years.
plant or a face, it makes us want to copy it, either by drawing Education is essentially the creative process of continually
it, photographing it or describing it to someone. Being in a responding to beauty – the resilience of the human spirit
beautiful environment creates fertile ground for the creative in our History, the phenomenon of human settlement in
process, and this is self-perpetuating. As one person creates a Geography, the elegance of a differential equation, the power
garment, a meal, a rugby backline move, or an idea of beauty, of a chemical reaction, the exhilaration of unlocking meaning
this invokes yet another creative act. distilled in a poem…
A second, derived, attribute of beauty is that it compels the And to stare.
viewer to stare – you see a cheetah running across the veld,
St Andrew’s College
Release of the Cambridge A Level and AS Level Results
The Grade 11 AS Level and Grade 12 A Level results will be at 08h00 (CAT). The parents and students will be sent their
released on Thursday 11 January 2021 at 08h00 (CAT), and the personal login details to retrieve their own results directly
IGCSE results will be released on Thursday 19 January 2021 from the Cambridge website.
Release of the IEB Matric Results
The Matric results will be released on Friday 19 February Save your Examination Number on your phone. You will
2021 (in the early hours of the morning). All the boys have have forgotten it by February next year.
registered a cellphone number with the IEB, and so the results
will be sms’d to that number at midnight. You can print out a We will be available to assist you if you have any problems
colour hard copy of the results by going to the (we will all be at school and just about ready for Half Term!)
www.IEB-online.co.za or www.IEB.co.za. You will need to Tel: 046 603 2300.
input your son’s date of birth and Examination Number.
RE-MARKS AND RE-CHECKS
Applications for re-marks and re-checks must be completed of error. Furthermore, the original mark will be changed
online at www.ieb-online.co.za. The final date for only if an error is detected. Experience in the past has been
applications is 3 March 2021. No late applications will be that exceedingly few re-marks are successful.
accepted. Payment for re-marks/re-checks must be made
via the online application. Please note that there are no The fee per subject for a re-check is R406 (incl. VAT). The
remarks for Life Orientation. question papers will be checked to ensure that all questions
have been marked and totalled, and that all marks have
The fee per subject for a re-mark is R802 (incl. VAT). The been correctly entered. Appropriate action will be taken if
answer scripts for that subject will be sent to the Chief errors are found but no re-marking will take place.
Examiner to be re-marked. Oral, School-based Assessment
and practical work will not be re-assessed. Please note that Re-mark results will be released on 26 March 2021, subject
the IEB makes extensive use of double marking, especially to approval by Umalusi.
in questions of a subjective nature, thus reducing chances
St Andrew’s College
May 2021 Examination Session
For 2021 only, a child who becomes ill may write their Closing date for registration for the May 2021 examinations is
outstanding examinations in the May 2021 examination 16 April 2021. The May Examination results will be released
session. Or, if a child wishes to improve results in some on 8 June 2021 and the closing date for re-marks of the May
subjects from the November session, then they may rewrite examination results is 25 June 2021. The results of the re-
those subjects in the May 2021 session. For 2021 only, there marks will be released on 7 July 2021.
is no limit on the number of subjects that may be rewritten
in May 2021.
SUMMARY OF THE DATES
19 February 2021 MATRIC RESULTS RELEASED at 00h00 and go live on www.ieb.co.za or www.ieb-online.co.za
APPLICATIONS FOR RE-CHECKS and RE-MARKS CLOSE
3 March 2021 Apply online at www.IEB-online.co.za or www.IEB.co.za Cost: R406 and R802 per subject,
respectively
26 March 2021 RESULTS OF RE-CHECKS and RE-MARKS
REGISTRATION CLOSES FOR THE MAY 2021 EXAMINATION SESSION (Rewrites to improve
16 April 2021
results.)
8 June 2021 RESULTS OF THE MAY 2021 EXAMINATION
APPLICATIONS FOR RE-CHECKS and RE-MARKS OF MAY EXAMS CLOSE
25 June 2021 Apply online at www.IEB-online.co.za or www.IEB.co.za
Cost: R406 and R802 per subject, respectively
7 July 2021 RESULTS OF RE-CHECKS and RE-MARKS OF MAY 2021 EXAMS
END-OF-TERM REPORTS
The end-of-term reports will be available on the mySAC Parent Portal:
https://my.sacschool.com under the menu My Children | School Reports.
Reports will be published on Monday 30 November by 18:00 at the latest.
If you have not yet logged in to mySAC you should start by requesting a password at:
https://my.sacschool.com/request-password.
Remember to use your registered email address with the school to receive your password.
If you have forgotten your password you can reset it at the following link:
https://my.sacschool.com/forgot-password using your registered email address.
St Andrew’s College
Reflection on a year like no other
We started 2020 with our annual Academic Assembly in which to the nature of the year that we have experienced, but I will
I spoke to the boys about our need to improve the academic issue a similar challenge at the Academic Assembly next year
tone in the school, and I highlighed a few important points. and we will be focusing particularly on improving Prep in the
It is difficult to measure our success in these challenges due Boarding Houses, and ownership of learning by the boys.
One of the negative consequences of online learning has Boys must realise that nothing good comes from submitting
been academic dishonesty. In talking to other schools, it is work that is not their own effort.
a worrying phenomenon that has become fairly widespread.
St Andrew’s College
New School Administration System, Ed-Admin
We will be changing our administration system from SIMS to Certain marks can be periodically posted on Ed-Admin and be
Ed-Admin next year, so the reports and communications will available to parents to see how their son has done.
look different. Ed Admin has the facility to do ‘live’ reporting.
Structure of the school day for 2021
At our recent Heads of Department meeting, we took of 10 minute breaks between lessons and a later start to
learnings from this year’s experience and incorporated them the day – and so we have boldly made the decision to start
into a revised structure of the school day for 2021. The key lessons at 08h00.
learnings were the benefits to mental and physical wellness
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
07h15 – 07h45 Cultural Time Protected Time Cultural Time
08h00 – 08h50 Lesson 1 Assembly Cycle Test Chapel/Tutor Lesson 1(A)/ CD (B)
09h00 – 09h50 Lesson 2 Lesson 2 Lesson 2/Single focus Lesson 2 Lesson 2
10h00 – 10h50 Lesson 3 Lesson 3 Lesson 3/Single focus Lesson 3 Lesson 3
10h50 – 11h20 TEA
11h20 – 12h10 Lesson 4 Lesson 4 Lesson 4/Single focus Lesson 4 Lesson 4
12h20 – 13h10 Lesson 5 Lesson 5 Lesson 5/Single focus Lesson 5 Lesson 5
13h10 – 14h05 LUNCH
14h05 – 14h55 Lesson 6 Lesson 6 Sport/Clubs Lesson 6 Lesson 6
Another learning from this year has been the importance of to 13h00) will be devoted to a single option/subject in every
creating time for the boys to take ownership of their studies, grade. This can be used for an outing, practical day, research
as happened during the asynchronous academic time. A very project, collaborative work, or whatever suits that particular
worrying trend is a dependence on tutors and teachers to subject.
spoon feed boys, when they learn much more effectively by
grappling and wrestling with the concepts by themselves. We continue to look at our curriculum and what and how we
teach, and how we can make it more relevant to every child
In 2021 we will also be introducing a “Single Focus Day” every in the class.
A Week Wednesday, when the whole morning (from 09h00
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Well done everyone!
In my video to the boys and parents at the beginning of the I cannot praise the boys, parents and staff enough for
Trinity Term (and of online learning and teaching) I said that making it through this year as well as they have done. They
our approach to this crisis would be underpinned by three have made the most of imperfect systems and stoically kept
philosophies: things together.
• Academic Excellence – taking the online learning For the academic staff, online and hybrid teaching was, by its
programme seriously, regarding it as proper school, nature, time-consuming in terms of preparation, follow-up,
and not missing a single day of lessons; assessment and feedback, as well as just being able to pick
up those intuitive, non-verbal signals that teachers identify
• Adaptability – moving through all the gradations
in children who are struggling. And despite the underlying
from completely online learning, through the hybrid
fear and increased risk of getting sick, concern for family,
teaching and tutorial model, back to completely
juggling teaching their classes with parenting online lessons
residential schooling, and also the ease with which
with their own children, our staffs have been heroic in
a teacher and a class can now move between the
embracing the challenges and delivering superb teaching.
physical classroom and zoom classroom comfortably,
quickly and productively;
Well done.
• Andreanism – the humour, grit, acceptance of
circumstances, appreciating all the positive things
and goodness that has come out of this “year like no
other”.
St Andrew’s College
Work Trophies
Congratulations to the following Tutor Groups for winning the Work Trophies in the Michaelmas Term 2020. These are
calculated by aggregating all the Application Marks for each Tutor Group.
Grade 8: MERRIMAN HOUSE have literally catapulted Grade 9: Graham House won the trophy every term last
ahead of all the other Houses this term, and snatched the year. Merriman House Grade 9s won it in the Easter Term
trophy from Graham House, who probably became a little and passed it onto Upper House last term. It is great to see
complacent. Ayena Gwarube and Tom Clucas (both from the Houses being so competitive but Upper have dropped
Merriman House) top scored. the ball and ARMSTRONG HOUSE have pounced to take the
honours. Matthew Poole (A) is again the top scorer in the
grade.
Ayena Gwarube Tom Clucas Matthew Poole
St Andrew’s College
Grade 10: Mullins have Grade 11: ESPIN HOUSE
monopolised the trophy for have capitalised on a
the past three terms, with complacent Graham House
Armstrong House winning to convincingly win the
it last term. Congratulations Grade 11 trophy with Rowan
to UPPER HOUSE for Rosenberg from Merriman
pipping Mullins House at House being the top scorer
the post this term. And, in the grade.
again with full Houses of Rs
for his application marks,
congratulations to Ethan
John (Graham House).
Ethan John Rowan Rosenberg
Overall Trophy: The overall Work Trophy result is in GRAHAM HOUSE’S favour, but not convincingly at all. It is good to see
an improved overall work ethic in all the Houses and some competitive jockeying for the work trophies.
St Andrew’s College
Decimus
Congratulations to the following boys who were placed in the top ten in the Michaelmas Promotion Mark Order. As the AS
Level exam results are only released by Cambridge in January, this list excludes these boys.
MICHAELMAS PROMOTION MARK DECIMUS
(excluding Cambridge AS Level boys) in alphabetical order
GRADE 8 GRADE 9 GRADE 10 GRADE 11
James David Antony Daniel
Barrow Ball Baker Bradfield
Alex Thomas Joss Jacob
Calder Barrow Hempel Erasmus
Jack Finley Ethan Nick
Dixie Carson John Holmes
Chukwu Sinjhun Nick Miles
Ekpebegh Cawse Lane Jackson
Andy Noah Liam Dylan
Holmes da Motta McNaughton Marx
Julius Ross Ishan Africa
Rocher Gordon Panchal Matshingana
Benji Matthew Aidan Kitso
Shamwana Gouws Reynolds Mokgatlhe
Ethan Ian Jack Ross
Van der Merwe Meihuizen Tasker Mullins
Murray Michael Benjamin Dominic
Wilson Mulcahy Terry Owen
Aiden Matthew Lamlani Kofi
Wood Poole Yawa SemaneA Love of Words
In the beginning of this newsletter I referred to how the
desire to stare is an attribute of beauty, and is important
in that it allows the viewer to contemplate and uncover
layers of meaning in the subject matter that he or she
is experiencing.Franciscan, Richard Rohr, founded the
Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in 1987
because he saw a deep need for the integration of both
action and contemplation. If we pray but don’t act justly,
our faith won’t bear fruit. And without contemplation,
activists burn out and even well-intended actions
can cause more harm than good. In today’s religious,
environmental, and political climate our compassionate
“a long loving look at the real” engagement is urgent and vital.
RICHARD ROHR’S MEDITATION (Sunday, November 22, 2020)
Joy and Sadness: A Lesson from Merton’s Hermitage
In 1985 my Franciscan “guardians” (as Francis called gate of heaven is everywhere.”
our superiors) gave me a year’s leave to spend in
contemplation. It was a major turning point in my life, I tried to keep a journal of what was happening to me.
and ultimately led to the formation of the Center for Back then, I found it particularly hard to cry. But one
Action and Contemplation. evening I laid my finger on my cheek and found to my
surprise that it was wet. I wondered what those tears
The first thirty days of my “sabbatical” were spent in meant. What was I crying for? I wasn’t consciously sad or
the hills of Kentucky, in Thomas Merton’s (1915–1968) consciously happy. I noticed at that moment that behind
hermitage about a mile away from the main monastery. it all there was a joy, deeper than any private joy. It was
I was absolutely alone with myself, with the springtime a joy in the face of the beauty of being, a joy at all the
woods, and with God, hoping to somehow absorb some wonderful and lovable people I had already met in my
of Merton’s wisdom. That first morning, it took me a life. Cosmic or spiritual joy is something we participate
while to slow down. I must have looked at my watch at in; it comes from elsewhere and flows through us. It has
least ten times before 7:00 AM! I had spent so many years little or nothing to do with things going well in our own
standing in front of crowds as a priest and a teacher. I life at that moment. I remember thinking that this must
had to find out who I was without those trappings—the be why the saints could rejoice in the midst of suffering.
naked me alone before God.
At the same moment, I experienced exactly the opposite
In the mornings I would put my chair in front of the door emotion. The tears were at the same time tears of an
and watch the sun come up. In the late afternoons, I immense sadness—a sadness at what we’re doing to
would move my chair to the other side of the hermitage the earth, sadness about the people whom I had hurt
and watch the sun go down. The little squirrels and birds in my life, and a sadness too at my own mixed motives
came closer and closer. They’re not afraid when we’re and selfishness. I hadn’t known that two such contrary
absolutely still. feelings could coexist. I was truly experiencing the
nondual mind of contemplation.
Father William McNamara’s definition of contemplation
as “a long loving look at the real” became transformative Adapted from Richard Rohr, What the Mystics Know: Seven Pathways to
for me. The world, my own issues and hurts, all my goals Your Deepest Self (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 2015), 61–63.
and desires gradually dissolved and fell into proper
perspective. God became obvious and ever present. Yours sincerely,
I understood what Merton meant when he said, “The Aidan Smith
St Andrew’s CollegePROMOTION CRITERIA
All subjects count for promotion at the end of every year. Below are the criteria for passing each grade, as well as the National
Senior Certificate requirements for a Pass, a Diploma pass, a Higher Certificate pass, and a Bachelor Degree pass.
There are Term Order marks for Terms 1, 2 and 3 and Exam Order marks for Terms 2 and 3 for the core subjects. In Term 3,
there will be a Continuous Assessment (CASS) mark which will be created through a combination of the work done for the
three Term Orders, the Term 2 Exam Order, and possibly also Orals and Practical Work.
In Grades 8 and 9, the end of year Promotion Mark is made up of the Term 3 CASS mark, which counts 40%, and the Term 3
Exam Mark, which makes up the remaining 60%. In certain subjects, where there are practicals and orals, the CASS can count
50% and the examination 50%.
For promotion in Grades 8 and 9, the minimum requirement is that a pupil must achieve Promotion Marks of:
• 50% in three subjects, one of which is English Home Language, AND
• 40% in three subjects, one of which is Mathematics. AND
• 30% in the First Additional Language
• Should the promotion requirements not be achieved, a pupil may be allowed to proceed (ATP) to the next Grade under
certain conditions, or not, at the discretion of the Head.
In Grades 10 and 11, the end of year Promotion Mark is made up of the Term 3 CASS mark, which counts 25%, and the Term
3 Exam Mark, which makes up the remaining 75%. In certain subjects, where there are practicals and orals, the CASS can
count 50% and the examination 50%. These ratios mirror the assessment architecture of the National Senior Certificate in
Grade 12.
Pass Requirements for the National Senior Certificate (NSC)
To pass the NSC
A learner must pass:
• One official language at Home Language level at 40%
• 2 other subjects at 40%
• 3 other subjects at 30%
To pass the NSC with entry to Higher Certificate study
A learner must:
• Pass the NSC
• Meet the language requirement for further study at a South African institution.
To pass the NSC with entry to Diploma study
A learner must:
• Pass one official language at Home Language level at 40%
• Pass 3 other subjects at 40% (excluding Life Orientation)
• Pass 2 subjects at 30%
• Meet the language requirement for further study at a South African institution.
The key difference between qualifying for entry to diploma study rather than higher certificate study is that the learner must
achieve 40% or more in 4 subjects (including the official language at Home Language level, but excluding Life Orientation)
rather than just 3 subjects.
St Andrew’s CollegeTo pass the NSC with entry to Degree studies
A learner must:
• Pass one official language at Home Language level at 40% or more.
• Pass 4 subjects at 50% or more excluding Life Orientation.
• Pass 2 subjects at a minimum of 30%
• Meet the language requirement for entry to further study.
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