18/05/2012
"Leave nothing undared for the Kingdom of God."
The Feast Day of Eugene De Mazenod was celebrated on Monday this week. Eugene de Mazenod was the founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate who in turn played
the instrumental role in establishing our College in “late 58”.
St Eugene De Mazenod acts as an example for us all. He refused to follow the established modes expected of someone born into nobility and wealth. From an early age, he was troubled by the living conditions of the poor and their degraded status in society. When he became a priest, Eugene was not satisfied to accept the traditional role of a pastor serving a large, affluent parish. Instead, he sought out the poor labourers and preached the message of God’s love - a message they had not heard before.
One of his contemporary bishops once said:
"Go to Marseilles. There is a Bishop there whose Congregation is still small, but the man himself has a heart as big as St Paul's, as big as the world."
A big heart such as his is a gift from God, privileged with abounding sensitivity: indeed, Eugene de Mazenod felt deep distress in the face of any inequality or injustice. That big heart was also and especially the result of an extraordinary grace. On Good Friday, 1807, Jesus caused him forcibly to feel the strength of his love. Eugene wept, he lamented his sins and he felt immense joy at discovering the meaning of his life - that he was destined to give himself totally to Jesus Christ, the Saviour. Because of his passionate love for Jesus Christ he became unconditionally committed to the Church: "To love the Church," he said, "is to love Jesus Christ, and vice versa." And in loving Christ, he discovered the value of every single soul, ransomed by the blood of the Son of God.
Eugene de Mazenod was beatified in 1975 and on December 3, 1995, Pope John Paul II canonized Eugene De Mazenod a saint and recognized his example of untiring dedication to the poor. St. Eugene De Mazenod’s feast day is celebrated on May 21, the anniversary of his death.
| |
God our Father, we thank you for having called Eugene de Mazenod to follow Christ the Saviour.
Passionately in love with your Son Jesus and sharing in his compassion for humanity, he put himself unconditionally at the service of your Church for the evangelization of the poor, and he raised up missionaries in all parts of the world.
Through St Eugene’s intercession grant us to burn with love for Christ, who is calling us to holiness and to his mission; teach us to build communities that are signs of love and , dedicated to the evangelization of the poor and the most abandoned.
May Mary Immaculate be our mother and the model of how we receive Christ, so as to make him known to the world whose Saviour he is.
St Eugene, pray for us
|
|
St Benedict's Day Mass - Invitation to Parents, oldboys and friends
Holy Rosary School - Phumelela Programme: CAN DRIVE
Holy Rosary School in conjunction with St Benedict’s College are collecting tinned food for the 51 underprivileged children in this programme and their families.
The can drive will run from Monday the 21st of May until Friday the 1st of June. Please drop of all tins at Mrs Mogg’s class.
ALL DONATIONS WILL BE APPRECIATED!
Old Boys' Platform
We are very excited about the new oldboys’ social networking platform that we have incorporated into our website. In its first 4 days, 100 oldboys joined the site! Be sure to continue emailing the link to all your oldboy contacts! http://www.stbenedicts.co.za/oldboys
Online Credit Card Payments
St Benedict's parents can now enjoy the convenience of making online credit card payments to the school. The facility does not only apply to the payment of school fees but can be used to pay for tours, dinners etc.
Payments using the St Benedict's payment facility are processed through Paygate. PayGate processes each transaction using the latest Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, to ensure that all data sent from your browser to PayGate can only be read by the PayGate servers. The SSL encryption, is the world standard for secure data transmission over the Internet and is supported by all mainstream browsers. Because the information is encrypted while in transit, even if it is intercepted it is useless to anyone.
The online payment facility has been thoroughly tested - from payment through to reconciliation by the bursar - by our website development team. Please visit the Payments page at the following link: Online Payments.
Grade 8 - Character Building Programme
As part of the Life Orientation for Grade 8 in the first term we have embarked upon a Character building programme which has included the following:
- Striving to be a winner
- Bullying
- Trust, and
- Respect.
As a show of commitment to our ANTI-Bullying programme, St Benedict’s has invited a guest speaker, Dr Buswell - who is both a Forensic Psychologist and a medical doctor, and who specializes in Bullying and the results thereof, to address the grade 8 parents and grade 8 boys of our school.
Dates for the visitation:
- FOR PARENTS OF GRADE 8 – MON 4 JUNE 18H30 for 19H00 in the College auditorium (1 hour).
- FOR GRADE 8 BOYS – WED 6 JUNE directly after school at 13H30 in the College auditorium (1 hour) - all grade 8 boys are required to attend. (Parents are request to adjust transport arrangements by an hour)
Attendance at this programme
must supercede sports practices and extra lessons.
Parents' Evening - 24 May 2012
Thank you to all those parents who attended last night's Parents' Evening. We trust that you found the opportunity to discuss your son's progress with his teachers informative and rewarding. A reminder that our extra lesson programme can be accessed under the "Support Services" link on the College website - parents should certainly use these as the first port of call before paying for extra lessons.
Term 2 Assessment Plans
The College Assessment Plans for Term 2 have been uploaded and may be viewed at the following link: Term 2 Assessment Plans.
Top 20
The Academic Top 20 has been updated and may be viewed at the following link: Academic Top 20.
Grade 9 IT Programming Workshop
This year is an important year for Grade 9 boys with regard to subject choice. To help your son decide whether he is capable of programming and will enjoy IT, we have designed a camp that will expose your son to the basics of programming. We will be using Robomind, a free open source program, available at
http://www.robomind.net/en/download.html. The lessons will be available on the moodle web site (
moodle.stbenedicts.co.za).
If your son intends taking IT as a senior subject, he must attend the workshop. Should he decide he is not interested in IT then he does not need to write the exam.
The camp will take place on Wednesday, 11 July (after school) and on Friday, 13 July after St Benedict’s Day.
During the July examination the boys will be required to write a 1 hour practical exam using Robomind. The camp will presented by Mrs Kench and Mr Gill. It will take place in two of the high school computer centres. Each class can take a maximum of 26 students so booking is essential. Please remember that in order to do IT, boys need to achieve a minimum of 60% for Maths.
Grade 8 IT/Geography Project - Survey
Our Grade 8 boys are currently completing a carbon footprint project for Geography and IT. We have created a survey for each household to fill in. The Grade 8 boys will analyse the data using a spreadsheet and then draw conclusions using their summarised data. Please would you be so kind as to complete the questionnaire. It has 10 very easy questions and should take no more than 2 minutes. The survey is anonymous.
Click on the link to access the survey: Carbon Footprint Survey
IT Showcase
In the wake of an extremely successful launch last year, we have decided to once again host an IT Showcase at St Benedict's. We are hoping that the showcase will continue to grow and attract top IT candidates from all around Johannesburg. The showcase will take place on 27 September and we are looking for sponsors for prizes and small items for goodie bags.
Last year, the St Benedict's parents were most generous with their prizes and they were most appreciated by our IT department and the recipients.
Grade 12 IT Assessment dates
Grade 12 boys and parents are reminded of the following important dates for IT assessments:
- Wednesday, 13 June 2012: SBA – Theory Test
- Wednesday, 27 June 2012: SBA - Standardised SQL Test
- Wednesday, 11 July 2012: SBA - Standardised Normalisation Test
As these tests are set and written across the cluster, boys who are absent on this day will need to provide a doctor's certificate.
Grade 10 Leadership Camp
As part of our Leadership Development Programme we are having the annual Grade 10 Leadership Camp over the course of the mid-term break from Sunday, 1 to Friday, 6 July.
The camp will be run by the South African branch of the international organisation ‘Outward Bound’ at the Boschkloof Nature Reserve near Harrismith KZN. The course entails the boys working in small groups with dedicated leaders, engaging in a variety of outdoor based activities. This is aimed at exposing the boys to situations unusual to their everyday lives, in order to develop teamwork effectiveness and leadership skills. Please take the time to look at their website. www.outwardbound.co.za
The numbers are limited to sixty boys on a ‘first come, first serve basis’. Their place will be confirmed upon paying a deposit of 50% to the school. The balance of the fees needs to be paid by the end of May 2012. It is strongly recommended that boys who wish to be included in the leadership programme in Grades 11 and 12 attend this course. The boys who attended this course last year benefited greatly in terms of personal growth and found the experience ‘tough yet rewarding’.
The camp cost will be R2200 and includes all meals, transport and accommodation. Sleeping bags, tents and crockery etc are provided. A more comprehensive kit list will be issued on payment of the deposit. Parents with queries may email the camp co-ordinator, Gary Cimma, at cimmag@stbenedicts.co.za
Matric Winter School
As is customary at St Benedict's, we will be running a Grade 12 Winter school during the mid-term term. Although the Winter school is not compulsory, it is recommended that the grade 12 boys made full use of this opportunity. The following subjects will be offered (subject to change): Afrikaans; Physical Science; IT/CAT; Accounting; History; Life Sciences; Art and Drama.
Additional support in Maths will be provided on the Maths camps which are being organised.
The Winter School Programme will be finalised and published within the next few weeks. Parents who have any queries are welcome to email Mrs Mogg at moggj@stbenedicts.co.za
Matric Gift - Fundraiser
| |
Please support our Grade 12 boys and parents in their Fundraising efforts by purchasing a R20 Raffle ticket. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
1st Prize - iPad2
2nd Prize - Weekend Getaway for 6 at Mount Amanzi
3rd Prize: restuarant/Beauty/Game/Eastgate Vouchers
4th Prize: Electronic Hamper
5th Prize: Book and Wine Hamper
|
|
|
Fundraiser for oldboy, Anthony Hoines
We are very excited to announce our next fundraising endevour to benefit the Anthony Murray Hoines Fund. With your help our fundraising initiatives to date have been an enormous success and have enabled us to purchase equipment which is making a huge difference in Anthony's day to day life.
This event promises to be loads of fun and we thank you in advance for your support.
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: Travelling through six decades of Rock 'n Roll
Date: 23rd June 2012
Venue: The Barnyard Theatre Rivonia, Rivonia Crossing 2, No 3 Achter Road, Rivonia
Time: Doors open at 18h30, show starts at 20h00
Tickets: R145 pp
Tables of 8 or 10 available
Dress: 50's / 60's / 70's / 80's / 90's / 2000's
There will be prizes for best dressed individual / couple / table and more!
Cash Bar available throughout the evening.
You are welcome to bring your own picnic basket or you can order pizzas from the venue.
Please email Ineke to book a table! ineke@wol.co.za and amhfund@gmail.com
Rugby versus Marais Viljoen
St Benedict’s College hosted Marais Viljoen on Saturday, 19 May. Games were played at a fierce pace and the collisions at scrum and ruck time left a few boys battered and bruised.
The u/14 started the day off with an excellent display of running rugby, and showed Marais Viljoen that there is no substitute for pace, as they ran the ball from all parts of the field, final score 56-7. Shingirai Hlanguyo scoring 3 tries Mpho Khambule scoring 2 tries.
The u/15 team were unlucky to go down 5-15 in their game, playing most of the game in the oppositions half of the field, they were just unable to convert the pressure into points.
The u16 score of 24-40 is not a true reflection of what happened on the field. Some lack lustre defence gifted the opposition a few soft tries, they came back well at the end but their effort was too late. Losing their captain for the remainder of the season has been a great blow for this team.
The 1st team was in all sense of the word a “CLASSIC CLASH” one of the best 1st team games of the season. Both teams played hard uncompromising rugby, not backing off an inch to a team that plays regular fixtures against the Top 20 schools in the country. Two defensive blunders gifted Marais Viljoen 14 points and after 70 minutes of tough school boy rugby the score was 29 all. A great spectacle for all that attended the day. Tries were scored by the captain, D De Gouveia (2) B Kennedy, M De Lange and M Smit contributing 9 point with the boot.
Well done, boys!
Sports Results
Hockey vs Springs Boys
U14D drew 1-1
U14C won 1-0
U14A Won 3-0
U15C won 2-1
U15B won 5-1
U15A won 5-2
U16C lost 0-2 vs Springs 16B
U16A won 2-0
5TH won 3-1
4TH lost 1-3
3RD drew 1-1
1STXI won 3-0
Hockey vs Marais Viljoen
U14B won 3-2 vs Marais Viljoen 14A
U16B won 3-1 vs Marais Viljoen 16A
2NDXI lost 0-2 vs Marais Viljoen 1STXI
Hockey vs Woodlands College
U15D won 2-0 vs Woodlands 15A
Rugby vs Marais Viljoen
14D lost 5-8
14C lost 58-0
14B lost 0-12
14A won 54-7
15D lost 17-19
15C lost 7-34
15B lost 3-41
15A lost 5-15
16C lost 0-32
16B lost 0-23
16A lost 17-38
5th lost 7-41
4th won 10-7
3rd won 15-6
2ND lost 17-38
1STXV drew 29-29
Squash vs Greenside
SBC U14A won 140-133
Sports Week Ahead
| Date |
Sport |
Time |
Team |
|
| Sat, 26 May |
Rugby |
08:00 |
15B vs. PBHS 15c |
Away |
| 16C vs PBHS 16F |
| 08:50 |
14A vs. PBHS 14A |
| 08:55 |
3rd vs. PBHS 5th |
| 5th vs. PBHS 10th |
| 16B vs.PBHS 16D |
| 09:00 |
15D vs PBHS 15F |
| 09:50 |
2nd vs. PBHS 4th |
| 4th vs. PBHS 7th |
| 16A vs. PBHS 16B |
| 15A vs. PBHS 15A |
| 10:00 |
14C vs. PBHS 14F |
| 10:35 |
14B vs. PBHS 14D |
| 10:45 |
15C vs. PBHS 15E |
| 13:00 |
1st XV vs. PBHS 1st XV |
| Hockey |
08:00 |
14B vs. PBHS 14B |
| 15C vs. PBHS 16F |
| 14D vs. PBHS 14E |
| 09:00 |
14A vs. PBHS 14A |
| 16B vs. PBHS 16C |
| 14C vs. PBHS 14D |
| 10:00 |
5th vs. PBHS 5th |
| 15D vs. PBHS 14C |
| 10:15 |
1st XI vs. PBHS 1st XI |
| 11:00 |
4th vs. PBHS 4th |
| 15B vs. PBHS 16E |
| 11:30 |
2nd XI vs. PBHS 2nd XI |
| 12:00 |
3rd vs. PBHS 3rd |
| 16C vs. PBHS 16D |
| 12:30 |
16A vs. PBHS 16A |
| 13:30 |
15A vs. PBHS 16B |
| Mon, 28 May |
Squash |
15:00 |
14A vs Jeppe Boys at Jeppe Quondam |
Away |
| 15A vs Jeppe Boys at Jeppe Quondam |
Away |
| Tue, 29 May |
Hockey |
15:30 |
14B vs Jeppe Boys |
Home |
| 16:30 |
14A vs Jeppe Boys |
Home |
| 15:45 |
14D vs Jeppe Boys |
Away |
| 16:45 |
14C vs Jeppe Boys |
Away |
| Wed, 30 May |
Hockey |
14:00 |
15A vs Boksburg High |
Home |
| 15:00 |
14A vs Parktown Boys |
Home |
| 16:00 |
1st XI vs Parktown Boys |
Home |
| Fri, 1 June |
Tennis |
15:00 |
1st vs Linden |
Home |
| Sat, 2 June |
Hockey |
|
vs Sutherland High School (fixtures to follow) |
|
| Rugby |
vs Sutherland High School (fixtures to follow) |
|
To God be the Glory
A C Oosthuysen
