Fear: When you edge towards it, it melts away; The only way through is right through the middle; Use fear to become friends

with it; Fear is part of life, it is part of what makes us real

Failure: Failures far outweigh successes; They build resilience; There is power in failure; Failure is a doorway that builds your

story

Fire: What keeps telling you to move forward; Sometimes hidden, sometimes just an ember; God-given gift that can change

everything; NGU - Never Give Up

Faith: Faith tells you that I am known, I am loved and I am forgiven; A point of awareness; Faith is a journey, to walk it

everyday takes courage

True Wealth: (1) Be grateful, (2) Be kind

There is a close connection between his message and the Highbury Culture of Honour and the eighteen values we regularly

celebrate. At Highbury, our boys are encouraged to face challenges determinedly, to persevere and to act kindly to others.

If you haven’t attended the GLS before, I highly recommend it.

Campus Matters:

Drop Off Zone

Thank you for keeping the drop-off zone clear in the mornings. The traffic flow is certainly assisted when cars are not parked

on the red lines.

Driving on the Campus

Safety on campus is not negotiable and I am concerned that there are cars travelling over the 10km/h limit. I remind parents

that holding a phone and talking is not permitted while driving on the property; please use a hands-free kit when making

phone calls.

As we approach the conclusion of the 2019 academic year I thank all of you, the parents, for your support and interest in your

child’s education. It is a privilege to have your children in our care and we look forward to the final busy month of the year.

God bless

Roland LacockHEADMASTER

MESSAGE FROM OUR HEADMASTER

Dear Parents and Friends of Highbury

It is hard to believe that the end of the school year is only a month away and that we are

in the midst of planning for the end-of-year events.

The Global Leadership Summit (GLS) was recently held in Kloof and we were fortunate to

send a number of Highbury staff to attend it. This was my first experience of the GLS and

I found it both stimulating and challenging. We attended the GLS at Open Skies Church in

Kloof which was fully booked with familiar faces from the Upper Highway area.

Bear Grylls, one of the speakers, renowned for his Emmy-nominated TV show Man vs

Wild spoke on courage, kindness and never giving up. He built his message around four

words: Fear, Failure, Faith and Fire.

A HANDFUL OF HAPPENINGS

THANKSGIVING CHAPEL AND TEA On Thursday, 17 October, we welcomed parents to our special Thanksgiving Chapel. The Highbury family is as strong as it is because of the part played by all stakeholders, and our mums and dads who play a large part through helping, supporting and making contributions throughout the year. Thank you!

Q&A WITH OUR HIGHBURY BOARD

JASON GOODISON - LEGAL

Q: You have just joined the Board in Term 4 2019. What motivated you to join?A: As a proud Highbury Old Boy, I felt that it was necessary for me to give back to the school. When the opportunity to join the Board arose, I put my name into the hat as I thought it would be an ideal way to use my skill set to give back to Highbury and help ensure its very strong legacy remained intact.

Q: What do you love most about Highbury?A: Highbury’s traditions and values.

Q: What do you hope will be your most memorable contribution as a Board member?A: I hope that I am remembered by the other Board members as someone who was reliable.

Q: If you could choose a super-power what would it be? A: I love connecting with people, and so the ability to understand and speak any language would be pretty cool.Partner,

Cox Yeats Attorneys

HIGHBURY’S NEW HOLIDAY CLUBINDOOR DRONE RACING10 to 16-year-old boys and girls welcome for some December Holiday Fun!YOU ARE THE PILOT, WE HAVE THE DRONES2nd December – 6th December, 9th December – 13th DecemberBooking deadline: 15 NovemberSynopsis of Activity: 5 PILOTS at a time, practice flying through an Indoor Race Course, to gain control of a radio controlled drone, while experiencing it as though they were in the pilot’s seat Duration of Activity: 1.5 hours Total Cost: R 500 per PILOTEmail: flight@stonedronefpv.co.za for more information.Or Find us on FaceBook: StoneDrone F.P.V

HIGHBURY OLD BOYS SELECTED AS KEARSNEY HEADS FOR 2020We are so proud of our Highbury Old Boys who have been selected for leadership positions at Kearsney College 2020:Head of School – Aaron SmithHead of House – Matthew HindDeputies – Grant Craze, William Young, Mandiza Zama, Luke Shiller, Greg Whitehouse and Thomas Constable

OUR BOYS ARE GOING PLACES!We are all loving the new branding on our big VW Crafter bus - our Highbury boys are travelling in style with their bus as a moving billboard for our school.

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‘THE COFFEE CRUISER’ IS ABOUT TO ARRIVE

THANK YOU A personal and heartfelt thank you to those families who have made a big donation to the TukTuk project, many of whom have requested their names to be kept confidential. Highbury is so appreciative of this new revenue stream.

We are delighted to announce that Highbury's new TukTuk will be named 'The Coffee Cruiser'! Well done, Benjamin Cornell in Grade 7W for coming up with the winning name, out of 323 entries, and winning yourself a new surfboard.

Well done also to Nathalie Christie, mum of Catherine in Weavers' Nest, who submitted the name 'Coffee Cruiser' so wins a runner up prize of wine and a voucher for the Cap 'n Chino.

Our TukTuk is in the finishing stages of being made ready and we hope to 'launch' soon after half term. Remember that 100% of the proceeds of coffee sold from our TukTuk goes to Highbury revenues - please support our school by buying your coffee here.

STAFF NEWS

CONGRATULATIONSCongratulations to Mr Iain Dormer, our IT Manager, who married Cait in the Highbury Chapel last Saturday. We wish them all the best.

GLS SUMMIT AT OPEN SKIES CHURCHMr Roland Lacock, Mrs Belinda Willows, Mr David Burns and seven other Highbury EXCO/teachers all attended the two day GLS Summit locally. This hugely inspiring annual event enables our school leadership and teachers to spend time together while listening to top international speakers on a wide range of topics.

2020 TEACHER ANNOUNCEMENTSIn 2019 we have had 2 mainstream classes for Grade 2, but will be expanding back to three classes as these boys move to Grade 3, joined by a number of new boys. Mrs Kerri Peatt, therefore, returns to FP as a Grade 3 teacher and Mrs Michelle de Beer will move back to Grade 2 to teach the third mainstream Grade 2 class in 2020. The Grade 4 class teacher position will be ably filled by our very own Mrs Lisa van Bronckhorst. Mrs Lara Minietti will continue with her role as ICT Integrator, while also taking over the Librarian duties from Lisa, and will be based in the Media Centre.

FAREWELL MRS LARA PLOTTSMrs Lara Plotts, Grade 2, has tendered her resignation after 10 years of service to Highbury. The failing health of her mum has made her acutely aware that “time and tide waits for no man”. While this is sad news for us, one needs to be excited for her to be able to be there for her mum and family so they can make those much treasured forever memories together.

WELCOME MRS BIANCA SMITHWe are delighted to announce that Bianca Smith will be joining Highbury from January 2020 as Grade 2 teacher. Bianca has had a long association with Highbury, first as an Intern and then as a Teacher Assistant. She is currently teaching at Little Heroes - we can’t wait to welcome her ‘home’.

WELCOME MRS LIESL DALTONWe are also delighted to welcome Liesl Dalton to Highbury as a Grade R teacher from January 2020. Liesl has been teaching for 15 years across many grades within the Foundation Phase. She will be joining us from Cygnet Primary School and is excited to immerse herself in ‘Knowing Boys’ at Highbury. Liesl will take over from Mrs Helen Sack, Grade R, who is leaving us to move to Australia at the end of the year (as announced in Sept issue). HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY

We wish Ms Mildred Nkomo a wonderful 40th birthday! Many happy returns.

WEAVERS’ NEST

GRADE R

SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS WITH MR STONEOur Grade 00 girls and boys got to watch Mr Stone do some fun science experiments this morning.He used whole and crushed Mentos to form a reaction with Coca-Cola. The Weavers loved watching the Coke explode!They also had a look at sugar under a portable microscope and learned about words like 'reaction', 'hypothesis' and 'experiment'.

OUR ICE CREAM SHOPWhat's the best way to cool down on a hot day? With ice cream, of course! Our Weavers' Nest girls and boys had their very own ice cream store today. They first had to 'make' their own money, which included notes and coins, and they then stood in line and paid for an ice cream flavour of their choosing. They took turns to work at the shop and scoop ice cream for their patrons.

DINOSAUR THEMEOur Grade Rs have loved their dinosaur theme activities this term: they saw how many of their shoes could fill a T-Rex footprint, they dug for 'fossils' and then put the bones together to make a dinosaur and they made dinosaurs out of salt clay, following a recipe of what they were allowed to use. Finally, there was a fun dino-stack challenge too!

BAKING CUPCAKES (WITH A SURPRISE INSIDE!)Our Grade R Art Room is not only used for art… it’s used for baking too. Each class has taken turns to bake cupcakes this term - we are not sure what is the best part - baking, tasting before it cooks or eating it at the end! Baking involves so many learning concepts, from maths (measurement) to science and more, all while strengthening their arms and hands.

FOUNDATION PHASE

FROBSCOTTLE FUN WITH THE BFGOur Grade 3s are deeply immersed in Roald Dahl’s BFG, from finding similes to creating art and even making ‘frobscottle’ to drink!

LOOK HOW WE’RE GROWINGLast term our Grade 2s planted and nurtured sunflower seeds - in true competitive boy style they have been tracking whose is the biggest with great interest.

GRADE 2S CHAT TO GRADE 1S OVER PAIRED READINGOur Grade 1s and 2s enjoyed a morning of reading and chatting together - it was a great chance for our Grade 2s to tell their younger buddies about the exciting happenings of Grade 2 that they can look forward to..

GRADE 3 COMPULSORY CLUBS - CHESSIn Grade 3, our boys spend an hour each Thursday in compulsory clubs within their house groups. This term Duffs is learning to play chess. They have especially enjoyed practising on our outdoor chess set!

GRADE 2S HOST INTER-SCHOOL MINI-CRICKETOur Grade 2s are all so excited about starting hardball cricket this term in their PE and Compulsory Sport lessons. On Friday 25th October, we hosted the first of our weekly Inter-school mini-cricket tournaments on our beautiful McMillan field. The storm held off for just long enough for everyone to enjoy a chance to bat and bowl within friendly, mixed ability teams.

GRADE 2P ENJOYS THEIR PIZZA PARTYWell done to Grade 2P who sent in the most MySchool forms and earned themselves a pizza party! It was beautiful weather so they enjoyed a pizza picnic under the trees.

GRADE 3S ARE HERE TO HELP WITH MORNING DROP OFFLook out for our friendly Grade 3s with their orange hats near the drop-off zone in the mornings. They are ready to help walk your son into Grade R, so that you can simply ‘drop and go’!

SENIOR PRIMARY

GRADE 5 EGYPTIAN DAYOur annual Grade 5 Egyptian day was superb with stunning costumes, STEM learning activities and of course a delicious feast! The boys created robots to help build pyramids and built tombs from paper and plastic. They then headed for the Dining Hall which had been beautifully decorated by our amazing mums. Their lunch-time feast began with a show from chosen groups of boys, showing off costumes from mummies to pharaohs, princes and gods to rapturous applause.

INTER-CLASS SINGING COMPETITIONThe 18 October was a day filled with fun and excitement as Highbury held their very first Inter-Class Singing Competition. Each SP class was given a song that they had to learn and perform. They were tasked with putting on a 'professional' production - managing lights, smoke, lyrics, choreography and outfits. All classes had a chance to perform and one class from each grade was chosen to partake in the finals, where every boy from Grade 3-7 was invited to watch. The judging panel consisted of 3 Highbury teachers and 2 St Mary's teachers. Grade 5V were the winners of the day - look on our Facebook page to see a video of their performance. Well done, boys.

ISIZULU EXCURSIONGrade 6 and 7 isiZulu boys had the privilege of visiting two townships for an excursion, uMlazi and Nazareth. They enjoyed different eats/foods including shisanyama. The boys had so much fun.

GRADE 5 ST MARY’S VISITFrom line-dancing to making Christmas cards with real electrical lights in them on a mini circuit, our Highbury/St Mary’s day was really enjoyed by girls and boys alike.

OUTREACH

ECO-SCHOOL NEWS

MAPUTULAND CHALLENGECongratulations to each and every Highbury boy that participated in the Maputuland Challenge and ran between 35km and 55km along unforgiving sandy tracks in St Lucia. Together, they raised R100 602 for our sponsored rhinos, Baleka and Tai, at Wildlands. This is the most money to ever be raised for a Highbury Maputuland Challenge.

Thank you to Mr Paddy Collins and all of the teachers and parents who were involved with making this challenge a huge success. Thank you to our sponsors below too!

FULTON SCHOOL BENEFITS FROM MARKET DAYOur Grade 2s had a very successful Market Day raising over R5,000 which will be matched by My School Card funds. This amazing sum means that we will be able to fulfil Fulton School for the Deaf’s dream of buying school sun hats for the pupils.

SOUP COLLECTION FOR INCHANGAThis term’s whole school initiative has been to collect soup for Inchanga Primary School. Thank you to all of our Highbury families for bringing in packets of soup. Our Grade 7s are looking forward to delivering the soup to our twinning school and it will be greatly appreciated in helping fill many hungry tummies.

PROTECTING OUR BEESOur Foundation Phase boys have been talking about the importance of bees in our eco-system, learning about why bees matter and what we need to plant to make sure bees are happy. Did you know that one third of all food we eat depends on pollination? Honey is the only food that contains all the substances needed to sustain life (including water).

GRADE 3 DONATIONS TO FLAME LILYThe Grade 3s outreach is Flame Lily Retirement Village's frail care unit. Through our Market day and the My School programme, we have managed to raise enough money to bless them with a number of goodies on their 'Wish List', including 11 sets of curtains, a DVD player, 2L drinks, serviettes, Christmas crackers and torches. Thank you to Game Watercrest for sourcing a number of our goods, as well as giving us a fantastic discount.

CULTURE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

MUSICAL ACHIEVEMENTSWell done to Alexander Nortje who was awarded two distinctions for his Grade 3 Trinity College London Piano exam and his Grade 4 Trinity College London Recorder exam. Alex took part in the Ethekwini Eisteddfod and was awarded 1 diamond award, 2 gold awards and 4 silver awards as well as 2 medals. He has been invited to perform at the Ethekwini Eisteddfod Prize Winners’ Concert and has been chosen for the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Orchestra.

MUSIC EXAM CERTIFICATESCongratulations to Dale Jackson and Christopher Goslett for passing their Grade 3 saxophone exams, Alexander Watt (left) for passing his Grade 1 piano exam, Josh Robertson for passing his Grade 2 piano exam with merit and Nicholas Railston-Brown for passing his Grade 4 violin exam with distinction. Kyle Berry passed Grade 5 drumming and Kunashe Kamwendo passed Grade 6 drumming with merit. Congratulations also to Zac Hickman (right) for passing his Grade 1 piano exam with distinction.

KZN YOUTH ORCHESTRACongratulations to Jonathan Divall for being awarded his KZN Colours for being chosen for the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Orchestra.

GRADE 3S MUSIC CONCERT IN CHAPELOur FP Chapel on Friday 25th October was a special occasion for our Grade 3s, who are learning an individual instrument, to perform in front of their friends. They were recognised for the hard work and determination that learning an instrument requires... “Highbury boys do hard things!”

LEAVERS’ MUSIC CONCERTCongratulations to all the soloists who performed so well at our annual Leavers’ Concert… we are so proud of your achievements over the years at Highbury. May you continue to hold music close to your heart. Well done to the choir, marimbas, djembe group and orchestra as well for their rousing performances.

SPORTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

OUR NEW PICKET FENCE HAS ARRIVED!Wow, we have been overwhelmed by the incredible support of our parents, staff and Old Boys who have sponsored our picket fence panels. We sold 243 panels within 3 weeks and were able to have the fencing installed for our home games against Umhlali last weekend. The plaques will be added soon - thank you to Mark Ogilby, Chairman of the Highbury Parents’ Association, for the hours of work he has done to get the wording right for each and to Sumner signs for producing them for us.

ABAGILITY MATHEMATICSHighbury was proud to host the Regional Abagility Maths Competition this past weekend in our Centenary Hall. Five Highbury boys participated and Thashil Singh, right, (Grade 3) demonstrated to parents and colleagues how he can complete 60 multiplication calculations in one minute! Thashil travelled to Dubai over the September holidays to represent Abagility Maths Club and South Africa at the GAJSMA International Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Championship. He was one of 15 children from South Africa and 318 children from around the world taking part and we are so proud that he achieved a ‘First – Gold’ award. Well done to Thashil and all of our Abagility boys whose weekly lessons, focus and dedication continue to build their skills and confidence. Watch the video on our Facebook page to see how quick 60 sums in a minute really is!

ATHLETICSWell done to Ruben Visagie for winning first place in both the KZN Cross Country Champs and the ASA Champs U13 1500m.

SPORTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

CRICKETCongratulations to Matthew de Oliveira, Jack O'Donovan and Murray Weyer for being selected for the KZN U13 Cricket Squad.

CRICKETCongratulations to Tristan Hearmon and Heath Stott for being selected for the KZN U12 Invitation Cricket Team.

AMASHOVA CYCLE RACECongratulations to Slade Ducler-Des Rauches, Bryce Seidler, Benjamin Mann, Ross Brown, Max East, Adam Kennedy, Luke Morgan, Trent Marchand, Hayden Lombard (left photo) as well as Cole Woolley and Matthew Hope (middle photo) for riding the Amashova. Special mention goes to Luke Morgan who rode the 65km on a tandem with his dad (far right photo), raising funds for Choc… they raised R21 000!

SWIMMINGWell done to Luca Sandri for participating in the KZN Junior Champs Gala. He won 7 of his 10 races and placed 2nd in 3 races. He was also awarded the KZN Junior Age Group Award.

TRIATHLONWell done to Trent Marchand for placing 3rd overall in the TinMan Triathlon. There were 105 participants in his race. Charlton Webb-Smith (Grade 3) also completed this gruelling event.

SWIMMINGWell done to Cristiano Sandri for participating in the KZN Junior Champs Gala. Cristiano was placed 2nd for boys U9 in 3 of his races and 3rd for boys U9 in the 50m Freestyle. He also chose to compete in two of the boys U10 races where he placed 3rd and 4th. Cristiano also participated in two mixed U10/U11 relays, the 200m Freestyle relay and 200m Medley relay where they placed 2nd.

SPORTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

SACS WATER POLO TOURThe 1st Team Water Polo boys participated in the U13 boys tournament at SACS in Cape Town at the end of the school holidays. All the boys played with much gusto and improved tremendously during the course of the tournament. A memorable weekend!

CRICKET FESTIVAL CORNWALL HILLThe U11A cricket side toured to Pretoria to participate in a cricket festival hosted by Cornwall Hill. The boys had the opportunity to play lots of cricket, in a short space of time, against worthy opponents from the Gauteng area. The exposure the boys received and many other life skills learned, will contribute greatly towards their educational development in general.

ST JOHN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOUR AT HIGHBURYOn Friday 19th October, Highbury welcomed a basketball touring team from St John’s Prep, Johannesburg. The tour party had 30 players who were hosted by our Highbury families. We are very grateful for their hospitality and enjoyed the parents' support as the 1st, 2nd and U11A teams took our visitors on in some fiercely contested matches. The final match of the day was between the two 1st teams. It was an exciting encounter which went into overtime as the scores were tied when time ran out. In basketball, there are no draws so in the 3 minutes of overtime, Highbury secured the victory without conceding any further points. Thank you to all the coaches, players and parents for creating lovely memories for all the boys.

DADS AND LADS VS 1ST TEAM CRICKETOne of our Highbury traditions is the 1st XI cricket match of Dads versus Lads. This year, the dads won the match after chasing down a challenging 232/8 set by the boys. Highlights included some of the boys hitting their fathers far and wide as well as teaching the novice fathers a thing or two about their favourite sport nuances. The more experienced dads also taught the boys a thing or two about running between the wickets and how far to hit a short ball. The match was played in good spirits, with the cheerleaders doing their utmost to ensure that the boys came out on top. Well done to the Dads, and better luck next year to the boys.

TENNIS TOUR TO PAARLIt was a privilege for our 1st Tennis Team to have the opportunity to once again play against the top 15 Cape schools in the Gerrie Berner Laerskole Tennis Toernooi in Paarl from the 23 to 26 October. In the round-robin stages, we won two matches and lost one, so moved on to the play-offs for 5th to 8th

BASKETBALL VICTORYWell done to our 1st Basketball Team who won the City Wide Tournament hosted by PeacePlayers, making them the 2019 PeacePlayers SA Champions. Well done, boys.

position. Unfortunately, heavy rain on Friday prevented any tennis being played and led to a late start on Saturday. We beat Paarl Boys in our first match and were putting in a strong challenge for 5th place overall in our final match against Courtrai, when we unfortunately had to concede the match to ensure we didn't miss our flight home. Congratulations to the boys on the high standard of tennis and for the compliments they received for their excellent manners and sportsmanship.

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