Dear Parents

This term is certainly living up to its category status as the coldest period on the Hilton calendar with frontal depressions sweeping across the country, and snow being dumped on the nearby Drakensberg Mountains. For the moms, be assured that the boys are well wrapped-up in longs, jerseys, jackets and gloves as protection from the biting cold.

On a staffing front , Lynne McMillan will be taking up a new challenge as Director of Student Support from January 2011, which will aim at maximizing personal growth and development in both academically gifted and “at risk” pupils in each form. Lynne will also be re-structuring the tutor system which will form part of the Pastoral Care sector that will be managed by me in the short term. The position of Head of Academics will be advertised nationally this week and, hopefully, an appointment will be made before the end of the third term for an effective starting date of 01 January 2011. Lynne has been the Head of Academics for a period of six years and we thank her for the contribution that she has made and wish her well in her new posting.   She will retain her position as Deputy Head.

 At present we are interviewing candidates for Director of Sport and Co-Curricular, Director of Academic Administration and Head of Dramatic Arts. The process has been thorough and demanding and the candidates have proven, in many cases, to be impressive. There is no doubt that we will fill these posts with very capable and experienced staff that will be a credit to Hilton College. The aim is to have the appointment process and the restructuring of the Executive Team completed before the end of this term.

 Another exciting development is that the San sisters together with Alan Hastings (a consultant) are spearheading an initiative in analyzing data of injuries so that training programmes can be initiated to prevent common injuries occurring. Prevention is better than cure, as they say in the classics! We wish this team well with this initiative.

 Grandparents' Day was a wonderful occasion with a total of 270 grandparents gracing Hilton College with their grandsons in attendance. The day was sunny and warm and the highlights of the proceedings were the speech by Cameron Beetar, one of our Grade 8 pupils, and lively performances by the Jazz and Marimba Bands. Lunch at the Fleur-de-Lys Club was a festive affair and wrapped up an awesome day of fellowship with the people in whose footsteps we follow.

 Following the World Cup Soccer, there was a full showcase of matches on our fields against Westville – it was heartening to see our top league rugby stars coming to grips with the round ball and the importance of “first touch and control”.

 As a school, we are gaining momentum and we look forward to the changes as they unfold.

G Thomson
Headmaster