Falcon House
Newsletter No 7, 2007
On being a Falcon

What does it mean to be a pupil in Falcon House? This was a talk given to the House by Dave van Wyk and there are many pointers for both pupils and parents associated with Falcon House.

“Falcons are not the Kings, but the Emperors of the sky.  They are the Rolls Royce of Raptors - right at the top of the food chain - that's us.

What's more of Falcons – they are fast moving - 280 km per hour in a stoop.

They have an amazing efficiency - 98% of the time that they set out to hunt, they are successful.

• How does this apply to you?  In what you are attempting to achieve as a member of Falcon House, what is your strike rate?  When it comes to your academics, what is your strike rate?  You should have set some goals for yourselves this year; or if you haven’t then I think that during tomorrow’s tutor period, you’ll be encouraged to write some goals down and to commit to achieving something worthwhile this year, instead of just “existing”.  Is your strike rate going to improve?

They are really nice to live with - easy going and loving, but ruthless in the hunt.

• I find it hugely encouraging when I see senior and junior boys in this House doing things together; having fun in the common room; enjoying watching a movie or sports match together, or perhaps just sitting chatting and joking.  And as great as it is to develop friendships right across the age barriers, I want to encourage those who are senior, to make sure that your lives are exemplary.  You will then be easy to follow and you will find it easy to be ruthless when it comes to disobedience and general sloppiness.  But if you are just loafing around, a complete mess and you then try to turn on the heat with those below you in this house, you will just be laughed at behind your back as someone who really doesn’t have a clue!

They 'don't waste time' - they use their energy when it really counts.

• I wonder how this might apply to you, especially if you are of an age where you now have more choices.  You can choose when you go to sleep.  You can choose to spend 2 hours after lights-out watching a movie on your iPod.  But how does this affect you when you’re called on to put your energy towards something that really counts?  Is there any energy left for your academic lessons the following day?

They look good and keep themselves looking good - I've never seen a scruffy Falcon.

• I have seen many generations of falcons raised from when they hatch until they are ready to hunt for themselves.  When do you think a Peregrine Falcon looks its scruffiest?  Do you think it’s when it is about to fly off and look after itself in the world?  It’s not – falcons look their scruffiest as they hatch from the egg and for the first couple of days.  Thereafter they become progressively better turned out, more exemplary until as they leave the nest they are absolutely pristine-looking adults.  What a lesson to us in this House!  It is excusable for a new-boy to appear somewhat shabby because at the moment he doesn’t really know any better and he is still learning what is expected.  It is totally unacceptable for a senior boy in this House to look a mess and to be sloppy.  He does know better, and he is setting an example which will be followed, whether he likes it or not.

They don't get into scraps on the ground where they could break feathers and lose their dignity.

• As young men, you have been designed with a natural tendency towards rowdiness and aggression.  This is the way you were created and it is excellent to embrace and celebrate these masculine things.  But you have also been created with a brain, which you are expected to use.  In fact the Bible says, in fairly straightforward terms, that if you are not going to use your brain to think and make decisions like it was created to do; if you are going to think like animals, then don’t be surprised if you behave like animals.  Remember that it is almost impossible for your body to act without your brain telling it to.  And so, be sensible!

They work hard when they have to and rest in shady, beautiful places.

• We are blessed to live on one of the most beautiful School Estates in the world.  Yet it is easy to become so lost in what we are doing, that we forget to appreciate God’s creation around us.  When it is time to go onto the Estate at weekends, the Form 4s and 5s are so relieved that they don’t have to go out there!  And the junior forms generally resent it!  But you’d rather sit indoors and watch the most meaningless cartoons for 3 or 4 hours…  It is unbelievable!  But maybe that’s just a teenage thing.  I just want to encourage you to work hard, play hard and then relax properly.  Earn your rest at the end of each day or on a Sunday.  Then find a lovely, cool place to chill.

Finally, they protect their young ferociously, are wonderful tutors of their trade, but then expect the young to move on and become independent.

This is an area in which I think you as a House excel.  I know how proud the Matrics are of this House and they want to leave at the end of the year, knowing that they have contributed to building Falcon into a better house that it was when they took charge.  That improvement certainly involves building others up and setting an example to them, but then quite rightly expecting others to stand on their own two feet and move ahead independently.

So that's our logo, that's our name - quite a bit to live up to in so many areas.  I would like everyone to think of these things next time they have negative thoughts - we need to be a Falcon - after all, this is our House.”

These are challenging guidelines and worth striving to achieve. There is much evidence that our boys do indeed ascribe to these Falcon attributes – hopefully, as each year passes you see more and more of the characteristics of a Falcon in him.

Gavin Thomson