McKenzie House
April 2008
Term 2: Newsletter 18

“If one takes pride in one’s craft, you won’t let a good thing die. Risking it through not pushing hard enough is not a humility.”
Paul Keating Australian Prime Minister

Dear McKenzie Parents

Autumn has certainly arrived. What a beautiful time of the year as the trees change colour and the leaves fall from the magnificent plain trees in the avenue. The chill in the early morning is evident and the days are much shorter, as autumn settles in the Midlands.

I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable time with your boys during the holidays. It has been a good three week break and I hope our boys have taken the time to recharge their batteries for a busy 2nd term.

Many of our boys have represented the school at the various Easter sports festivals and by all accounts they have done well, on and off the field. I was in Johannesburg at the various hockey and rugby festivals and our teams did well, and importantly, were well supported. Thank you to boys who came along to support it certainly spurred their colleagues on the field, and well done to our teams, you did Hilton proud!

We welcome back Adam Duxbury and Kyle Forder who were on exchange last term at Eton and Gordonstoun respectively. We look forward to hearing about their experiences while on exchange and I have no doubt they have benefited for this valuable experience.

During the holidays the bathroom in the House has been renovated and it is looking tremendous. The floors and walls have been retiled, the old urinal removed to be replaced by four individual urinals, two new granite hand basins put in place, and the toilets have been replaced.

On the 9th of May the House will be hosting a formal dinner with MacKenzie House from Michaelhouse. My counterpart at Michaelhouse and I thought it would be a good idea for such a function. It will take place in the Memorial Hall and it will be a formal evening with a few musical pieces performed by each House. We have a wonderful relationship with Michaelhouse and this is another occasion which we can celebrate our special relationship. It will be a three course dinner provided by the kitchen and the extra cost for this will be debited to your school account. It promises to be a great evening.

At the end of last term the Inter-house Cross Country competition was held. Well done to David Rios who won the Senior race.

During the holiday the 1998 matric group held their 10 year reunion. There were a number of McKenzie Old Boys at the dinner and it was wonderful to see them. During the course of the afternoon I took some of the class of 1998 on a tour of the school, and in particular, some of the 1998 McKenzie Old Boys visited the House.

A few important dates to keep in mind:

- 26 April Matric Dance
- 2 May Parents’ Day (for parents living more than 125 kms)
- 3 May Hilton/Michaelhouse
- 9 May McKenzie/MacKenzie Formal Dinner
- 15 May Parents’ Day (for parents living less than 125 kms)
- 7 June Hiltonian Day (hockey & rugby vs College)
- 8 June McKenzie Family Day (Henley Lapa)

The Form I’s may bring their cell phones back to school but I do encourage them to look after them and to make sure they are not left lying around otherwise they will spend 2 weeks in my safe!

I remind parents, that when they would like to take their son’s out for a supper leave on a Saturday, to make sure they e-mail or phone this request to me timeously. Boys make not take a supper leave during the week unless it is their birthday.

The Headmaster commented to the boys about returning to school with a “proper” haircut. It would be unfortunate for a boy to lose a leave because he had not done so!

It promises to be a busy term and there is a lot to look forward to. Please do not hesitate to contact me with regards any matter about your sons. I hope you enjoy the last few days of the holidays and I look forward to seeing the boys on Monday evening.

Kind Regards

Paul

 
1998 McK Old Boys – Andrew Smith, Marc Cloete, Michael Yeats, Philip Barnes and Simon Christie

At the 10 year reunion dinner at the Club: Tim Frankish (McK), Grant Forbes (P) and Philip Barnes (McK)

Before the Junior Cross Country race

Well done to David Rios who won 1st place in the Snr race with Nic Deist (N) who came 2nd.

Before the Senior Cross Country race.

Next to the comment on Adam and Kyle – please put their N&F photos.