Dear Parents

Our Chaplain, Richard Wyngaard, has based his Chapel Services this term around the theme of;  “I am second”.  This theme reminds us, primarily, that in order to live meaningful and satisfied lives, we must put God first and ourselves second.  Richard has been exploring what this means in our lives and how we can put this into practice on a daily basis.  He has also extended the theme to include the idea of putting the needs of others before our own and of being a blessing to others.  At Hilton, we subscribe to the model of servant leadership which is all about looking after the needs of others.  We constantly need to remind ourselves about how blessed we are and to ask ourselves how we can be a blessing to others.  At a school like ours, we need to ensure that we do not become self-satisfied and arrogant, but that we remain humble and aware of our responsibility to be of wider usefulness.  It is, therefore, particularly pleasing that a number of our boys have been involved in outreach projects this term and I would like to report on some of these in my newsletter next week.

Dear Parents

What a busy and productive week we have just had!   Apart from various academic extension outings and workshops that took place during the week, our boys and staff were involved in a range of other value-adding activities.  Our Music Department hosted an enriching Vocal Ensembles Festival; our Debating Society hosted the local league; six of our Grade 12 Drama boys performed magnificently in The Wykeham Collegiate production of ‘The Love of the Nightingale’; a group of Grade 11 boys and four members of staff presented a most thought provoking Freedom Day assembly; and the Grade 8 and 12 boys, together with their parents, met with their teachers to discuss their academic progress.  In addition to all of this, there were three successful Old Boy reunions, our squash players had a fun fixture against a group of Old Boys and a large crowd joined us on Saturday for a glorious day of rugby and hockey fixtures against Michaelhouse.  All this reflects the balance that we seek to provide for our boys and I take this opportunity to say how pleased I was to see so many parents supporting these events.  And of course, we were all delighted by the 1^st XV’s performance on Gilfillan!