VITA | Michaelmas Term 2020

ST JOHN’ S COLLEGE present s

Michaelmas Term 2020

Mavericks, Mentors & Medical Maestros

+ Space to Thrive +

Neonatal in Time of Crisis Michaelmas Term 2020

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IN THIS EDITION Trending

Connection

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WE DO NOT STAND ALONE

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MEET THE NEW HEADS

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MAVERICKS, MENTORS & MEDICAL MAESTROS

10-15

LETTERS

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OBITUARIES

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Contents For all enquiries and contributions, please contact the St John’s College Marketing & Communications Office at communications@stjohnscollege.co.za.

Published content remains the property of St John’s College. All views expressed are those of the authors and contributors and not necessarily those of St John’s.

Spotlight

Innovation

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SPACE TO THRIVE

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NEONATAL IN TIME OF CRISIS

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LISTENING TO ANNA KARENINA

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AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS

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In The News

Heritage

44/49 OLD JOHANNIAN BRINGS ASTRONAUTS HOME FROM SPACE

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OMPHILE RAMELA JOINS THE BOARD OF CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA

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DEVON CONWAY REPRESENTS THE BLACK CAPS

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MUSIC DEPARTMENT WELCOMES NEW JOHN REID COULTER HARPSICHORD

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SIX YEARS AS AN AL-QAEDA PRISONER

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THE 2ND HUGH LEWIN MEMORIAL HUMAN RIGHTS LECTURE

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50/53 A LOOK BACK IN TIME: GAUDY DAY

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Contents Advancement

Ed’s Welcome W

elcome to VITA. VITA, the long-standing St John’s community publication, is back after a brief hiatus – now in a new, digital, interactive format.

VITA celebrates the richness, strength and deep heritage of our school community and offers a termly snapshot of the St John’s community – a look at what is happening on campus, as well as news and insights about our staff, students, our parents and former parents, Old Johannians, benefactors and beyond.

Strong communities share environments, interests, beliefs and needs, creating a collective identity. Our community shares a common love for St John’s, and VITA brings you some great stories about extraordinary members of our community doing extraordinary things – even in these difficult times. These stories remind us of the steady, nurturing and indelible fingerprints of those who have shaped – and those who continue to fashion – the bold, enduring, diverse and majestic tapestry that is St John’s College.

VITA is for you – it is intended to be a collaborative and inclusive magazine, which resonates with all our stakeholders. As members of the St John’s community, we invite you to share your stories, articles, letters, opinion pieces, achievements and contributions with VITA.

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Send your contributions, comments and thoughts to me at communications@stjohnscollege.co.za I look forward to hearing from you.

PARTNERING FOR A SHARED FUTURE

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- Jacqui Deeks, Editor

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WE DO NOT STAND ALONE

By Mabine Seabe

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Trending In achieving social justice and change we must be prepared to hold a mirror up to ourselves - collectively and individually, writes Mabine Seabe (OJ, Second Prefect and Head of Thomson, 2007), co-founder and CEO of Stratagem Consultants and IRIC member.

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he growing and profound narrative by learners, supported by their alumni, across South Africa, parts of southern Africa, the UK, US and parts of Europe is for anti-racism, inclusiveness and safety by rejecting racism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance and its other bigoted bedfellows at institutions of learning. We are being forced to reflect on our individual and collective behaviour, the structure and purpose of institutions and their symbols — and most importantly, how to change them for the better.

commerce, the arts and sciences, politics and social justice and change. The brightest and the best — “rightly trained in Mind, Body and Character”.

The highest law of the Republic, the Constitution, in its preamble, calls us to “recognise the injustices of our past…”

It goes further to state that we “Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights.”

These symbols force many of us to hold up a mirror and reflect on our contribution to a St John’s that made (intentionally or unintentionally) many feel small or excluded, and how we can and must continue changing as individuals. We must contribute to the process of changing a place that we so deeply love and still carry with us today. A place to which we hope one day to send our sons and daughters, knowing that regardless of their sex, gender, race, class or religious standing, St John’s feel will feel like home.

What the St John’s community embarked on since the difficult but necessary ‘2017 moment’ and its subsequent journey is exactly what our country’s Constitution and movements like #BlackLivesMatter stand for. And closer to home, this journey gives life to the College’s vision, which “aims to create an environment in which our students can live their lives to the full, learn accountability, fulfill their potential, and reach their dreams. ”The social justice events of 2020 alone illustrate that the St John’s community does not exist in isolation, unaffected by the country and world around it. Importantly, it shows that the changes happening at St John’s are necessary but do not take away from what St John’s fundamentally aims to be. The words of the College Song and Hymn, the vision and mission are not just words, but the very foundation on which St John’s is built. We should continue building on this foundation if the school is going to remain a “world-class” institution, but also to enable it to continue growing as an important institution that graduates young women and men who will be at the forefront of academia,

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I stood proudly with many Johannians and Old Johannians as powerfully symbolic actions were taken to hoist the Pride Flag in recognition of the LBGTQIA+ community and its struggles, and later in the same week the Black Flag as a stand against gender-based violence and a commitment to anti-racism.

Hoisting these flags elicited grand debate on OJ WhatsApp groups, social media and in the press. They also motivated learners, present and past, and at other schools, to start the difficult and sometimes traumatic conversations associated with change for the better.

St John’s must stand proud as a school that began this process in 2017 and is already emerging stronger, while continuing to dedicate resources to implement the recommendations of the Independent Representative Interim Committee (IRIC) and make St John’s a home for all. The College must also have the courage and willingness to engage in constructive conversations with Johannians and Old Johannians who disagree with the changes — dissenting views are key to inclusivity and growth.

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Mavericks, Mentors & Medical Maestros

By Jon Patricios

Jon Patricios delves deep into the contribution of St John’s College to medicine – a remarkable and noteworthy contribution that connects more than 100 years. The unabridged article, which pays tribute to the individuals involved in an incredible era of Johannian academic doctors.

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n his address to St John’s College in December 1978, renowned surgeon and then Vice-Chancellor of Wits University, Prof DJ “Sonny” du Plessis, tongue firmly in his cheek, coined the term “the St John’s Medical Mafia”. This referred to an incredible production line of Old Johannian medical doctors - remarkable not only in its number but for its impact on the field of medicine.

Pioneers The name Isidore Jack Block will probably not mean much to Johannians. Born in 1893, Isidore matriculated from St John’s in 1909 before leaving for Edinburgh to study medicine. He was the first Johannian medical graduate — one might therefore regard him as the first “mafioso”.

George Frederick Mills Slade (Head’s House, later to become Nash House, 1915) was one of four medical students to be the first to graduate from Wits Medical School in 1925. Having a Johannian as the first medical graduate from Wits proved prescient and a harbinger of a strong link that was to be cemented over the next century.

In “The Johannian” magazines of the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s, records can be found of several more Johannians studying medicine.

Early on, many studied overseas. An early example of an Old Johannian demonstrating clinical leadership is Dr Otto Popper, who matriculated in 1916 and went on to gain worldwide acclaim when he described, lectured on, and published his fenestration technique for deafness. Dr Libero Fatti (1918) pioneered aspects of heart surgery that preceded the first heart transplant. Prof James Gear (Thomson, 1922) was one of South Africa’s most highly regarded doctors internationally and a pioneer in the eradication of infectious diseases.

Prof James Gear (Thomson, 1922) was one of South Africa’s most highly regarded doctors internationally and a pioneer in the eradication of infectious diseases. Although best known for his work on the poliomyelitis vaccine (on which he collaborated closely with international colleagues Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin and Tom Weller) in the mid-1950’s, he also discovered the Coxsackie B virus as a cause of infantile myocarditis in 1948 and was a pioneer in describing what we now know as autoimmune diseases.

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"It is in the years after World War II that Johannians seem to have made an even more substantial impact in the field of medicine."

He was a visiting professor in tropical diseases at Harvard and the recipient of numerous prestigious awards in South Africa and internationally. In helping to eradicate polio, James Gear made an immense contribution to humanity.

A feature of many of the “updates” in The Johannian magazines from 1914-1920, and again from 1939-1945, is the number of young Old Johannians who had their studies and early careers disrupted by war. At least 25 Johannian doctors served in World War II — either as members of the Royal Army Medical Corps or the South African Medical Corps.

Wits Medical School an enduring bond begins Although Johannians have studied at universities around the world, St John’s bond with Wits Medical School (now the Faculty of Health Sciences) is unusually strong. From the early 20th century, the connection with Wits Medical School became stronger as, following Dr Block, wellqualified medical graduates - “Harold Brayshaw (1913) and Moses “Mosie” Suzman (1920) - took up posts at Johannesburg General Hospital and the Medical School.

It is in the years after World War II that Johannians seem to have made an even more substantial impact in the field of medicine. The “Mafia” cohort referred to by Prof Du Plessis consisted of OJ doctors and academics associated with the Wits Medical Faculty – over 35 of them at that time. For several decades that followed, most doctors ( Johannians or not) would have been mentored by these incredible men, many regarded as maestros and some as mavericks!

The Wits Department of Internal Medicine is the largest of its kind in South Africa and graduates more physicians and physician subspecialists than any other similar department in the country.

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Dr Isidore Jack Block, the first OJ medical graduate

From 1967-2005, the Head of the Department of Medicine at Wits was an Old Johannian, starting with Tom Bothwell (Thomson, 1941) for 24 years, then John Milne (Hill, 1958) for eight years, and Patrick Macphail (Thomson, 1963) for five years. Preceding this, Jock Gear (Thomson, 1925) was Acting Head in the ‘50s and ‘60s — so the Johannian reign extends to around 50 years!

This period included three Old Johannian Deans of the Faculty: Robert Charlton (Alston, 1945) later to become Vice-Chancellor of Wits, F John Milne (Hill, 1958) and Tom Bothwell (Alston, 1949).

A short article such as this leaves out the names of many who have significantly impacted their field in a quite incredible era of Johannian academic doctors and personalities who had a profound influence on medicine in Johannesburg and beyond. Some of the other famous “Mafia” names include: Prof John Barlow (Thomson, 1941), Prof “Buddy” Lawson (Hill, 1944), Prof Neville Welsh (Nash, 1947), Prof Tony Meyers (Hill, 1950), Prof John Gear (Thomson, 1960) and Prof John Pettifor (Thomson, 1962).

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Prof Barlow was the cardiologist of choice for many, including President Mandela

These names represent only a handful from that generation. There were over 20 more, collaborating in a teaching network that made for one of the world’s great medical teaching milieus. Steadfast, dogged and principled; clinicians, researchers and teachers all in one, with different fields of interest … but all from the same school. Professors Charlton, Bothwell, Gear and Pettifor, together with paediatric neurosurgeon Warwick Peacock, have received the College’s Golden Eagle Award.

A mafia that sought social justice Significantly, the “Mafia” generation worked in the years during which the Apartheid government tightened segregation laws. Their resistance to discrimination and determination to offer quality medical care to people of all races is demonstrated in many deliberate acts of protest.

John Barlow withstood considerable government criticism for a publication in the British Medical Journal citing evidence that the poor socio economic conditions of black citizens increased the incidence of rheumatic valve disease.

Mosie Suzman actively supported his high-profile wife Helen in her resistance to the changes brought by the Nationalist government. The Gear brothers were active in their support of a more equitable health system. In 1989, mass voluntary total fasting began as a form of political protest at the Johannesburg Prison.

Professor WJ ( John) Kalk (Thomson, 1959) and his colleague Prof Y Veriava refused to allow patients to return to prison after recovery in the belief that indefinite remand Michaelmas Term 2020

in custody without trial is torture. This became known as ‘Kalk’s refusal’.

Jealous murmurs The “Mafia” label was well-known outside of Johannian medical circles and would sometimes be somewhat disparagingly mumbled under the breath of a consultant, “unfortunate” enough to have attended another school: “He’s another member of the mafia you know”.

A photograph, inspired by Prof Du Plessis’ quip, was removed from the walls of the new Medical School by none other than Tom Bothwell, who felt it created ill feeling among colleagues regarding the influence Johannians had in the faculty. But few could refute their inspiration of a golden era of South African medical practice, research and teaching.

What each of these fine clinicians achieved in their own careers is noteworthy, but their greatest contribution is surely their teaching, which has left a legacy of medical excellence in Johannesburg and across the globe - many, of course, Johannians.

New leaders emerge Encouragingly, St John’s College’s influence on medicine has not ended with the “Mafia” generation. We are accumulating a database of active Johannians in the profession that currently lists over 250. Some have succeeded internationally but, encouragingly, a large cohort remain in South Africa and Johannesburg. Many of these are leaders and very influential in their fields.

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Back: JSS Gear, P Macphail, J Thorburn, F Kalk, A Gear, R Morrison, A Perrott Middle: RN Scott-Millar, RF Griffiths, JM Pettifor, G Mitchell, JH Bristow, P Heberden, A van As, JD Torrance, FJ Milne, WJ Kalk | Front: D Mitchell, JB Barlow, TH Bothwell, RW Charlton, JHS Gear, LGR van Dongen, M Susman Absent: P Cooke, SAR Cooke, R Edge, G Fotheringham, HH Lawson, AM Meyers, I Webster, R White This photograph was inspired by Dr Du Plessis, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, who referred to the St John’s Mafia in a speech to the school on Speech Day 1978. The Vice-Chancellor was referring to Old Johannians who hold academic posts in the Medical School of the Johannesburg Hospital.

The Johannian medical student conveyor belt that started more than 100 years ago, continues. In 2019, 10 Old Johannians graduated as medical doctors from the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences. In a country and world of seemingly increasing disparity and social divide, the responsibility of this generation remains as significant as it was during the Great War, the polio epidemic and Apartheid. Due to the ongoing commitment of the current Dean and academics, the Wits Faculty finds itself entrenched well within the top 100 medical schools in the world, in a position to make a meaningful impact.

A legacy to treasure The contribution of Johannians to medicine, only briefly honoured on these pages, is truly noteworthy. What connects over 100 years of St John's doctors, from the Parktown Ridge to Penn State, from the Blocks to the Bothwells, the military majors to the medical mavericks?

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Can it perhaps be the distinctively Renaissance “body, mind and character” ethos of a St John’s education that provides the preparation for a life n medicine Although an eclectic cohort, three characteristic threads seem to feature in each biography explored:

Mentorship —

the transfer of knowledge between generations of doctors - at Wits, across South Africa, and with significant academic contributions internationally.

Old Johannian medics have indeed spread light.

Resilience — apart from a commitment to medicine

and research in South Africa and abroad, a tenacity in tough times (World Wars, segregated Apartheid teaching hospitals and competitive international environments).

Many of these characters have been larger than life — Renaissance men impacting the lives of many patients and colleagues.

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Trending

The De Kock/Spicer Family circa 1975 Seated: Peter de Kock, Bob de Kock, John de Kock | Standing: Gavin Routledge, Michael Spicer

Devotion

— to medicine, their university and mankind, and to addressing areas of critical need and uplifting under-resourced communities in South Africa.

These are doctors who demonstrate the virtue of caritas in its true theological interpretation of love.

Whether maverick, mentor or medical maestro, may the Johannian influence remain – in student endeavours, in emerging academic leadership, in our social conscience and, inspired by that famous “Mafia” generation, in weaving into patient care the philosophy of Lux, Vita and Caritas.

The unabridged article, which pays tribute to the individuals involved in an incredible era of Johannian academic doctors, can be found here.

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Jon Patricios (OJ, Clayton, 1986) is a Sport and Exercise Medicine Physician and Associate Professor at Wits Sport and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Wits University.

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Meet The New Heads

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Connection

Stuart West and Lester Lalla, who joined St John’s during 2020, reflect on their journey to the school - and arriving in their new posts during a pandemic year.

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hen Stuart West took over as Executive Head at St John’s College in January, he could not have imagined the challenges that lay ahead. The 16th Headmaster of St John’s assumed the mantle at the start of 2020, a pandemic year that is proving to be among the most difficult in the history of the school.

Equally new to the school – and to the new way of working demanded in this time of pandemic – is Lester Lalla, who joined as Headmaster of St John’s Preparatory, albeit virtually, in the second term of the year.

Both educators dove headfirst into uncharted waters to quickly implement untried virtual teaching and study methods as the threat of Covid-19 forced staff and students to work and learn from the safety of their homes. Their leadership has been exemplary, not surprising since Stuart and Lester are distinguished academics with impressive backgrounds in the field of education.

However, it was a steep learning curve, tackled with the kind of innovative thinking and enthusiasm that sets St John’s apart, making the school a leader in the field of education. With an enforced lockdown in place and in-person teaching – and all sporting events – suspended, both men had to bring all their experience to bear to explore fresh ways of out-ofclassroom teaching.

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“The welcoming College community mass on the Burger Field was a highlight for me.”

Stuart West Executive Headmaster Stuart comes to St John’s from Cape Town’s top academic school, Herschel Girls’ School. Despite his trialthrough-fire start and the unconventional methods of communication he has been forced into, Stuart says he is delighted to be at St John’s. He was attracted to the prestigious school by “the aspiration of an all-rounded excellence for all St John’s students; held within an indelible, foundational Anglican Christian heritage, a desire to be an African school of excellence and place of belonging and growth for all staff and students.”

Stuart added: “I loved the idea of three powerful, traditional boys’ schools bookended by the richness and joy of the co-education Bridge and Sixth Form. I also resonated with the determined commitment to the continued transformational journey as part of the effort to reimagine what a world-class African school looks like in the 21st century.

Along the road to becoming Headmaster of St John’s, Stuart spent seven years as Head College Principal of Dainfern College, and many years before that at Bishop’s (Diocesan College).

Mr Stuart West, Executive Headmaster

The Council of St John’s College were delighted to appoint Stuart as it was “unusual to find a Head with such a vast range of whole-school experience in both boys’ and girls’ monastic as well as co-educational schools.”

His greatest wish is for St John’s College to be a place of belonging for all students and staff and a place where all strive for their excellence and personal growth in body, mind and character. He aims for St John’s to be recognised as the pre-eminent school of choice for all South African families.

Stuart, an ordained Anglican lay minister, said he was surprised, and delighted, by the joy and affirming welcome he received. “The welcoming College community mass on the Burger Field was a highlight for me – to see the whole College community seated together in that mass, to hear the joyful singing of the choir and students and to have Bishop Steve pray over, bless and welcome Joyanne and me in our partnership of leadership was an overwhelmingly profound experience.”

Educated at Graeme College in Grahamstown, Rhodes University and Unisa, Stuart holds a BA (Hons) degree in History and a postgraduate Certificate in Education.

He is an accomplished sportsman having played and coached at the provincial level. He is married to Joyanne, former Head of St Cyprian’s School-in-the-Woods PrePreparatory in Cape Town and now Head of Bluebird Pre-Primary School and Education Centre. They have three adult children, Kristy, Shelley and Michael.

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Connection

“It is an institution that honours its history and traditions.”

Lester Lalla Headmaster, St John’s Preparatory Lester comes to St John’s from St Stithians Boys’ Preparatory in Johannesburg where, as the Deputy Headmaster, he had a range of academic and administrative responsibilities. Despite starting at St John’s in a strictly virtual environment that precluded the usual in-person induction, Lester is thrilled to be part of the St John’s team, saying it has been a “profound privilege and joy” to serve the community of St John’s.

“St John’s has a rich heritage in educating boys. It is an institution that honours its history and traditions, yet it is aspirational in being a beacon of change and possibility.”

He says that on his arrival at St John’s, he had been pleasantly surprised by the high church practices of the College. “It is distinctly St John’s and a wonderful gift to our students.”

Lester is a teacher and educational leader with roots on the South African east coast. His early career years were spent teaching and learning in the public sector. A desire for improved student outcomes saw Lester embark on an unending journey of educational research and evidence.

He believes the dualities of tradition and innovation are powerful influencers on the education of a young man. To this end, he says, he would like St John’s Prep to be that place where every boy is seen, celebrated, and loved.

In his application to the St John’s Council, Lester described St John’s College as a “remarkable educational enterprise and a beacon of excellence on the African continent …

Her nobility is not only evident in her aesthetics and faith-filled foundations but more importantly, in her commitment to developing young men rightly trained in body, mind and character.”

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Mr Lester Lalla, Headmaster, St John's Preparatory

He added that not having had the opportunity to attend a faith-based school himself, he had “a deep-seated appreciation for schools rooted in Christianity and liturgy.

They provide a plumb line for life and living and an anchor during the vicissitudes of fortune. The Anglican ethos and its practices are a true gift to all Johannians.”

Lester holds a Bachelor’s in Education from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is married to Corinne, with whom he has two children, Samuel and Abigail.

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Letters Prof A Patrick MacPhail (Thomson 1963)

I’m glad to hear that St John’s is putting a database of Old Johannian doctors together. The history is indeed a long and prestigious one.

When I joined the Wits Medical School in 1967 I went directly into second year because I had a BSc. I was immediately aware that there were many OJs around – more than I remembered from the main campus. This may have hit a peak during the 1970s but I think that it continued for some time and may still be a feature of Wits Medical School. During this time the Department of Medicine at Johannesburg Hospital had so many OJs in high places that they were referred to as the “St John’s Mafia”. In fact someone – I don’t recall who – had a formal photograph taken of all the OJs on the staff of the Medical School. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy but I’m sure there must be one around. When I later moved up the hierarchy and got to know Prof Tom Bothwell very well, he told me that the photograph had been removed as it had caused ill feeling among staff in the medical school, many of whom really believed that we were a ‘Mafia’.

Certainly OJs dominated the Department of Medicine.

From 1967 to 2005 the Head of the Department was an OJ: Tom Bothwell (24 years); John Milne (eight years) and then myself (five years). When I became Head in 2000, the title was changed and the position of ‘Academic Head’

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became an elected one and was separated from that of Head of Medicine at Johannesburg (Charlotte Maxeke) Hospital. I was the first Academic Head from another hospital (Helen Joseph) which, perhaps, opened the field to others that were not part of the ‘Mafia’!

Patrick McPhail (OJ, 1963, Thomson) Professor Emeritus, Clinical HIV Research Unit, Department of Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand

Dr Donald A Mackay (Clayton 1970)

I have fond memories of what we used to call the “St John’s Medical Mafia” at Wits University, with luminaries including Prof Daubenton, Tom Bothwell ... “High (Father), Middle ( John) and Low (Anthony) Gears”, John Barlow, Tony Myers, Buddy Lawson, and so many more. Anthony Gear gave our class a lecture on snake bites.

At the end of the lecture he told us to come to the front of the lecture hall where he had a Night Adder which has a very mild venom - in a box to show us. As we got to the front he threw a rubber snake from the box into the audience – chaos! I cannot imagine anyone getting away with that today, but it was very funny.

Dr Donald R Mackay (OJ 1970 Clayton) Interim Chair, Dept. of Surgery, Penn State Hershey College of Medicine and Hershey Medical Center

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Mr Lester Lalla welcoming one of the St John's Prep pupils on the first day of school.

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Obituaries study Archaeology at the University of Cape Town where he again excelled in his studies and obtained a doctorate at the age of 28 years old. At the young age of 24 years, he successfully excavated Makapansgat, discerning three layers of the Stone Age, a new discovery in South African Archaeology.

Revil John Mason (10 FEB 1929 - 23 AUG 2020) 1946 | Thomson

Revil John Mason (OJ Thomson 1946) died on 23 August 2020 at the age of 91 years, scarcely a year after receiving the Golden Eagle Award on Gaudy Day, 2019.

Revil was born on 10 February 1929 and grew up in Saxonwold. He entered St John’s Prep in 1936, and he always recalled with fondness his memories of Mr Dodson and Miss de la Hunt.

After matriculating in 1946, Revil studied at the University of Witwatersrand and obtained a B Com degree, garnering several prizes, including the Aitken Medal for the Best Graduate in Commerce, together with the Chamber of Industries Medal and the Dean’s award.

However, after attending a lecture by Prof Raymond Dart, he became fascinated by archaeology. He proceeded to

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During the 1950s he often visited St John’s, talking to the boys about new archaeological finds and helped the Museum Club to re-establish the Museum in the Community Room. Some years ago he led an archaeological dig with the College Archaeology Club and helped the boys excavate a Boer War site in the Magaliesberg.

Revil was appointed a professor by Wits as a successor to Professor Clarence van Riet Lowe. In 1976 the university created the Archaeological Research Unit for Professor Mason and his staff and appointed him as Director, a post he held until his rather early retirement in 1989.

After that Revil continued to excavate significant sites, including a miraculously preserved 12 000 years BP, Late Stone Age shelter, 150m from the N1 Allandale exit in 1996. During his career, Revil determined the historical significance of Melville Koppies and other areas of Johannesburg through his tireless and meticulous investigations of Stone Age and Iron Age sites. He identified prehistoric iron furnaces and Tswana villages from Lonehill to Klipriviersberg in Johannesburg.

Professor Mason mapped the entire North West and Gauteng provinces and became a champion of precolonial Early African Iron Age technology. In this way

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Connection Revil Mason debunked the myth of the “empty land”, a version of history that propped up the Apartheid regime and that was taught in history classes across South Africa.

Besides being an archaeologist, Revil was also a keen explorer, adventurer and an avid mountaineer. In his early twenties, he explored Kaokoland and went up the Brandberg in Namibia, searching for San rock art. He was the first person to document a San rock art site on top of the Brandberg in a cave now known as the Mason shelter.

He climbed the Ruwenzori and other African mountains and later went on to explore the great Asian mountains.

At the age of 69 he went on a solo bike trip crossing the Karakoram Mountains, the western Himalayas, from Pakistan to China.

Revil celebrated his 90th birthday, and his life's work, with an exhibition Through the Eyes of an Archaeologist that was organised at the Wits Origins Centre in 2019.

He was also awarded a Blue Plaque for his work at the Broederstroom Archaeologist Site earlier this year.

Revil Mason, renowned for his progressive ideas about the importance of the archaeological past to all South Africans was a humble, down-to-earth man, often irreverent, with a dry sense of humour, eschewing physical comforts. A famous academic colleague, Professor Phillip Tobias, called Revil Mason “brilliant, creative, unpredictable, sometimes difficult, humorous, an indefatigable field archaeologist.”

He is survived by two daughters, a grandson and a granddaughter. May he Rest in Peace.

Revil Mason, Archaeologist 1974 An archaeological dig with Revil Mason in 1974

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James 'Jimmy' Gordon (1928 - 22 SEP 2020) Director of Music, St John's College

St John’s College is sad to learn of the passing of James Gordon on 22 September.

James Gordon, affectionately known as Jimmy, was the Director of Music at St John’s College for nearly 20 years.

Jimmy was educated at Sherborne School in the United Kingdom. He later won a choral scholarship at King’s College, Cambridge, where he read for BA and B Mus degrees. He taught music at Twyford School and at Eton College, where he also served as Assistant Organist.

Jimmy arrived at St John’s College after relinquishing his post as Director of Music at the Duke of York School.

He was an exceptionally talented singer and possessed a superb tenor voice and vocal technique. His sense of pitch was unerring. He gave many recitals and was invited to perform as a leading soloist in many choirs throughout his years in Johannesburg.

He inspired the Chapel Choir to great heights and produced memorable performances of Faure’s Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria and Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, among other works.

Jimmy was also an outstanding organist and his impeccable taste and interpretation of the organ masterpieces were greatly admired. He was often commissioned to give performances at St Mary’s Cathedral and Johannesburg City Hall.

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Jimmy Gordon was a talented intellectual and a gifted scholar but remained humble. He was known to be shy and retiring. He never thought of his talents as being exceptional and was always modest about his accomplishments.

Many Old Johannians and members of the St John’s Community will remember Jimmy with great fondness and affection, and they will remain eternally grateful for all the musical experiences he was able to provide them.

We at St John’s College treasure his memory, and some personal tributes will follow about this special man.

His funeral takes place at 11am on Friday 2 October at St Martin’s in the Veld in Rosebank.

took this in her stride and in her quiet and efficient way she took Geography to new heights at St John's.

Colleen exuded warmth and care and was well-loved by all who knew her. Her students respected her strict-yetfair attitude and knew that she always expected them to give of their best. Her colleagues, especially those in her Department, valued her warmth and support as she led with an understated sense of calm and exceptional organisation.

The records will show that the Geography Department regularly managed to achieve excellent Matric results and that it was also a preferred choice subject when it came to the time for subject choices.

“The Geography community has lost one of the best,” said Mrs Bridget Fleming, her successor as Head of Geography. “I was honoured that she entrusted her beloved Department to me five years ago. I will never forget what she whispered in my ear at the interview: ‘look after my family’”.

Our thoughts and prayers are with her son Shaun, her family and all that knew and loved her.

Colleen Boyd (1952 - 12 SEP 2020) Head of Geography, St John's College

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Mrs Colleen Boyd, former Head of Geography at St John’s College, on 12 September.

Colleen taught at St John’s College for more than 20 years, joining the formidable teaching team comprising Paul Turner, Cliff Midgley and Alan Wilcock in 1996.

Colleen took over as Head of Geography two years later under unusual circumstances. Two members of her Department were senior men, both of whom had been Heads of the Department that she was to inherit. Colleen

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Space to Thrive

By Mark Pencharz

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Spotlight

Creating a new Prep building which honours the past and prepares for the future, while maintaining the architectural quality inherent on the St John’s campus, comes with a healthy dose of excitement and anxiety, writes Mark Pencharz

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he completion of the new St John’s PrePreparatory School in 2015 was heralded a great success. St John’s took the bold step to demolish the Pre-Prep buildings and design and build an entirely new facility tailored to meet the needs of the lower grades. Fitting the ideal design onto the restricted site was challenging, but we are now able to share in the enjoyment of the boys and teachers as they make use of their new school.

Creating this modern and desirable Pre-Prep environment highlighted how comparatively undesirable the existing Prep classrooms had become. The constraints on the Prep had been discussed for years. The school was experiencing the pressure-cooker effect of more boys and extra subject curricula being squeezed into classrooms designed by Fleming and Baker to suit a very different education environment.

Boys graduating from the Pre-Prep and accustomed to generous classrooms of over 100m² filled with natural light and volume, found themselves seated in classrooms of a little over 40m², some of which boasted fireplaces in the corners. While oozing nostalgia and character, the time for real, functional change was apparent.

St John’s College boasts an enviable architectural heritage, with Red Bus Tours carrying tourists past the north elevation of the school on St Patrick Road. We are custodians of important works of architecture contained within a single campus. A national treasure. Therein lies a wonderful challenge to the infrastructure development team. We need to move from the 1890s to beyond 2020 with great respect — and continuous recognition of the quality of the buildings and spaces we are fortunate to inhabit.

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Creating the extraordinary from the ordinary Old boys and parents acknowledging the impact, importance and appreciation of having been exposed to the quality of the architecture inherent in the St John’s campus. St John’s is a beautiful school. It is instructive to understand why we can say this with confidence. At its establishment on the Houghton Ridge, the St John’s buildings were indicative of many others of their time.

There was nothing historically appealing about them.

The site was well chosen and sympathetically developed.

The ridge presented a natural east-west spine upon which — and out of which — the buildings took form. Playing fields would lie to the north and south of the ridge.

This remains the main generator for development to this day.

We are blessed that the founding fathers appointed architects of the highest standing to undertake their brief.

The result is borne out by the quality we experience today.

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It is this sense of quality – not only history – that pervades the very atmosphere of the school. Planning is intricate and beguiling – the buildings have been shaped to take advantage of the natural contours. The scale is intriguing.

Viewed from the south approach from the city, the school is modest in scale with the clock tower being the most prominent vertical mass. Viewed from the north, the “nature side” overlooking the Wilds Nature Reserve, the architecture is far more imposing, rising from the quartzite stone of the ridge in a series of considered expressions of the internal functions. The secret lies within, like old monasteries, with the unveiling of the internal quadrangles and courtyards as one moves through the school.

Our proud architectural heritage is based on exemplary quality rather than merely age.

A new challenge It is thus understandable that we approached the proposed solution for the new Prep with excitement mixed with a healthy dose of anxiety. Much of the Prep school is made up of buildings which are in fact the oldest buildings on the site. Any alterations would need to be highly constrained.

It soon became apparent that a “new Prep” building was required. The philosophy and paradigm of strict teacherto-pupil teaching has morphed into a more collaborative space where learning — rather than teaching — is the main activity a new building should facilitate. Much of this learning takes place peer to peer and in the form of self-learning, facilitated by physical and electronic teaching aids.

David Mulenga (UII) breaks ground for the new Prep building in 2019

space of more than 200m². These larger spaces are indispensable for shared grade work, exam venues and parent evenings. The first and second floors make use of sliding glass doors to achieve a similar effect.

How does this translate into what a good school should look like? First, there is no substitute for space. A larger classroom allows for greater flexibility and group work.

This is enforced by the choice of mobile furniture that can be reconfigured in minutes. The floor space has been kept clean and clear of school bags, sports bags and the general accumulation of teaching equipment to facilitate this flexibility.

Emphasis has been placed on connectivity – this allows for interaction, which fosters learning. The building achieves this visually by using large areas of glazing opening onto both the exterior facades and the access walkways. Where we were accustomed to cellular, insular classrooms, we now have classrooms that connect with their surroundings, filled with natural light and controlled ventilation. Coming from a past where classroom design was focused on keeping outside distractions to a minimum, teachers and boys will need to adapt to a more inclusive environment.

By pairing classrooms back-to-back with movable partitioning between, we provide for even larger spaces on demand. The ground floor classrooms use a fully demountable acoustic partition, providing for a combined

Breakaway spaces for group work and focused learning have been created, with each classroom having a generous timber bench directly outside on the access walkways.

The walkways themselves become places for informal

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ST JOHN’ S COLLEGE

Spotlight

Artist's render of the new Prep building

activities to take place during class. The quadrangle, with its sunken amphitheatre and perimeter seating, provides many different activity zones to suit outdoor learning.

Not wanting to disadvantage the first- and secondfloor classrooms from having immediate access to the quadrangle spaces, we provided an intimate breakout room for each floor, which we have fondly come to term “the ear”. A look at the plan will explain why.

With an emphasis on function, comfort, durability and integration with the “old Prep”, we are excitedly anticipating the day we can open the doors.

In the final analysis, we will be tested against the highest standards of quality that the school community has enjoyed since its inception.

A sustainable new beginning From an environmental standpoint, the buildings have been designed to be highly insulated, well ventilated and well lit. Infra-red heaters are provided to deal with cold winter morning starts. The buildings are didactic in nature in hoping to demonstrate to the boys, and staff, that we can achieve high comfort levels without using unnecessary energy.

The classrooms are living spaces which need to be adjusted to suit prevalent climatic conditions: windows need to be opened and closed, blinds lowered and raised, and lighting and heaters switched on or off. Intuitive operation of this little “machine” will serve to optimise the daily comfort levels without reliance on air conditioning. The roof area has been used for a photovoltaic solar installation, which serves to lower the peak demand for electricity for the entire school.

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Mark Pencharz is director of Pencharz, the architecture firm in charge of the new Prep building.

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Listening to ANNA KARENINA

By Craig Higginson

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Spotlight

To remain present in the present is surely one of the most important tasks in life, writes Craig Higginson

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ne of the things I have been doing during lockdown is listening to audio books. At the end of a day of marking tests and exams, the eyes are tired, but the spirit is hungry. I have listened to a few books I have never read before. Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel, “Hamnet”, is one that I really enjoyed; it tells the story of the death of Shakespeare’s son during a time of contagion and it is timely, moving and beautifully written. But I have also returned to books that I have read before, often in my early twenties. One of these is Leo Tolstoy’s great classic, “Anna Karenina”.

I have read this novel a couple of times before. I read it before I had had a child of my own, and I remember thinking how Tolstoy could never have written that novel unless he had been a parent: experiencing the drama and miracle of birth, the helpless rage you feel when your children become seriously ill, the guilt you experience when you are away from them, the great rush of gratitude you feel on returning, and so on.

For me, however, the pleasure of Tolstoy’s novel when I was younger was the narrative thread not so much of Anna Karenina and her tragic love affair with the dashing Count Vronksy, it was the storyline of Levin, an awkward landowner who is in love with a young woman called Kitty (who also happens to be in love with Vronsky – at least, she is at the start of the novel). Levin shares many of Tolstoy’s own ideas and characteristics, and it was his journey from misery to fulfilment – with a great deal of real life thrown in between – that stayed with me and moved me and caused me to return to the novel.

The story of Anna Karenina’s illicit affair is, in a sense, the soap opera through which Tolstoy draws you through all those pages. Although this soap opera is rich and full and ahead of its time, you feel that it

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is really Levin’s journey that concerns Tolstoy and perhaps prompted him to write the novel in the first place.

So, when I returned to the novel, I was not listening to Anna Karenina, the character, as much as I was listening to “Anna Karenina”, the novel. I was really listening to Tolstoy. And what did I hear? What did I take away from this novel during these strange times? As I sat listening to Maggie Gyllenhaal’s sly, supple, tender narration, what stayed with me, and settled into me, and entered my dreams, and provided a fresh spring to my step after I woke up the next morning to start another day?

The answer is simple. It is life. The life that runs through all of humanity, and that has run through all of humanity since the beginning of remembered time.

I was reminded that human life, in all its abundance, imperfection, failings and victories, will carry on, no matter what obstacles are thrown its way. Tolstoy’s characters – Anna, Levin and all the others – are each trying to live lives that are alive. They are looking for the life inside everything. The gold dust that settles into the folds of our minds, providing the golden pathways of memory, which connect our past and our present – and provide us with inspiration for the future.

To remain present in the present is surely one of the most important tasks in life. When we are young, when we are still at school, our identities are not yet fixed. We question everything – ourselves and all that is around us. We are often arrogant, often misguided, but it is through every emerging generation that the tides of history are renewed and our humanity – what it is to be human – is redefined.

Although Tolstoy reminds us that human beings haven’t changed fundamentally since he wrote his book, we are

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“Good writing … breaks away from the already-established and finds a woodgrain of its own.” also made aware through reading a book like that how much has changed. A woman doesn’t have to be stuck in an unhappy marriage and have her children taken away from her if she decides to leave her husband. There is more fluidity in the world and we are no longer consigned to being landowners or serfs.

But Tolstoy also reminds us of what we have left behind, in our hurry, in our self-importance, in our strange present in which so much is engaged with visually, superficially and in passing. We swipe “like” when something pleases us, or, when something displeases us, we press fast forward or we switch the channel. In Tolstoy’s time, everything was slower, more difficult. He reminds me sometimes of the poet Alfred Tennyson, of whom T.S. Eliot said that he had a mind that ticked over like an old grandfather clock.

I came back to school after lockdown, and back to teaching, with this urgent thought running again through me. I had recently been reading the creative essays of some of the grades I teach, and it struck me how so many of the boys were writing the same essay. The narrative of corona. The creeping dread with which we received news of its arrival in our land, the daily counting of statistics, and the initial optimism that we – the citizens of South Africa and then Gauteng – would somehow be exempt.

Then the gradual awareness that this contagion had grown up all around us, entering like a dark wind into the houses of our friends and colleagues and families – and then into our very own bodies. The statistics became too terrible to comprehend. The stories of crowded hospitals, striking hospital staff, corrupt government officials, became too much to bear. Many of my students wrote some version of this tale and spoke of their entrapment, their boredom, their frustration, their hunger for escape. It was important that they wrote this story, that they set down this moment of their lives in prose, but it left me wondering: what else?

What more can you come up with? How can you stretch

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yourselves, surprise yourselves, imagine alternatives for yourselves and each other?

For me, literature is placing untested language into untested situations. We write and we read to stretch ourselves and our readers – so that we end up caring from places we never imagined we would ever care from. We write and we read to enter the unknown. I always say to my students that they shouldn’t just “write what they know” but write about what they don’t yet know about but would like to find out more about. The writing will chart the process of learning, the journey of discovery.

Most adults write as they draw. When they were small children, they would take a crayon in their hand and scribble across the page, revelling in the gesture of drawing,

ST JOHN’ S COLLEGE

Spotlight

the explosion of line and colour and shape – happy to read life into it as we read animals or monsters into passing clouds. Then we become more socialised.

We learn how to draw not a house and a tree and the sun, but the signs for a house and a tree and the sun. A square building with a rectangular roof, a green lollipop standing on a brown stick, a smiling sun sitting in the corner of the page and shedding shafts of light into an unreal world.

This is an important part of our development. We need to establish a shared language and set of symbols for navigating the world. But the problem is that most of us stop there.

When were become adults our children ask us to draw a house, we draw the same house we drew when we were nine. When confronted with a real tree and told to draw it, we find it almost impossible not to fall back into our idea of “tree”. We generalise, scribble, look for short cuts – we don’t have the time and patience to match what is in front of us with marks on the page that chart the process of looking, the journey of discovery.

In language, we aren’t that different. We use the preformulated words and phrases and fit them into every situation so that every situation can be rendered familiar, under control, no longer disruptive. This is what cliché is and cliché does best. It deadens our relationship with ourselves and the world. Good writing frees itself from this. It breaks away from the already-established and finds a woodgrain of its own.

So the two tall palms above Burger Field were described by one boy as the antennae of the school and by another as two chickens that had been stuck on the end of a long kebab stick and struck repeatedly by lightning.

They were asked to think about the history of that field and that blank space on which a labyrinth had now been cut out of the overgrown grass, a single bench placed in the middle. They were tasked to sit there and wait for the words to come, and when they thought they were finished, they were to stay there for longer, until more words, more images, announced themselves.

Whether they will ever become writers, time will tell, but that is not important. After all, are we not all writers? Are we not each the narrators of our own life stories? Often, the length and breadth of our lives is defined not by our circumstances, but by our ability to create a picture for ourselves to live towards. The qualities of our lives – and the scale of our own humanity – will depend entirely on our qualities as storytellers. Listening to “Anna Karenina” reminded me of the power of language and the importance of stories, and, with a mask stretched across my face, I took that message back to school.

Having listened to “Anna Karenina”, this is what I returned to school wanting to remind my students of. Once we had been through the exam, I sent them down to Burger Field – and those at home were tasked with leaving their rooms and entering their gardens or their balconies – and all they were asked to do was to find one thing to sit with and look at, waiting for the words to come that might best fit into the life of that thing.

They were not allowed to use words they had seen being used to describe that thing before. It could be an abandoned shoe, a man cutting down a tree, a rugby field, a sunbird, the sky. They had to find new words to fit into the specificity of the thing in front of them.

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Dr Craig Higginson teaches English and Drama at St John’s College. His novel “The Dream House” is the current IEB South African set work. His new novel, published this year, is called “The Book of Gifts”.

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Young Johannians attend Amphitheatre masked and socially distanced.

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ST JOHN’ S COLLEGE

Michaelmas Term 2020

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Neonatal in Time of Crisis Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital was among the first of South Africa’s public hospitals to prepare itself to admit pregnant women with Covid-19, rewriting the neonatal rulebook in the process. Vita talked to OJ (Alston, 2003), Dr Robin Saggers, Paediatrician and Neonatology Fellow at Charlotte Maxeke.

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ST JOHN’ S COLLEGE

Innovation

Q What was the objective of the Covid-19 preparedness exercise?

A South Africa is a low-to middle-income country and the lack of resources available means we cannot increase our capacity, staffing numbers or available equipment. Yet, we must be as prepared, adaptable and efficient as possible. We realised that we needed to apply some creative thinking while adopting a rational approach to provide the best possible care to our patients. Our protocols needed to be in line with local and international guidelines and include ongoing education to diminish anxiety among our healthcare professionals.

Q What were some of the changes made at the neonatal unit?

A We began by implementing all standard precautions to prepare a facility and its personnel to safely care for Covid-19 patients, created a set of standard operating procedures specific to Covid-19, and increased communication between our neonatal and obstetric teams. To limit staff exposure, we changed the way we functioned. Before Covid-19, we used a “bottom-up” approach, where an intern would be the first to attend to deliveries and call for help if required. Now we take an opposite approach – essential staff are in the delivery room or theatre, the more experienced staff attend first, limiting the number of staff exposed. We also reallocated a triage area to an isolation area for sick newborns of maternal Covid-19 cases.

Q What innovations did your team at Charlotte Maxeke implement?

A Our team created disposable resuscitation boxes to attend deliveries, which replace trolleys and contain PPE and a full array of equipment in a sealed box.

The boxes allow for a quick response to the admission areas. Once opened, the equipment remains with the patient, preventing cross-contamination. The box itself is disposable while the equipment goes on to be sterilised.

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Q With Covid-19 pushing so many functions online, have you seen any technology benefits from the initiatives you’ve adopted at the unit?

A We initiated an online resources portal for neonatal staff to quickly find and access important documents and guidelines. Interestingly, our weekly “Grand Ward Round” – where we get insights from the experienced professors on challenging ICU and neonatal cases – was converted to a virtual platform. Departmental meetings, tutorials and student teaching are now all online and staff screening forms are processed through a mobile app. Hopefully, the need for improved technology will see the hospital improving its systems in the future, to ultimately involve an electronic health record for each patient.

Q What are the key lessons learned from your experiences at the unit so far during this pandemic?

A Keeping a healthy, happy workforce is imperative in maintaining the optimal running of the hospital. This includes mental health and addressing the concerns of anxious staff. The next thing is that no “cog” is too small – everyone plays their part, from doctors and nurses to cleaners, porters and ward clerks. As colleagues and friends fall ill it makes one acutely aware to not take life for granted, as well as the basic measures to prevent infection: hand washing, sanitising and physical distancing.

Q Was preparedness ahead of the Covid-19 peak effective?

A Despite preparations, Covid-19 still overwhelmed the system. We have seen high numbers of infected mothers, which led to overcapacity of existing structures within our neonatal wards, requiring a rethink on the distribution of patients and an improved use of the layout. It involved creative thinking and skills I never thought I’d need during my medical career. The good news is we’re used to working in an over-stretched system and adaptability is engrained from the outset.

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An Overnight Success

By Irene Basson

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Innovation When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced school closures on March 16 and the national lockdown on March 26 this year to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, many businesses and universities shut their doors. St John’s College teachers took their lessons online in a matter of 48 hours, writes Irene Basson, Director IT: Teaching & Learning

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ver the past years, teachers have steadily been upskilling to integrate technology into the curriculum and use it successfully in the classroom. But nothing could have prepared them for an almost overnight transition to remote teaching.

particularly effective for managing distance classrooms — it allows teachers to assign, review, and mark student work and give meaningful feedback. Google Jamboard — an interactive collaborative whiteboard — enabled teachers to recreate a virtual classroom space.

St John’s teachers have proven how dedicated and resilient they are – in just 48 hours they began teaching online to ensure uninterrupted schooling in a time of COVID-19 lockdown. This involved adapting lesson content to an online format, creating screencasts and videos and attending workshops about effective teaching techniques for online learning — all while meeting their online teaching commitments.

In addition to the suite of Google offerings, Flipgrid allowed teachers to hear their students’ voices as they recorded video feedback in various lessons. Using Screencastify teachers captured their screens and created “teaching videos” which were uploaded to the various Google Classrooms.

St John’s adopted a remote learning plan which outlined the five main principles outlined below.

As the months progressed, these have proved invaluable in directing us when the continuously changing landscape threatened to overwhelm us.

Focus on the familiar In uncertain times, it was particularly important to keep things simple and not to overwhelm students and teachers with dozens of new apps and programmes. Initially we outlined a handful of essential apps with which all students and teachers had to be familiar and which would allow us to deliver our curriculum remotely. By simplifying, we could ensure the focus remained on the content and not on navigating the technology.

St John’s College was one of the early adopters of GSuite for Education and the platform provided a reliable, secure system for the exchange of student work at a distance.

Google Drive and Google Docs gave teachers and students the ability to work collaboratively in shared folders and documents and Google Meet provided a secure platform to have synchronous lessons. Google Classroom has been

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As the months progressed, teachers gradually introduced additional apps which gave them the ability to create more interactive content, such as online quizzes and assessments. As teachers and students became more familiar and confident with the technology, their creativity flourished, and the exceptional content created by teachers and students affirms how lucky we are to be part of such a brilliant community.

Connection over content At St John’s the relationship with our students is at the core of our business and we wanted to ensure we didn’t lose that connection as we embarked on our online journey. Care for students and their wellbeing remained our primary focus and regular face-to-face online meetings were a priority.

The College adopted a blended learning approach, where most of the content was delivered asynchronously and the focus of synchronous classes was on discussing, reviewing and expanding on the material. This created opportunities for students to ask questions and connect with their teachers and tutors. The Prep opted for a more synchronous approach, which corresponded to a normal school day with almost all lessons delivered synchronously, ensuring a lot of face time with teachers and classmates.

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As teachers and students became more familiar and confident with the technology, their creativity flourished.

Similarly, the Pre-Prep and the Bridge had designated times where the little ones could connect on a Google Meet with their friends, for phonics lessons, maths or a birthday ring.

In all these interactions, the emphasis was on strengthening our connections, which is an essential part of a holistic education.

Clear, centralised communication When working online, clear communication is vital, as is the ability to access information. To minimise anxiety and frustration, we knew we needed to make it as easy as possible for students to find their work, to know what was happening and to access information. We created an online platform for each of our campuses, to ensure our entire community had a “one stop” place where they could find all communications, information, lessons and connections relevant to them.

These have become a lifeline to students, but also a spectacular showcase of the wonderful work produced in the past few months. The various platforms are accessible here

Recreating ritual and rhythms St John’s values are steeped in community practices. Regular chapel services, assemblies, amphitheatre talks, music concerts and sport events contribute to the richness of our school. Whereas these “extras” had simply disappeared for most schools, the staff at St John’s mobilised to bring these offerings to life in a virtual format. Every morning students had access to morning prayers as recorded by the

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chaplains, and weekly virtual Mass Services for the Prep, College and 6th Form were uploaded onto the various platforms.

The headmasters were creative in recording virtual assemblies and amphitheatre gatherings, complete with virtual music performances and the “Sport Blitz” updates.

Sport staff designed fitness and conditioning programmes, with daily workouts posted online to keep students motivated. We also had virtual interhouse drama plays, music concerts and various webinars with community experts on a diverse range of subjects.

Support for success Despite the best of intentions, hours of training, support and preparation, technology (and loadshedding!) can sometimes disrupt the flow of a teaching situation.

Teachers had to be flexible and resourceful to mediate these challenges to reduce student and parent stress. Similarly, students and parents had to navigate an unfamiliar online landscape.

Our support team, under the very capable leadership of Mishen Sigamoney, expanded operations to provide outstanding service, not only to teachers, but now also to students and parents.

The Online Support site gave students, teachers and parents the ability to log helpdesk tickets which were resolved remotely.

Many of our students had difficulty adapting to online learning and our psychologists and academic support teams continued to support students online, organised through a booking page on the support website.

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Innovation

What’s next?

One of St John’s strategic objectives is to ensure the school is at the forefront in the use of technology by 2023.

COVID-19 accelerated our progress. Peter Henning and the IT committee have made huge strides in improving the infrastructure, the access to technology and the support systems at St John’s. Staff training in educational technologies has been an ongoing process for some time, and increased during this crisis. It was gratifying to know we had made such significant progress in all of these areas that we could mobilise and become a fully functional online school within two days.

This experience, difficult as it has been, has afforded us the opportunity to reflect on our practices, highlight the successes and identify the gaps, which will inform our planning and ensure we are equipped to deal with whatever form the future might take. We look forward to maintaining a high standard of innovative teaching and learning, enriched by a sustainable online offering, as we navigate the next few months.

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Irene Basson is the Director of IT: Teaching and Learning. As an Apple Professional Learning Specialist and a certified Google Innovator, Educator and Trainer, Irene loves working with teachers, exploring innovative ways to integrate technology into the curriculum and equip students and teachers to thrive in the future.

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Old Johannian

BRINGS ASTRONAU TS H O M E F R O M S PAC E

St John’s alumnus Pele Collins spent two years on a parachute system design, fully qualified for human spaceflight, which this year saw the safe return of two NASA astronauts from the International Space Station.

quantitatively safer than any other aerospace parachute in history. We have shared this information with the rest of the industry, so all other parachutes of its kind will also be safer as a result.”

After matriculating from St John’s in 2012, Pele obtained his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Robotics from the University of Philadelphia and then moved to Los Angeles to work for Space Explorations Technologies – better known as SpaceX. As a Structures Engineer at SpaceX, Pele is responsible for the design, analysis, development, testing, production and integration of the parachute system on the Crew Dragon Space Vehicle.

Pele believes it is important always to reach higher than you think you can achieve. “When I was younger, there was absolutely no way I could imagine getting to where I am today. But in hindsight, it was taking the leap of faith and applying to opportunities that made my journey possible. A good quote comes from Ice Hockey Hall of Famer, Wayne Gretzky, who said, ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take’, so why not take some long-range and highly unlikely ones?”

“Seeing the astronauts descend slowly under my redesigned parachutes will always be one of the highlights of my life, especially knowing that in the design of these parachutes we encountered a lot of real issues and, in some cases, catastrophic failure. But in overcoming these hurdles, I had to discover some things that made our parachutes

Pele counts among his fondest memory at St John’s his time spent at first-team basketball tournaments. “I will never forget spending the weekend living and messing around in the dorms with a group of some of my closest friends, while playing a sport I love for our coach – Ronald Garura – who, in many ways, changed my view on life.”

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ST JOHN’ S COLLEGE

In The News

Omphile Ramela

JOINS THE B OA R D O F C R I C K E T S O U T H A F R I CA

Old Johannian and former batsman, Omphile Ramela (OJ Hodgson 2006), was recently named as one of the heavyweights appointed to the Cricket South Africa (CSA) interim board.

Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced the ninemember interim board, which is tasked with steering the troubled CSA in the right direction for the next three months. Judge Zak Yacoob will chair the board, which reports to the Members’ Council, the highest decisionmaking body in cricket.

Vita took the opportunity to chat to Omphile about his career in cricket. “Cricket has been a wonderful vehicle for me – it has taken me places I might otherwise not have gone and provided a career path in sport. As a left-handed batsman and scholar, I was one of only a handful of black batsmen to make my name in the longer format while also studying towards my degrees,” he said.

Omphile captained the St John’s College XI in 2006. He then went on to play professional cricket for the Cape Cobras between 2009 and 2017. During his tenure at the Cape Cobras, he managed to represent South Africa A where he recorded a century on debut against India. He has also managed to represent South Africa ‘A’ against Australia, England & Zimbabwe. In the process of playing professional cricket, Omphile continued his studies and completed four degrees. The highest being a Masters degree in Economics.

If you haven’t played at the pinnacle of your sporting code for at least five to 10 years you simply won’t make enough to live off after playing.

A quality education bridges the gap and allows you to work long after your sporting career is over. I would like to encourage fellow athletes to study or up-skill themselves.

There are many opportunities for student-athletes who bring a diverse thought pattern into the corporate space.”

Omphile has a clear vision for the beautiful game. “Cricket is ultimately the people’s game. It should be available to all who want to play it. In this way, we grow a nation of winning cricketers and a culture of passionate support.

Imagine what a powerful cricketing nation South Africa could be if the game is effectively promoted and protected.

We can consistently dominate world cricket.

The interim CSA board will be in place for an initial period of three months, which may be extended, based on progress achieved. Omphile’s appointment to the interim CSA board required him to relinquish his role as president of the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

Having a career in sports, Omphile has some advice for those seeking a professional sporting career. “Don’t forget your studies. A career in sport is short-lived. The earnings potential of athletes varies depending on the level you play.

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Devon Conway

R EP R E S EN T S T H E B L AC K CA P S

Left-handed batsman, Devon Conway (OJ Nash, 2009) has clinched a contract with the Black Caps – the New Zealand International Cricket team — after a fantastic domestic campaign in 2019 with the Wellington Cricket team.

“When I received the news from the Head Coach, Gary Stead, I was taken by surprise. It took me a couple of days to realise the opportunities that may lie ahead.”

Conway earned the prestigious ANZ New Zealand Men’s Domestic Cricket Player of the year award for 2019. He is now in his first Black Caps squad, selected for the season opening KFC T20I series against the World Champion West Indies.

Devon represented the St John’s College 1st XI from 2006 to 2009, scoring a staggering 4 442 runs in the side, which included 14 centuries. He went onto replicate this form on the South African domestic cricket scene, showing up in the colours of Gauteng, the Dolphins and the Highveld Lions, before jetting off to All Black country where he currently resides.

“St John’s gave me the best possible preparation for my career thus far. The school offered me lots of opportunities, which allowed me to gain confidence in my cricket and my everyday life. St John’s pushed me to be an all-round individual. I had awesome guidance from my teachers. My advice to a young St John’s boy wanting to follow a similar career path would be to train hard - but train smart. Have a good balance between sports, culture and academics. A sporting career will end, so you need to have a back-up plan. Appreciate your mates and team-mates in school and always enjoy what you’re doing – it will keep you motivated to improve your game and give you the best chance to succeed.”

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In The News

S T J O H N ’ S M U S I C D EPA R T M EN T W EL C O M E S N EW

John Reid Coulter Harpsichord The music department commissioned a harpsichord from Mr John Reid Coulter in October 2017 and welcomed the delivery of this magnificent instrument to Clarke Auditorium on Saturday 24 October 2020.

This instrument is a single manual harpsichord (2x8’) based on the building traditions of the Hamburg School – in particular, that of Carl Conrad Fleischer (1680-1737). His instruments are based on indigenous building traditions as well as a measure of Flemish and Italian influences.

The proposed instrument was built using maple for the case, beech for the wrest plank, soundboard liners, bridge. nut and jacks. The soundboard was from European spruce and the keyboard of pau marfin for the natural tops and imbuia for the sharps. The stand, on which the instrument rests, is a set of trestle-type legs. The strings are historical harpsichord wire (bronze, brass and soft iron alloy). The instrument has been voiced using seagull quill and a buffstop using leather and felt.

The keyboard is transposable: a’=395 Hz, 415 Hz and 440 Hz. Extra strings and jacks have been included in the design in order not to lose notes at the extremities in 395 Hz or 440 Hz. Therefore the range is the standard chromatic GG-d’’’ in any of the pitch transposition positions. The case decoration is made of intricate woodwork with a protective waxed finish and with painted panels on the lid and sides.

John Coulter has nicknamed the harpsichord “Goldilocks”, as she has an illuminating golden appearance from the magnificent woodwork. The painted panels on the outside and inside of the lid was done keeping the College colours in mind.

“We are looking forward to our inaugural concert with this instrument in 2021,” said Dr Ben Oosthuizen, Director of Music at St John’s College.

John Reid Coulter Harpsichord

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SIX YEARS AS AN

Al-Qaeda Prisoner In 2011, inspirational speaker, author and St John’s College alumnus Stephen McGown (Nash, 1992), gave up his City of London banking job and embarked on an epic motorbike trip through Europe and Africa.

It was to be the big adventure of his life, one that would bring him home to South Africa after seven years of working abroad. On the road home, while in Mali, Stephen was captured by the international terrorist organisation, Al-Qaeda, and held as their prisoner for six long years.

He has now written a book about his ordeal – Six Years With Al-Qaeda: The Stephen McGown Story – which details his time as the longest-held hostage of Al-Qaeda.

Stephen also uses the lessons from his protracted ordeal in his inspirational talks. He worked closely with Daily Maverick journalist and writer, Tudor Caradoc-Davies, to publish his memoir through the Daily Maverick’s book publishing division, Maverick 451.

When he was freed in 2017 and was back home in South Africa, Stephen went to work in the family business: farming. “We are rerouting the business to be more people-oriented and are starting a drug rehabilitation centre in the Karoo called Hope Again. “It’s an exciting venture; I feel inspired and am looking forward to great things. It is my fervent hope that Hope Again will have a positive impact on many lives.”

Stephen credits Catherine – “my amazing wife” – for helping him heal from his nightmare ordeal. “She grounds me,” he said. Being grounded is essential to Stephen, who says his advice to his younger self would be to see the best in each day without getting “caught up in the noise”.

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In The News

The 2nd

Hugh Lewin Memorial Human Rights L e c t u re It was an honour to welcome Dr John Kani as special guest speaker at the 2nd St John’s College ‘Virtual’ Hugh Lewin Memorial Human Rights Lecture on Monday 21 September 2020.

The St John’s College Hugh Lewin Memorial Human Rights Lecture is an annual event, recognising the significant contribution that Hugh Lewin has made to society.

Hugh Frances Lewin attended St John's College from 1948 until 1957 where he was a distinguished student and developed an awareness of the wrongs of apartheid. This was partly due to an innate sense of justice and morality acquired at home (his father was an Anglican priest), and partly because he often accompanied St John's College teachers to Sophiatown.

It was in Sophiatown that Hugh Lewin was introduced to the sermons of priests such as Fr Trevor Huddleston, later the Archbishop, which opened his eyes to the realities of apartheid society. Hugh Lewin became involved in antiapartheid student politics and was arrested in 1964 by the apartheid government's security police. He was eventually sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and served his sentence at the Pretoria local and central prisons.

After his release, Hugh Lewin described his experiences in his book, Bandiet: Seven Years in a South African Prison. A supplemented version, Bandiet Out of Jail, was published in 2002 and won the Olive Schreiner Prize and the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award. In 2011, he published Stones Against the Mirror, in which he reflects upon his betrayal by a close friend, which led to his imprisonment.

2020 Hugh Lewin Memorial Lecture Dr John Kani Michaelmas Term 2020

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A look back in time:

Gaudy Day

By Daniel Pretorius

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Heritage The Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated the cancellation of what would have been the 109th annual Gaudy Day. But, writes Dr Daniel Pretorius, chairman of the College Heritage Committee, it is not the first time supervening global events have wreaked havoc with Gaudy Day plans.

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he history of Gaudy Day stretches back to 1906 when the very first ‘Past v Present’ sports matches were played between OJs and College boys, although it wasn’t named until 1912. World War I and II resulted in abridged Gaudy Days taking place in 1916 and 1942, respectively. A severe polio pandemic in 1948 resulted in that year’s Gaudy Day being cancelled altogether, while the 1956 polio epidemic saw the OJs participate against each other that year - without the challenge of the young and fit College boys.

The Gaudy Day tradition is almost as old as the Old Johannian Association (OJA) itself, which was formed in February 1903. The founders of the Association formulated its objective as being mainly to retain contact with former students at St John’s, and to organise OJ cricket and football teams. Headmaster Revd Mr Hodgson encouraged old boys to practise cricket in the school nets.

At that stage, the College was just four-and a-half years old, with few College old boys.

The average age of the OJA members committee was only 16-and-a-half years, which is indicative of the fact that boys then tended to leave school much earlier than has since become customary.

In the years following the Anglo-Boer War, enrolment at the College dwindled due to the colonial government’s creation of the ‘Milner schools’, which attracted boys away from St John’s. The College’s struggles had a detrimental impact on the vitality of the OJA, which (like the school itself ) seemed to be in terminal decline.

In 1906, the Anglo-Catholic brethren of the Community of the Resurrection came to the rescue, taking charge of the floundering little school. As alumni of historic English boarding schools, they understood the importance of old boys’ organisations in ensuring the vigour Michaelmas Term 2020

and longevity of such institutions. The new Headmaster, Fr James Okey Nash, prioritised the revival of the OJA and the cultivation of strong links between the College and its old boys.

A tradition is born A Past v Present cricket match soon became an annual event, with the College’s first match against the OJs played at the Old Wanderers (in the vicinity of the present Park Station) on Thursday 5 April 1906. The encounter resulted in a nine-wicket drubbing for the boys.

At a meeting of the OJA later that year, the proverbial hat was passed around and members funded the purchase of a cricket bat and ball as prizes for the best batsman and bowler of the year among the College boys. These prizes have been awarded annually ever since.

Thanks to its great benefactor, Sir Thomas Cullinan, the College relocated from downtown Johannesburg to Houghton in 1907. The Past v Present cricket match was played at the new Houghton grounds on 23 March 1907. The OJs won by “a few” runs.

On Ascension Day, 20 May 1909, the College community gathered in St Aidan’s Church, Yeoville, for a choral service.

Afterwards the first football match between the College and the OJs was played, resulting in a 2-2 draw. The football match and the community Mass at St Aidan’s were also to become annual events in the school calendar.

The first Gaudy Day (in those days called ‘the Old Boys’ Gaudy’) was held on Ascension Day, 16 May 1912. Fr Nash had suggested that the annual reunion day be called a ‘Gaudy’.

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The name, he explained, given to college commemorations in Oxford, comes from gaudeo, meaning, for we all know Latin here, ‘rejoice’. The OJs recorded a 2-1 victory over the College in the Past v Present football match.

In 1913, Gaudy Day was again held on Ascension Day (which in those days was a public holiday). The College scored a goal in extra time to win the football match against the OJs 3-2.

Thus developed the tradition of holding the annual Gaudy Day on Ascension Day. Much the same pattern has been followed at Gaudy Days ever since. However, when Ascension Day ceased to be a public holiday the event moved to a Saturday around the same time of year.

The service at St Aidan’s Church did, however, proceed as usual, as did the annual Past v Present football match. The OJs thrashed the boys by 12 goals to nil.

On Gaudy Day 1931, a ceremony was held during which the Delville Wood Cross, kept in the Crypt Chapel since 1924, was transferred to the Memorial Chapel.

Detachments from the regiments in which OJs had served in World War I assembled in the Amphitheatre together with OJs, relatives of the fallen, members of staff and parents. St John’s College cadets formed a guard of honour.

The band of the Imperial Light Horse accompanied the singing of “O God Our Help in Ages Past”.

Wars & pandemics

The inaugural College v OJs rugby match was played at Gaudy Day in 1932. The OJs won 19-0. In the hockey matches, the OJ 2nd XI defeated the College 2nd XI 13-0.

In 1916, the OJA decided to arrange an abridged Gaudy Day because so many OJs were away on active military service in World War I. The annual dance and dinner, which had become part of the Gaudy Day proceedings over preceding years, did not take place.

World War II interfered with Gaudy Day events – but it did not stop OJs marking the event. Indeed, so determined were OJs to celebrate their loyalty to the College that about 30 OJs incarcerated in a prisoner-of-war camp at Modena in Italy arranged their own Gaudy Day in

The Gaudy Day tradition is almost as old as the Old Johannian Association (OJA) itself, which was formed in February 1903.

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Heritage

1942 to be with the school and their fellow OJs in spirit.

Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Thompson OJ was the leading light in making these arrangements. The OJs played basketball matches against SACS old boys imprisoned in the same camp.

"The Gaudy Day tradition is almost as old as the Old Johannian Association (OJA) itself."

In 1948, Gaudy Day was cancelled due to a severe poliomyelitis pandemic. By way of an alternative to Gaudy Day, many OJs descended on the school towards the end of the year for the College’s semicentennial jubilee.

Holy Communion was celebrated in the Memorial Chapel, cricket matches were played between the OJs and the College, and there was a large attendance at Evensong.

At Gaudy Day in 1955, an OJ choir, directed by Mr Noel Iverson, participated in the sung Eucharist for the first time. Thus started another great Gaudy Day tradition.

the Golden Eagle Award – bestowed on OJs who have made significant lifetime contributions to society – was Dr Ian Player. On the same occasion, honorary awards were made to former Headmaster Mr Deane Yates and his wife Dot. In 2005, the award was made to the cellist Kutlwano Masote OJ. The unabridged version of this article can be found here.

The author is grateful to the College archivist, Ms Jenni Millward, for her assistance in collating material used in writing this article.

A History of Gaudy Day

In 1956, another polio epidemic caused the Medical Officer of Health to cancel school sport. As a result, no sports matches were played between the College boys and the OJs on Gaudy Day. Instead, teams of OJs played tennis, squash, hockey and rugby against each other.

60 years St John’s College’s diamond jubilee celebrations were held in 1958. A broadcast entitled “The First Sixty Years” was made on the SABC radio service to mark the event. Gaudy Day drew the largest attendance in the school’s history.

Celebratory dinners in “the largest marquee ever erected in South Africa”, on Burger Field, were attended by 2 600 guests.

The practice of presenting Golden Eagle Awards on Gaudy Day was introduced in 2004. The first recipient of

Michaelmas Term 2020

Daniel Pretorius has had sons enrolled at St John’s College continuously since January 2000. He served on Council from 2008 until 2012, chairing the Building Committee. He taught History at the College from 2013 until 2018, was Housemaster of Clarke House from 2014 until 2018, and was master-in-charge of Debating. He has been the chairman of the Heritage Committee since its inception in 2017. In his dreams he wanders around the College grounds in the 1920s and has tea with the brethren of the Community of the Resurrection.

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Partnering for a

SHARED FUTURE

By Shelley Roberts

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Advancement

The growing and profound narrative by learners, supported by their alumni, across South Africa, parts of southern The advancement and long-term sustainability of St John’s College relies on a combination of engendering a community of belonging among staff, students, parents, OJs and past parents, and diversifying revenue and resources beyond school fees.

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o realise this objective, and to bring the school in line with international best practice, St John’s established an Advancement Office this year. The Advancement Office is tasked with creating and nurturing partnerships with alumni, corporates, government, trusts, foundations and other supporters, to help all who learn and teach at St John’s realise their dreams. The key strategic partners to the office include the Old Johannian Association, the St John’s Foundation and the greater St John’s Community.

In undertaking the school’s advancement journey, it is important to honour St John’s proud history while acknowledging the importance of embracing the future.

Yes, this is about raising money, but it is also about the vital work undertaken by St John’s College and the need to secure its place as one of the leading institutions providing a holistic, Christian, African education to the leaders of tomorrow. To realise this potential, our aim is to create a sustainable, local and international community of advocates, donors and friends who support the school in many different ways and ensure this support furthers the school’s vision and mission.

To achieve this, we need to move towards shared, communitywide responsibility for raising funds and engaging the St John’s College community.The imperatives are to move more deliberately towards mission-led fundraising with a wide range of funding opportunities, extensive stakeholder engagement, and proactive, international engagement in which all stakeholders can participate, and donors are partners who share the school’s vision and goals.

2020 has undoubtedly been a complicated time to set up a new Advancement Office. The COVID-19 pandemic put a hard stop to most of the traditional advancement activities. Events were cancelled, including the annual Gaudy Day celebration, which is such a significant opportunity for alumni to reconnect with the school and each other.

However, the time has been used as productively as possible, using the resources available. St John’s College presented the first-ever “Virtual Gaudy Day” on 26 September, using innovative technological solutions to connect with alumni, despite the physical distance necessitated by the pandemic.

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The added benefit was that alumni from around the world could participate without travelling to Johannesburg. It was a pleasure hosting you on this special day on the St John’s calendar.

Our community has also pulled together to raise funds for the St John’s College Academy during the pandemic, allowing these families in our neighbouring suburbs of Berea, Hillbrow, Yeoville and Alexandra to put food on the table. We have also been able to ensure that the boys had access to data to enable them to participate in online learning and revision during the lockdown.

Despite the socioeconomic hardships inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated challenges that lie ahead, we remain optimistic. The long-term and sustainable future of St John’s College as a world-class Christian, African school is our primary objective.

We look forward to partnering with you in the months and years to come. If you’d like to be a part of this journey, you can do so in many ways.

Find out more by contacting the Advancement Office: roberts@stjohnscollege.co.za

Shelley Roberts has worked in Advancement in the education sector for over 10 years. At Rhodes University she served as Development Services Manager and, on returning to Johannesburg, moved to Wits University where she held the positions of Head of Marketing, Events and Executive Education at the Wits School of Governance and Fundraising Manager in the Development and Fundraising Office.

Shelley graduated from Rhodes University with an Honours in Journalism and recently completed her Masters at Wits University.

+27 82 564 7878 | +27 11 645 3075

How to Give Scan here to make a donation

If you, or your company, would like to make a donation to the St John’s College Foundation, or would like to find out more about the work the Foundation does and the benefits of giving, we would love to hear from you.

You can also find out more or make an online donation here: sjc.co.za/donations Bona fide donations will receive a Section 18A tax certificate and companies may be eligible for BB-BEE points.

The St John’s College Foundation is an independent trust, reference number IT 7894/04(T); a Non-Profit Organisation, reference number: 021-654-NPO; a Public Benefit Organisation, reference number: 130003224 and SARS reference number 3006621845.

For more information, email foundation@stjohnscollege.co.za

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The Johannian Club is open Monday to Friday from 07h30 to 17h00, serving breakfast and lunch. Grab a coffee from our Mighty Coffee Bar, enjoy a meal in our dining room or relax with a drink in our tranquil garden. Our menu offers a variety of healthy and delicious meals, for both take away and sit down. The Boar's Head bar is open daily from 12pm. If you are looking for a venue, contact us today — our versatile space can suit any function big or small.

010 492 0088

The Johannian Club

theojclub@stjohnscollege.co.za

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