400m U/20 World Champion – Lythe Pillay

Congratulations to Grade 10 learner Lythe Pillay who competed in the CAA African Youth and Junior Athletics Championships held in the Ivory Coast in the middle of April 2019.

Lythe obtained Gold Medals in the the Youth 400m and Medley relay events and is now the African Champion in both events.

His time for the 400m was 46,26s which is the world leading time and this time puts Lythe as the WORLD leader in the 400m U/20 category as an U/16 participant!

Lythe, you are a true RED Machine!

Athletes who competed at SA Schools and/or SA Club Championships

Congratulations our Red Athletes who competed at these prestigious events:

SA School Championships (Port Elizabeth)

• N De Swardt – U19 High Jump – Gold
• D Seete – U19 4 x 400m – Gold
• L Pillay – U17 400m – Gold and U17 medley relay – Gold
• T Mphafi – U15 Triple jump – Bronze

SA Club Championships (Paarl)

• D Seete – U19 400m – Bronze
• L Pillay – U17 400m – Gold and U17 4 x 400m – Bronze
• R Mohale – U17 100m
• L Hglengane – U17 110m Hurdles

D Seete , L Pillay , N De Swardt and L Hlengane (Absent: T Mphafi and R Mohale)

Additional congratulations to D Seete, Grade 12 and L Pillay Grade 10 who were selected for the ASA team to compete in the 2019 CAA African Youth and Junior Championships in Abidjan, Ivory Coast from the 16 – 20 April 2019.

• D Seete – 4 x 400m (Juniors)
• L Pillay – 400m and 4 x 400m (Youth)

2 KES Cricketers Selected to Tour Pakistan

Two KES learners, Bryce Parsons (Grade 12) and Michael Copeland (Grade 11) have been selected to represent SA Cricket in the U19 touring team to Pakistan. Bryce has also been named Captain of the team!

We are immensely proud of these two and wish them best of luck in June.

SABAA National Junior Championship

One of our Grade 8 learners, Slade Hawman, competed in the South African Bass Anglers Association (SABAA) National Junior Championship held at Witbank dam at the end of March. He ended up 6th overall and in doing so achieved his Protea colours!

Slade will be representing South Africa in an International test against Zimbabwe in December 2019 fishing at Albert Falls dam in Natal.

Well done Slade, what an achievement at such a young age!

Gold Medal Winner – Arnold Classic Tournament – Ten-Pin Bowling

Grade 11 learner, Kylo Todd recently won a Gold Medal at the Arnold Classic Tournament for Ten-Pin Bowling!

He was not only the youngest player but it was also his first tournament ever.  Kylo ended up winning his division and he was up against players that has been in the Bowling league for many years and with much more experience.

Kylo only started in League Ten-Pin Bowling in the last year and as this is a sport that is busy dying out, Kylo hopes that this will encourage other youngsters to join and make sure the sport will live on for the future generations to come.

KES New Marimba Band Debut

Our new Marimba Band debuted in the School Freedom Day Assembly on Friday 26 April 2019.

A very proud moment for our boys and the start of a new Tradition of Excellence for KES!

We look forward to watching this new addition to our cultural sphere grow!

Blackout Performance

The Dramatic Society performance “Blackout” made it through to the finals of the EADS festival on Saturday 18 May and won!

Awards for the School were:

• Best Play – KES
• Best Set – KES
• Callum Beukes – Best Director
• Best Supporting Actor – Matthew Greenfield
• Best Actor – Seth Thorne

KES’s rock band, Bioluminessence performed in the final of the battle of the bands at St Mary’s Waverley on the 18th May and rocked the stage! The band featured Sam Groenewald on vocals and they put on a stellar performance on the night! Well done to Badibanga Wa Mukenyi, Patrick Daniel Murray, Lance Perfect & Ciaran Otter!

Boxing World Champion

Old Boy Kevin Lerena (class of 2010) has retained the IBO Cruiserweight World Champion Belt for another year! Well done!

https://www.iboboxing.com/champions.html 

Triple Jumper Heads to All African Games

KES Old Boy and current athletics coach at School, Menzi Mthembu (Class of 2013) has qualified and been selected for triple jump in the 2019 All African Games Athletics Squad in Rabat and Casablanca, Morocco from 19-31 August.

Cricketer Tony de Zorzi to Face Sri Lanka

KES Tony de Zorzi, class of 2014, who currently plays for the Titans, has been named in the South Africa Emerging Squad to face Sri Lanka in the upcoming series from 29 June – 28 July.

The matches will be played in Pretoria and Potchefstroom.

Go School!

Full details: Click here

Keagan Glade Selected for Junior Springbok World Rugby U20 Championship Squad

Congratulations to old boy Keagan Glade (played REDS prop 2017) for being included in the Junior Springbok World Rugby U20 Championship squad!

Keagan replaced injured Hanro Jacobs, whose tournament dreams were shattered due to a foot injury.

Full details: Click here 

U23 National Rowing Squad 2019

Congratulations to 3 of our Old Boys who have been selected for the SA U23 Rowing squad to take part in the World Rowing U23 Championships in the Sarasota-Bradenton, USA from the 24th to the 28th July 2019:

• Thabelo Masutha (class of 2016)
• Chris Baxter (class of 2018)
• Damien Bonhage-Koen (class of 2018)

Full details: U23 National Squad announcement 2019.pdf

Vaughn van Jaarsveld Bags 6 Awards

What a night for old boy Vaughn van Jaarsveld who walked away with 6 awards at the Dolphins’ Annual Awards on the 9th May 2019:

1. 4 day Batsman of the year
2. T20 Batsman of the year
3. Most Valuable player
4. Fans Player
5. Players player
6. Player of the YEAR!

Full details: Click here

London Marathon 2019

Old boy Nic Bester (class of 2008) was the 1st South African home in the London Marathon on Sunday 28 April 2019, in an outstanding time of 2:30! Well done!

Long serving Deputy Principal, Mr RJH Hansen retires at the end of Term 2 after 24 years at King Edward VII School. Mr Hansen will be retiring after spending 41 years in Education!

On Friday 24th May, Mr Hansen took his final assembly and the King Edward VII School learners and staff honoured this great Educator for his contribution to the School.

Photos by Z Bhabha

Photos by S Bheeka

Mr Hansen started at King Edward VII School in January 1995 as Deputy Principal. He arrived from Parktown Boys High School where he had taught for 16 years.

Mr Hansen started at KES when Mr McMurray was Headmaster and has worked under Mr Lobban, Mr Fennell and currently Mr Lovatt.

Mr Hansen has taught History since his arrival at King Edward VII School and will continue teaching until the end of 2019.

Besides the everyday duties of Deputy Headmaster he also coached rugby and cricket and still coaches shotput to this day!

“The true character of a man is not defined by what he does in front of a crowd but instead by what he does when no else is around” Unknown

This quote highlights Mr Hansen.  He has been a wonderful servant of this School who has worked tirelessly (and often behind the scenes) to ensure the smooth running of King Edward VII School.

Mr Hansen is the epitome of a Deputy – one who is most supportive of his Headmaster – who is able to shoulder much of the responsibility and take care of the day to day issues at the School.

Above all, Mr Hansen, is a Gentleman!! and a gentle man!!

Photos by C Avidon

The School is pleased to announce the promotion of Mr Christopher Hammond to the position of Deputy Principal as of 1 July 2019.

Mr Hammond is presently the Subject Head of Geography and the Senior Housemaster of School House and has been teaching at King Edward VII School since 2006.

Chris has an Honours degree in Educational Management and has recently completed his MBA at the Wits Business School.

Mr Hammond will take over from Mr Hansen in July who will retire at the end of June having served the School in this position for some 24 years. Mr Hansen will continue teaching his History classes until the end of the year.

We take this opportunity to wish Chris all the very best as he embarks on this new challenge.

King Edward VII School was privileged to host our 17th Easter Rugby and Hockey Festival, including 45 teams encompassing senior rugby and hockey, as well as primary schools rugby.

Sadly, the weather intervened on Saturday, which meant a few fixtures had to be cancelled and again on Monday when all fixtures were called off.

We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to all concerned for the understanding and support when these very difficult (but necessary) decisions were taken. This is the first time in 17 Festivals that this has happened.

We also take this opportunity to apologise to all for any inconvenience this may have caused, particularly those who travelled from afar. King Edward Vll School is most appreciative of your support and we trust that we will be able to count on your support in 2020.

Special thanks has to be mentioned to our Festival team and their inordinate pre-planning, inputs, and ultimately on the ground delivery from a multitude of people, culminate in the Festival`s seamless execution. We appropriately acknowledge:

• Festival Director Derron van Eeden, old boy Chairperson Neil Darroch and his ever-willing Committee comprising parents, alumni, friends of the School, and staff
• Director of Sport, Eugene Marx, together with numerous School staff and coaches who provide support in a variety of ways
• Medical support professionals, Dr Peter Baxter, Physiotherapist Brendan During, the 1^st Aid Team, and attending Chiropractors
• Facilities Manager Anthon Keyter and his team who ensure playing facilities of the highest standard prevail
• The Golden Lions Referees for sacrificing of their personal time

Thank you again to our primary sponsor Standard Bank, together with the other contributing sponsors, for exceptionally loyal and generous support.

Photos by Ian Harris

Further photos available on our Facebook page: Click here

Day 1: Thursday 18 April 2019

Senior Rugby:

Full write up by Theo Garrun: Click here

Hockey:

Junior Rugby:

Day 2: Saturday 20 April 2019

Senior Rugby:

Full write up by Theo Garrun: Click here

Hockey:

Junior Rugby:

Day 3: Monday 22 April 2019

All play was cancelled due to the weather

Visit our Easter Festival page for further details: Click here

Photos by Theo Garrun

King Edward VII School Aquatic Centre

On Wednesday 12 July we broke ground on the King Edward VII School Aquatic Centre!

This momentous upgrade on the swimming pool is one of the biggest developments in the Schools recent history – this project will transform this corner of the school in addition to adding a world class aquatic centre and change room facilities. Made possible, once again, through the benefaction of an Old Boy. More details to follow in coming weeks.

Classrooms

2019 is the year for upgraded and improved classrooms across the School. By end of the June / July holiday we will have done 12 of 40. This project will roll into 2020 with all classrooms will be completed by end 2020.

Boarding Houses

Over the last few months, the School and Buxton boarding houses have been upgraded to incorporate a new way of working in boarding (prep being done at their desks in their own dorms, additional dorms and the state of the art bunk beds).

Over the June/July holidays the boarding facilities will be painted and the exteriors refreshed, Gordon House upgrades will start, Buxton’s kitchen will be upgraded and we look forward to the additional upgrades taking place throughout the year!

Staff Area

“There are so many beautiful reasons to be happy” and the team KES team has just created another beautiful reason for our staff to be happy at work!

Thank you to Mrs Sim who has extended her touch of love from the gardens to our staff room outside area.