Speech & Prize Giving 12 October 2006 Headmaster's Speech

‘OMPHALOSKEPSIS’ – what on earth am I on about?   Well, recently, at the Head’s Conference, a Falcon Old Boy, who is now an honorary member of our Independent Schools’ Association, caught me heavy in contemplation and used this word on me.   I had no clue – it means “contemplation of or meditation upon one’s navel’.   Certainly, when I started this speech, there appeared to be a lot of folk with heads down and they may well have been contemplating their navels.   We at Falcon, however, are aiming at exactly the opposite and I need to ask our acclaimed Old Boy for the opposite of this magnificent English word.   We at Falcon have our Heads up and “sic itur ad astra” may well be the opposite as we are reaching for the stars,

On the podium, the Headmaster Mr. Reg Querl delivering his annual address at the 53rd Speech and Prize-Giving Ceremony.

It’s Speech Day again – it feels like these come around very quickly these days.   I suppose the old cliché – time flies when you are having fun – has its place here.

It most certainly is fun most of the time, but especially on occasions like this when we are here to review a good year and to reward those who have worked hard.   It is also an occasion to say goodbye to those leaving.  

To Mrs. Swanepoel, who has played a major role in our Student Support teams development.   She has also been responsible for the testing in Form One and Two.   The Aptitude and Interest tests have become a vital part of our education.   Mrs. Swanepoel has also taught English and Life Skills.   We are very sad that she is leaving, but she has promised to continue helping with the testing, for which I am most grateful.

Mr. Tabs Ndlovu is also going on two-years’  leave to complete his doctorate.   We wish him well and look forward to his return as Doctor Ndlovu.

Mr. Will Jackson is also leaving and we thank him most sincerely for his input in the Physics Department, the Computer set up and on the sports field as a Cricket and Hockey coach.   His expertise in all these areas will be missed.

 Firstly, to my staff, the College is as good as the staff teaching in it.   Our teachers are our greatest resource and it is at this time of the year when we have to replace some that I realize the value of staff.   We are extremely fortunate at

Falcon to have a stable and able team.    I salute the team and thank them all most sincerely.   Our staff who work at the College in other areas are also to be thanked; they, too, are faithful and sound.

Its interesting to note that a staff member who left unexpectedly this year to make his fortune in Botswana, phoned after 2 months to ask for his job back.

To the parents – my initial message is for you and I do not intend to teach you anything brand new.   There really are very few books which tell the whole story on parenting and after very many years in the business, this is what I have to say:

A lot of what I am referring to is from Franklin Covey and his ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. He suggests – that we should always ‘begin with the end in mind’.

He suggests that we approach our role as a parent, as well as other roles in life with your VALUES and DIRECTIONS crystal clear.

It means you have to be RESPONSIBLE for your own first creation.   It means we need to rescript ourselves so that paradigms from which our behaviour and attitudes flow are congruent with our deepest VALUES and in harmony with CORRECT PRINCIPLES.

Covey asks us to close our eyes and imagine the following:-

I’d like you to do just that, close your eyes and imagine you are walking into a Church – as you make your way to the front you realize that it is a funeral – it is your own funeral.   There are folk representing your work mates, your

family, your community and the list goes on.   They are all waiting to speak about you.   At this point, I am only concerned about your children – your child is about to stand up and talk about you.

This may be a scary thought – what do you think your son would say at your funeral?

I think I would want our life to represent the victory of teaching, nurturing and disciplining with love over a period of years rather than the battle scars of quick fix semesters.   We would all want his heart and mind to be filled with the pleasant memories of deep, meaningful times together.   We would want him to remember you as a loving parent  who shares the fun and pain of growing up.   We would want him to remember the times he came to you with his problems and concerns.   We would want to have listened and loved and helped him.   We would want him to know that we were not perfect either, but that we had tried with everything we had.   And that perhaps, more than anybody in the world, YOU LOVED HIM.

Huge and profound advice – it is, however, in my opinion, a great way of looking at things – beginning with the end in mind.

 What about the year at Falcon?   It has, in many ways, been very successful.   In Term One we had good rains.   We had a most successful Primary Schools’ Cricket Tournament with 10 teams from all over the country.   It was played using an amazing format that meant the final game was won on the final ball of that final game.   Mr. Richard Harrison and Mrs. Jaqui Stewart need to take much of the credit for its success.   Our 1st XI will take part in an

International Schools’ Festival in Cape Town in December which includes schools from South Africa, England, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

 Our cross-country runners did really well, winning our Inter-school competition against great odds.

Our athletes, too, did well at the Inter-schools relays’ competition in Bulawayo coming 2nd to CBC.

 Term Two saw our Basketball and Soccer teams on tours to South Africa.   The Soccer team was third in an International festival in Mafeking where 16 schools took part.   Our team won the CHISZ Soccer tournament at the end of the season.

Our Basketball team also excelled.  They were 4th in a tournament with 16 schools participating.   Simon Kirkman was Man of the Tournament in Natal, South Africa.

Our Hockey team also toured South Africa and while they were not greatly successful, they were never totally out-gunned despite only playing on Astro turf for short periods before the tournament.   They won the Inter Cities’ tournament, beating CBC 1-0 in the final.   Our U16 Hockey side have not lost a game throughout their career at the College – quite an achievement.

The Rugby team provided 5 boys for the National U18 side to Craven Week and 3 additional lads made the side which went to Morocco to qualify for the U19 World Cup in Ireland next year.

Our 1st XV beat a previously unbeaten Peterhouse side in the final game of the season in a great encounter.

Our Primary Schools’ Rugby festival and the visit of Gary Teichmann was a fantastic occasion and we are all most grateful to Mr. Mavros for facilitating that.

The Hockey boys turned around a 3-0 defeat early in the season to beat Peterhouse on the final weekend 1-0 – a great effort!

 The Third Term has seen the Basketball lads win the local Basketball competition – the Carvelo Trophy, without losing a game.The Waterpolo boys have swept all before them winning a national competition and the Hart Trophy.   They also played Hilton College from Natal at home and won 9-8.

Our Swimmers have won the local relays’ gala – something we have not done for some time.

The Tennis boys toured Natal and while they didn’t win many games, they were exposed to Tennis at the highest level.

Squash has had a quiet time with our highest ranked player being ranked 12th in Zimbabwe.   We fielded sides in the 2nd and 3rd and two sides in the 4th League in Bulawayo.

Our Academics – this again is very positive for 2005.   Our 4A1 class recorded a pass rate of 88% with 100% of the boys passing 5 ‘O’ levels or better.   100% Pass rates were obtained in Geography, French, Environmental

Management, Chemistry, Design Technology and Art and Design, while pass rates of over 90% were obtained in Maths, Physics and Biology.

The overall pass rate at ‘O’ level was 72%.

At AS level the pass rate was 81%.   100% Pass rates were obtained in English Language, English Literature, Chemistry, Design Technology and Art and Design.

At ’A’ level we were even more pleased.   We achieved a 92% pass rate.   100% Pass rates were achieved in English Literature, Chemistry, Design & Technology, Art and Design, and Accounts while a pass rate of 90% or better was obtained in Geography, Biology and Business Studies.

 We have had Awakhiwe Mnyandu win the Senior Allied Arts prize for Poetry, plus Fakazi Makhanda won the Girls’ College Arts’ prize for Poetry.   First grade plus passes in the National Allied Arts Literary Festival were achieved by Tinashe Murasiranwa, Tineyi Kureva and Simbarashe Gonese.

 We have debated as far away as Lomagundi and have played Chess at Peterhouse.

 Our Play in the First Term was postponed to Term Two.   It received good acclaim from all who watched it.

 Our Cultural Festival has proved very popular and young people from 19 schools attended this year.

 “Music under the Stars” was held last week with participation from Falcon and the Bulawayo musical fraternity from Girls’ College and CBC.

I am quite sure there are accolades I have omitted and I apologise to those whom I may have missed out, but it is very clear that this College has a wide and varied base that does produce excellence in many areas.

I would like to go back to my theme of VALUES and PRINCIPLES.   All over the world and around the College the Internet is now evident.   Jargon and buzz words and new ideas are aplenty.   For some they are frowned upon and are perceived as a threat.  

The new thinking in terms of personalities talks of Red, Blue and Orange thinkers.   In the next 2/3 years it is said that over half of the people on the planet will be Chinese.    Maybe we should all be learning Mandarin.

In researching this colour personality issue, I was told that people are categorised into these areas because of how they see the world and the qualities needed to cope in the world.

Red thinkers, for example, see the world as follows:-

Life is a jungle where the tough and strong survive and the weak serve.   They are tough, conquering, dominating, heroic, streetwise, live for the moment, are guilt free and they enjoy instant gratification.

Blue thinkers, however:-

See the world controlled by a higher power that punishes evil and rewards good work and righteous living.

They are self-disciplined, loyal, traditional and patriotic, hard working, stable, secure, have structure in their life, do the right thing and accept authority.

The Orange thinkers are somewhere in between.

This, of course, allows us to put folk in boxes.   I believe young people need role models – those folk placed in boxes.   They need those whom they wish to be like.

Jonty Rhodes – the great South African Cricketer, is referred to in the latest Sports Illustrated as a ‘Blue Thinker’.   He was brought up in a family with STRONG MORALS AND VALUES.

Schooled in a traditional College

Lived in an authoritarian country

He learned he would be rewarded and gain others’ approval if he acted with duty, honour and responsibility and did what was right.  

It was also very interesting to note that his technique as a Cricketer was not great, so he had to work very hard and his self discipline had to be even higher for him to succeed at a top level.

Once again, MORALS and VALUES are paramount and some adversity is not a bad thing and we should hold all of these values high on our priority list.

 I heard about a boy who had lost one of his hands in an accident.   When the Doctor asked him about his handicap, he replied: “I don’t have a handicap.   I just don’t have a right hand!”   The Doctor discovered later that this boy was one of the leading scorers in his schools’ Basketball team.

You see, it’s not what you have lost, but what you have left that counts!

 We at Falcon do not want to follow – we want to lead and this means there are risks, but without risk there is no forward motion.   We are not perfect, but we most certainly are striving for perfection and provided that we keep our basic need of morals and values paramount in our minds, I believe we shall succeed.

 THANK YOU.

 REG QUERL

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