I would like to thank the Harare Office Manager, Sue Hawthorne, for giving me the opportunity to talk to the Harare parents, updating them and giving them a chance to express their views. Thanks to all who attended - much appreciated.

It is hoped that you all had a really good holiday with your sons. I was very sad to find that a group of parents, who had sent their children for extra lessons, felt that our staff was not up to speed. This is a major accusation and I have investigated the matter fully to find that this was not the case. I am quite confident that our boys are well taught and they will be as well prepared as they can possibly be, for the public exams.

Please do contact your Housemaster if you have any queries about your son's academic performance. We are a full time boarding school and your son's teachers are committed to them. They are all happy to help - it is simply a matter of asking. The other issue which comes up from time to time is that there are personality clashes between boys and staff. Our Departments are happy to give another teacher the opportunity to do some extra work with your child, but again, it is a matter of asking.

OUR TELEPHONE SYSTEM:
We have revamped the telephone system so that our open exchange is only on from Mondays to Fridays, from 7.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. and from 5.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. on a Sunday evening.

Should you want to phone in at any other time, it is still possible, but the following procedure must be followed:

A voice prompt will be heard on the phone and if you know the extension you are trying to locate,
simply dial that extension. Otherwise, the phone will be routed to either the Sanatorium, or the Security
guard on duty. The second option is one we would hope you do not need to use, as it would interfere
with their duties.

We are hoping that our PABX facilitator will be able to route all calls, where the extension is not known, to a cell phone held by the house on duty, in the near future.

We are looking into redoing our whole system so that it is updated, and probably wireless, so that we can do away with all the issues we have had in the past.

The extensions to the Housemasters are as follows;

VISIT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MEN'S HOCKEY SQUAD:
We were extremely privileged to have had a visit from three members of the South African Men's Hockey Squad yesterday. Our 1st XI and our Hockey staff interacted with them over a luncheon and the Chairman, the CEO, the Head of Hockey and myself all had an opportunity to talk to Dave Staniforth about artificial surfaces, which is something we are currently exploring.

A lot happened these last holidays and I am extremely grateful to all of our staff who facilitated the events. It is our intention to utilize the College as best as we can during holiday time, to make some money for the College.
We hosted the National Darts' Championship, where a province participated. This was a huge event and Orlando Fernandes masterminded this event.

We then hosted the CHISZ Soccer Tournament and Gatesmane Katsande and Rodwell Khumalo organized this. We have now secured this tournament for the next three years and we intend "growing" the tournament and making it an International one.

Finally, we hosted the Tennis and Bastketball for the National Youth Games. This went well and was masterminded by Isaac Museba. We fed 400 children each day. Again, this tournament brought us great accolades from the participants and officials alike.

SPORT:
Rugby:
Given below are the names of the Rugby Seven's Squad who attended the Zimbabwe Sevens Selections Tournament at St. John's College at the end of last term:

Subsequently our boys were the winners of the Bowl, and received medals. E. Kadzere was duly selected to represent the Zimbabwe U19 Sevens side.

Athletics:
BQ Tshuma won two gold medals during the Youth Games, representing Mat. South in the following events:
U20 4 x 100 m Relay
U20 Medley Relay
Tshuma has been shortlisted to represent Zimbabwe in the forthcoming Zone Six Games.

Basketball:
A Senderayi and JT Mutambara - representing Mat. South during Youth Games.
Both were selected to represent Zimbabwe U19 Basketball, in the forthcoming Zone Six Games.

Tennis:
Zimbabwe National Youth Games
B Langley and NI Dhlodhlo came 3rd and won the Bronze medal for Mat. South.
B Langley was voted as the best player of the Tournament.

Fishing:
Tri-Nations All Species Fishing Tournament - Namibia:
Representing Zimbabwe were S Stone, B Querl and G Strydom
B Querl was placed 2nd in the Individual competition.
The team was commended for its courtesy and sportsmanship.

Cricket
1st XI in Harare
The three 50 over Festival matches were all lost. The two highlights were 50 by G Smit against Prince Edward and 103 not out off 71 balls, by R Butler versus Gateway.
In the St. George's T20 tournament, we came 6th out of 12. In six matches, M Mlambo scored 3 fifties and a 48.
T Ganyani took 5 wickets against St. Andrew's, Grahamstown.
M Mlambo, R Butler, R Sargeant and W Ullrich all won prizes for hitting sixes.

"Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly
or it vanishes"

Peter Brucker

R.W. QUERL