As I admired the musical and artistic expertise at our recently held exhibition,1 must confess to considerable jealousy.How fortunate these youngsters are to have so many cultural and other opportunities. I see the role of a College like this to be that of identifying a talent in every hoy and then devel oping it to its full strength.Our45 Clubs and So cieties,70instrumentalists,theconcerthand,and wonderful artistic disciplines on offer, make this possible. Ournew Music Director,Angela Stevens,soon won over the boys. Who would have imagined one of our Natal Schools Rugby players as being the leading light in the Choir which has grown both in numbers and in quality? Let us listen to them now ... A new addition to our calendar is the Junior Arts Festi val which takes place next weekend. There will be 420 pupils from 11 schools staying here and enjoying each other's plays, choirs and music whilst also dabbling in art, computers and design and technology. It is no secret that the focus in recent years at Kearsney has been in the academic field - and yet our sport has gone from strength to strength and has raised the schoolto unprecedented levels of participation and success. The reason for this is obvious to all those who are close to sport at Kearsney: the school is served by a happy band of dedicated and knowledgeable teachers. Our games successes and failures have been well docu mented.I will mention but afew highlights. In our major sports this has been tbe year of touring. The 1St XV visited Kokstad,Grahamstown and Zimba bwe.When they were good,they were very good,and I wonld like to mention Justin Rautenbach ourspeedy winger whoscored 25tries.Ourtwo Natal school caps testify to the quality ofthe players and the depth is illus trated by the IJISA team who lost only one match. The 1st XI toured England and again Kearsney boys proved fine ambassadors on and offthe field. Cricketis flourishing with ourjuniorsides probably ourstrong est ever in both quality and depth. Kearsney is becoming one ofthe top tennis schools in the country.Not only did they win every league in both Durban and Maritzburg,but they also beat all but one of the top schools in Cape Town and Johannesburg.We will miss our Junior Springbok, Damien Roberts, who has served us so well and who is now going to the U.S.A.on a tennis scholarship,butthe future looks very good when we realize that6 ofour top 8 players are in Form 3. I have mentioned but 3 of tbe 14 sports on offer. This variety enables us to fulfil our sporting aim which is to involve every boy no matter how talented and give him good coaching and the chance to represent his school. All onr sports coaches can hold their heads high. Theircommitmentand dedication have madethis all possible. I echo the sentiments of the Chairman in bidding fare well to Andrew Bromley-Gans.We also say farewell to Irene Harper who has worked so hard as our Librarian for9years and now takes a well-earned retirement.Barry Mullane leaves for Australia at the end of the year. He has made his mark as a Science teacher and aquatics and rugby coach.MrsPaula Isaac and Keith Garrett will be their replacements.We wish all three families well in the years ahead. When I look back on the year,one golden momentcap tures the spirit of Kearsney.That was when we alljour neyed to Michaelhouse for our annual derby. The Kearsney family was there in full support. The singing of Shosholoza as always was some thing special,but what gladdened my heart most was to see the way the parents lauded and enter tained our staff at Rawdons that evening. My thanks go: to David Woolnough and William Lee who have led the College with fairness and enlightenment; to the prefects and matrics who have set the example and enabled us all to carry our proud tradition a step further; to the parents and parents'society for their support and involvement which I havejust described; to the Old Boys so ably led by Lauron Buys who him self has been a source of inspiration to our senior staff and students; to the Board whosesubcommittees have done such ster ling work as mentioned by our Chairman; and espe cially to Neville and Trish Polkinghorne who could not have given Anne and me greater encouragement,advice and support; to the administrativeand ground staff-the backroom team who work so hard and unheralded; to my wife and family -some people are lucky. I got them-others are unlucky,they got me; to our new Deputies, Keith Decker,Justin Hall and Mick Bissell who have been both my rightand left arms and are growing into a formidable team; to all the schoolmasters and mistresses who give so unstintingly of their time and talents to Kearsney. To each and every one of you -from meandfrom everyone wholoves this greatschool -a very sincere thank you. A tidal wave of change has swept our country and we are entering a new exciting phase of history. I think we can confidently say that we are prepared and that we welcome the challenges that lie ahead. We will indeed "Seize the Day" and play our part in educating for our new society. O.J. ROBERTS Kearsney Chronicle 1994 15
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