For me coming in at the beginning of the second term was most challenging. The first major task was gather ing a choir together for the Broadcast Service which af ter a lot of hard work from the boys went off very well. The choir has gonefrom strength to strength and by the end of the year was 55 members strong! Much of the credit goes to Ryan Barker-Steadman who gave me his full support in his role as Cultural Prefect. The school concert band had a very shaky start as most ofthe experienced performers had leftthe previous year, however,the boys worked hard and eventually performed some enjoyable works. They played a Trinity College of Music ensemble examination in September in which they gained 79%(merit). An excellent result consider ing mostofthem are beginners. We were invited to per form atThe Wykeham Collegiate in October and an en joyable evening was had by all. The choir now leads the singing in Chapel,and has en riched the various services by singing anthems at Con firmation and Founders Day. I think it fitting here to express my appreciation to John Harper who played the organ so competently atthese and other servicesthrough out the year. The choir's final contribution was to the AdventCarol Services.These services were the musical highlight of the year, and the boys are to be congratu lated on their enthusiasm and dedication shown in re hearsing for the service.They certainly rose to the occa sion and ended the year on a crescendo I Two boys deserve special mention this year on their se lection to the Natal Youth Concert Band for the third successive year. They are Jason Judge,saxophone,and Brendan Nielsen,french horn.Thesetwo boys have been awarded cultural honoursfor this excellent achievement amongst other achievements at school. Unfortunately they both left us at the end of the year, and I take this opportunity to thank them for all they have done for music at Kearsney and wish them well in the future. The following boys are to be congratulated on their se lection to the Kwa Zulu Natal Youth Orchestra: Christoper Hardy,flute, Brendan Nielsen,french horn, Jason Bowden,percussion.Rowan Grobler,clarinet,Tom Cartwright, violin. Miles Warrington, piano. Iam pleased that Miles Warrington will be taking music for matric in 1995 and that we shall be offering Music as a subject in Form 3.1 have enjoyed my first year at Kearsney with its wonderfulfacilities and opportunities for your sons. I look forward to seeing the department gofrom strength to strength.Mythanks to MrJeffJudge, ourformer Director of Music,who set the musical ship afloat which I shall endeavour to sail successfully. Religious Education Department R.E. In my third year at Kearsney I am feeling a bit more confident about hitting the right balance between Bible knowledge and life application. Teaching methods used try to get active participation from the pupils. Role play is a very popular method in the youngerforms,and variousforms ofdiscussion and debate are used among the older boys. One's imagina tion is always being stretched to the limit. Whole Life Programme Next year we are introducing a Whole Life Programme to Kearsney. The aim of this is to help pupils to eope with themselves and with the issues oflife that they are facing. A number ofthe eore life-skills like relationships, deeision-making, moral awareness,eonflict resolution etc., will be handled in R.E. classes. A specific period will be set aside each week when the other aspects of the programme will be taught. These will include such topics as Enterprise Education(entrepreneurship and small business), Eirst Aid, Health and Sex,Leadership,Career Education,etc. Every memberofthe staff will beinvolved in the aspect which he or she finds most interesting. I feel certain that the pupils are going to find this pro gramme really helpful as well as enjoyable. Biblical Studies A further development next year is the introduction of Biblical Studies at 4th form level. This will be offered as a seventh subject and will have to be taught off the timetable.There has been afair amountofinterest and it seems as though between six and ten boys will take it next year. It is a beneficial subject for its spiritual value as well as for the academic skills which the pupils ac quire in working with a text,analysing it and writing up. SchoolPlay Making a Mountain out ofa Molehill "The SecretDiary ofAdrian Mole"burrows its way to thefunnybone. Perhaps the only reason the play was chosen in the first place was the discovery that Warwick Lobban was per fectfor the part. His doleful eyes,long-suffering expres sion and easily-win-you-over smile were exactly the in gredients necessary to ignite the central comic char acter of the play. Together with the superb acting talents of Grant Greenberg, Brett Coeks and Graham Hunter the cast combined with the perfumed talents of the girls of Hillcrest High to create a fine play. But the amusement occurred both on and off the stage. Lobban's legendary remark during early rehearsals,for example: "Ican'tgo outthere and do that. They'll laugh at me,"is worth recording. Ofcourse there were other less ironie ineidents:Lobban whodropped halfa kilogram ofunintentional sugar onto the floor had the other actors scampering forfresh lines. White, who saw the smoke machine disappearing, and in reaching out, found himself being dragged into the jaws of death, as the revolving platform inexorably be gan to complete its 180degree turn.And Ronnie Wallace who had to take the place ofa hospitalised Hillcrest ac tress 4 days before the first performance, and become the wonderful granny that she created on stage. 54 Kearsney Chronicle 1994
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