Introduction

   On this page you will find "Hermannsburg Happenings" rotated out of the current news page for the current year. For articles from yesteryear, follow the links below. Where possible, links to photographs that were added to the appropriate photo galleries when the news was current have been preserved. Should a photograph link no longer work, please click on the Photo Gallery link in the main menu and try to find the photograph in one of the photo galleries listed. Click on the link at the top of the page to go directly to the news photo gallery.

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"HERMANNSBURG HAPPENINGS"

14 November 2011

   Hermannsburg’s senior learners are hard at work with exams, sporting activities are winding down and preparations for end-of-year functions are in full swing.
   Fun Walk This weekend the Primary School will be hosting its second family fun walk. As this event was such a great success last year, it has been decided to make it an annual event. Anybody wanting further information is welcome to contact the school secretary +27 33 445 0601.
   Cricket On Saturday the school’s senior cricket teams made use of the sunny weather and were able to play the planned cricket fixture against Grace College. The first team won by 66 runs in a very exciting match. Man of the match was Jacobus van den Berg, who took 3 wickets. Thomas Mahnecke also had an excellent game, taking 4 wickets!
   The second team played well, but so did the boys from Grace College, who won the match.
   Riding School The Riding School held a Show this weekend and had a good turnout for the planned events.
   In the Children’s Dressage Class 1 prelim 1 the placings were as follows: Joint 1^st Meike Meyer riding River and Tatjana Witthöft riding Medwell; 3^rd Michelle Stansfield riding Strider; 4^th Hayley Munday riding Rudi.
   In the Children’s Dressage Class 2 prelim 2: 1^st Meike Meyer riding River; 2^nd Michelle Stansfield riding Strider; 3^rd Tatjana Witthöft riding Medwell; 4^th Maya Docherty riding Bayley.
   In the Children’s Dressage Class 3 prelim 3: 1^st Michelle Stansfield riding Strider; 2^nd Hayley Munday riding Rudi; 3^rd Meike Meyer riding River; 4^th Tatjana Witthöft riding Medwell.
   In the Junior Dressage Prelim 1 & 2 Christél Brooks was placed second - as she was the only entrant in this group, her placing was judged according to her score.
   In the Performance Riding class for Children: 1^st Meike Meyer scoring 9/10; 2^nd Shannon Docherty scoring 8.5/10; 3^rd Tatjana Witthöft scoring 7/10; 4^th Maya Docherty scoring 6.75/10.
   In the Performance Riding, Beginners’ Category, Children’s Class Erica-Anne Edwards was placed first.
   In the Junior Beginners’ Category, Keana Becker won riding Baloo.
   The Performance Riding, Junior Level, was won by Christél Brooks, riding Sam.
   In the Fancy Dress event, the placings were: 1^st Meike Meyer (as a cowboy); 2^nd Hayley Munday (as an arabian); 3^rd Christél Brooks (as Batman); 4^th Shannon Dochery (as a bride); 5^th Michelle Stansfiels (as a hippie).
   Spectators and participants enjoyed the show and look forward to the next one. Thanks to Gillian Liddemore and her team, for putting on a most enjoyable event, and to the parents, who supported the event.
   Upcoming Events The Kindergarten Graduation will take place this coming weekend, followed by the Primary School family fun walk.

07 November 2011

   Eco-School Regular readers of this column will recall that we recently achieved Silver Status as an Eco School. Since then, more and more is being done at our school to teach our children to live in harmony with the environment - we"ve gone way beyond just separating our rubbish! We hope to achieve Gold Status soon and thereafter, Eco Flag Status. At our school, everybody from Kindergarten to Matric is taught to be environmentally conscious and all are involved in one project or another. Our Junior Nature Club got together again this past weekend to do a bit of bird-watching, as well as labeling of indigenous trees and weeding and clearing of our famous "Flower Patch". Also in the Primary School, Mr Terry’s Natural Science class has started a hydroponics project. "Hydroponics" is the art of growing plants without soil, with water impregnated with minerals. The children are most enthusiastic about this project and are enthralled at how well their veggies are doing. We will certainly keep you updated.
   Examinations Our Matrics have got a number of exams behind them, but still have some way to go until they can cast off their school uniforms for the last time. Our Grade 10s and 11s have now also started exams this week, and the Grade 9s will be starting next week. We wish all our learners well and know that they will, as always, do us proud.
   Peer Review Last week, three colleagues from the German School in Johannesburg were invited to our school for a few days to review various aspects of our school and the level of our education and teaching, as well as to provide us with constructive criticism on how to improve our school further. Overall, their report-back was very positive and we will be working hard at their suggested areas of improvement before our school inspection by Germany next year.
   Sport Roundup On the sports field, both our Primary and High School boys played some cricket this last week, while our Olympiade team is still training hard for their Cape Town tour early next year. Mudman 2012 is coming nearer and we hope that outdoor enthusiasts have got their teams together and have started training. For the procrastinators among you - don’t worry, it’s not all about winning.
   Kindergarten The Kindergarten’s annual "Oma und Opa" day was, as always, a tremendous success and young and old were entertained for the morning by our talented Kindergarten staff who put in a great deal of effort, as usual, to make the day so memorable. This coming Friday, our Kindergarten will hold its annual Graduation Ceremony, which is always a most enjoyable evening.

31 October 2011

   Kindergarten news Who can believe it’s November already, with the wintery weather we had most of last week? Our Little Oaks Kindgergarten kiddies have been desperately waiting for good weather to go on their outing to the Kassiers’ farm to learn more about fruit and vegetables. At last the weather cleared long enough on Friday for them all to hop on the secure Kindergarten trailer and be pulled by the tractor for their trip to the farm and to learn first-hand where veggies are found in their "natural habitat", before they appear, miraculously pealed and diced in a plastic bag in one’s freezer. On Friday, 4 November, we have our annual "Oma & Opa Day" at the Kindergarten, which everyone is looking forward to.
   Confirmation Camp This last week, some of our Grade 8s have been away to Elandskraal for their Confirmation Camp, in final preparation for their Confirmation on Sunday, 13 November. All are invited to attend this very special occasion.
   Sport On the sports fields, things have been rather quiet due to many of the matches being rained out. Our cricket and basketball teams managed to get a match in each against Heritage Academy and both came home victorious. We hope that the weather holds up for the next few weeks so that our Olympiade team can get in some extra practice before next year’s trip to Cape Town.

24 October 2011

   General With our last mid-term break of the year behind us, the end of the school year approaches at almost lightning speed. That of course means exams, tests, marking, school reports - not exactly everyone’s favourite time of year! Our matrics have already started writing their final IEB Matric Examinations and we wish them all the best. Twelve years of learning, hard work and dedication all culminate in these next few weeks and we know they are going to do us proud.
   Kindergarten Meanwhile, the little okes from our Little Oaks Kindergarten had loads of fun, as always. At our Kindgergarten we believe that children learn through doing and so the children go on regular outings related to the theme they are learning about at the time. The most recent visit was a trip to Wally Gevers’ farm (One-Up Farming) where they got to see a varity of farm animals, and of course lots and lots of hens! On Thursday they all went to see the annual Kammanland concert and came back full of exciting stories to tell.
   Primary School Our Grade 5 and 6’s are busy learning about different cultures and religions in Life Orientation and recently had a most informative tour of the local Mosque and Temple. They also went to St James’ Anglican Church where all were in awe of the beautiful stained glass.
   Top achievements in music In the High School, the music department took top honours at the annual South African Music Teachers’ Prizegiving ceremony on 12 October at the Tatham Galleries. Tommy Leigh received the Junior Royal Schools Vocal award for the highest distinction in this category; Nadia Ortmann was awarded a certificate for a distinction for Grade 6 Vocal; and Daniella Dedekind was awarded the senior Royal Schools Vocal Award for a distinction in Grade 8. She also received a special award: The Sheila Harland Vocal Award for the highest mark in an instrumental exam. The Hermannnsburg music department results were outstanding this year. Oscar Röhrs (Gr 8), Edrich du Toit and Timon du Toit (Gr 7), Thomas Königkrämer (Gr 6), Monique Klingenberg (Gr 5 Flute) and Stephan Küsel (Voice Gr 4) received high merit. The examiner was very impressed with the high standard of all candidates entered. There is only one way to achieve in an external exam, and that is to work hard throughout the year. Well done to all the music students.

17 October 2011

   Grade 12 Awards On Friday, we waved a teary goodbye to our Matriculants of 2011. The matrics had mixed emotions of elation, sadness and nostalgia as they counted down the last twenty seconds before the school bell rang to mark the end of their final school lesson. We were honoured to welcome Mr Deon van Rooyen, MD of Pannar, as our guest speaker at our Matric Prize Giving Ceremony, along with his wife Esther, who handed over the prizes and trophies.
   The "man of the match" at this year’s Matric Prize Giving Ceremony was, without a doubt, Lenard Küsel, who got the coveted Dux award, along with a Platinum Status Merit badge for the number of merit points accumulated during his high school career. Lenard is only the second learner in our school’s history to have been awarded this status. He also received Honours for academics, the Ulrich Prigge trophy for German, the Khiren Maharaj Memorial trophy for Accounting, the T Ignat trophy for Physical Science, the A M Ignat trophy for Mathematics, subject prize book vouchers for Mathematics, L.O. Physical Science and Accounting, as well as the Matric Trophy.
   Steve Nel, son of Piet and Cathy Nel of St Cathryn’s, was this year’s winner of the Rotary Club’s "Service-Above-Self" award. The winner of this award is chosen by the entire staff body, for always being willing to help, for having a positive attitude and always being a good ambassador of the school.
   The "Sportsman of the Year" award went to Thabiso Manzini, along with the Ian Younge cricket player of the year and the Siegried Prigge German trophy. Daniella Dedekind received the Schroeder Language Proficiency trophy, the Ulrich Prigge Music trophy, Honours for academics and music and the subject prize for English. Johann Köhne walked away with an excellence award for being ranked 11th position nationally in the Afrikaans Olympiade and the subject prize for Afrikaans, Honours for academics, the Life Sciences trophy and subject prize, as well as the Deutsche Kultur Rat trophy for German Home Language.
   Kelly Shawe received the ART Maharaj Memorial trophy for Geography, as well as the Geography subject prize, while Rebecca Smith received Honours for academics and the subject prizes for Mathematical Literacy, Visual Arts and German. Ulrich Bosse received an Excellence award for having been awarded his National Colours in polocrosse. This year’s House Trophy was shared between the Kudu and Eland houses, who were tied in first position.
   For more details on winners of colours and half-colours awards, see our school’s annual magazine, "Unsere Schule", which will be out soon. A sincere thanks to sponsors and donors of prizes, namely ABSA, Deutsche Kultur Rat, Greytown Drug Store, Greytown Rotary Club, Pannar and the Hmb School Trust.

03 October 2011

   Matric Dance With the holidays (which simply seemed to fly by) behind us, it’s back to school in full force for the last term. Our Grade 11’s have been working very hard for the last few months and everybody, most especially the Matrics, is eager to see what the theme will be for Saturday night’s matric dance. Watch this space next week for glamorous pics of our Matrics in their finest!
   Garden Show The Sunday Tribune Garden and Leisure Show is said to be South Africa’s Chelsea Flower Show. This year, our school was offered the opportunity to exhibit as one of about twenty schools in the Schools’ Mini Gardens and Box Gardens exhibition. In spite of it being holidays, some Grade 8s were busy, under the able guidance of Mrs Witthöft, Mrs De Bruyn and Mrs Cockburn, putting forward various designs with our "flower patch" as the focus under the show theme "circles". The flower patch is a recognised conservation site and is one of the very few places where the protected Hilton daisy grows. Earlier this year Jürgen Greve’s efforts to preserve this heritage were recognised by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife; it is the school’s privilege to continue the work.
   A final design was chosen, tweaked and put up in the hall at the show grounds. The judges were most impressed by the fact that only indigenous plants found in the flower patch were used in the garden. Thanks go to Jennie Cowie (Insingisi Indigenous Nursery) and Pippa Harris (The Country Nursery) for the loan of plants so that the flower patch did not have to be disturbed. Thanks to Paul du Preez of Village Signs, we could put up a banner showing the real flower patch, complementing the live display and showing how true to life it actually was. The judges also commented favourably on the clean simplicity of the display. In the end, the display was awarded a silver certificate. A big thank you goes to the learners and parents who gave up time in their holidays to put up the display and do duty at the display over the show period!
   Nature Club Meanwhile, members of the school’s Nature Club had a superb time at the unspoilt beaches at Ponta Molangane in Mozambique, enjoying walks on the beach, snorkeling, fishing, diving and shopping in shanty towns. Not even getting stuck repeatedly in super-sandy roads could ruin their camping trip! But after an amazing five days, it’s unfortunately back to working hard for the last stretch of 2011 and, what with exams that will be upon us before we know it, there’s no time to waste.

26 September 2011

   Supper Theatre If you were not at last Thursday night’s Supper Theatre, you missed out on a memorable show! Supper Theatre is an annual event, organised by our Grade 9’s to kick-start their German Exchange Programme fundraising. The evening is filled with a number of short skits, dances and musical items - with all the ideas coming from the learners themselves. The evening was filled with much fun and laughter, with one of the highlights being a performance of "I will follow Him" by the entire High School. Luyanda Fandaleki’s stand-up comedy act stole the show and his is a name to watch in years to come on the stand-up comedy circuit. After ending the term with such show-stopping performances, all our leaners are enjoying a well-deserved break before the final term of the year.
   Sports round-up In the sporting sector, our boys’ soccer team beat Wembley 5-0, but unfortunately lost 3-0 to Wartburg. Our tennis boys lost 27-39 to Wartburg, while the girls fared a little better by drawing against Howick.
   Riding news Our Riding School’s dressage and performance training day was a super success, with even the weather playing along. All the riders were well-prepared and had to concentrate and communicate with their mounts to perform as well as possible, which they certainly did! The winner of the Prelim 1 test was Hayley Munday, with Meike Meyer taking second place on River, The Prelim 2 test was won by Tatjana Witthöft and Meike Meyer again took second place. The winner of the Junior Dressage section was Christél Brooks, with Bianca Duminiet on Nirvana coming in second place. The Performance Horse Test for children was Meike Meyer with Hayley Munday coming second, while the Performance Horse Junior winner was Christél Broooks. The judge, Mrs Charlotte Houston from Pietermaritzburg, was most impressed with the standard of our riders and a big thanks goes to her and our sponsors for the day - Allison’s Saddlery. Don’t miss our Riding School’s next big event on 12 November.
   Heritage Day In celebration of Heritage Day, our children have been planting trees at our Mission House Museum, along with a time capsule which they will get to open up some day in the future when they return for a school reunion, much like the Class of ’61, who came to celebrate their 50-year school reunion this last weekend and took an enjoyable trip down Memory Lane.

19 September 2011

   HMB Golf Day Our 14^th annual HMB Golf Day, held on Saturday, 17 September, was another huge success. St. Cathryn’s Golf Club once again outdid themselves with their gracious hospitality and the day was enjoyed by golfers and spectators alike. The golf day, whilst being one of the school’s main fund-raisers, is also an opportunity for our Grade 9 learners to earn pocket money for their trip to Germany next year, by caddying for the golfers. They soon realised that carrying a set of golf clubs for 18 holes in the summer sun can be rather grueling, while the golfers had to work hard to remember not to use their ’golf-course-language’ whenever yet another ball landed in the dam. This year’s winners were Rikus Kloppers and Liekie Steyn with an impressive 47 points, while the top ladies team was Karin Schroeder and Paulette Truter on 44 points. Peter O’Connor and Paulette Truter took home the men’s and ladies’ nearest-the-pin prizes respectively on the 2/11th, while the nearest-the-pin on the 9/18th went to Johan Marx. Roland Rencken got nearest the pin for 2 on the 8^th and the coveted longest drive for men and ladies awards went to Trevor Marcovich and Gail Gayner respectively. A big thank you to all our sponsors, prize donors and, of course, the golfers.
   Environmental Matters This year’s interhouse Enviroquiz was won by the Eland team, with Nyala taking second place and Kudu bringing up the rear. Daniella Dedekind gave a most interesting talk about all she had experienced on the trip she had won to Iceland, while Johann Köhne spoke about the horrors of poaching.
   Other outstanding environmental news is that Hermannsburg has been awarded Silver status as an Eco-School. "Eco-Schools" is a WESSA/WWF initiative, supported by the Department of Education, Pareto Ltd and Nedbank. Schools have to work their way up the ranks to achieve their Eco-Flag status. Our school has been working on this project in many sectors, including recycling on a big scale, a worm farm and our indigenous "flower patch", which is the theme for the school’s exhibit at the Sunday Tribune Garden & Leisure Show being held in Pietermaritzburg from 30 September to 2 October (http://royalshow.co.za/gardenshow/). As we continue to do more and more for our environment, we hope to get "green flag" status next, and then move up to gold and platinum status.
   Vacation On Friday we’ll be closing for the Michaelmas holidays. Shortly after the new term starts in October, our matrics will be starting their final examinations. We wish all our learners and staff Happy Holidays!

12 September 2011

   Various Yet another week has flown by, and by the time you read this, our matrics will have finished their Trial Exams and be counting down the days till their last school day. Meanwhile, many of our Primary School children have emerged from having cocooned themselves in the library with a book during our school’s Winter Reading Challenge, which ran from June till the end of August. The winner of the challenge was Michelle van Rooyen (Grade 6) who read 23 books in 3 months (!) while Jesse Pakkari (Grade 5) was a close runner-up with 22 books. Well done to the winners, but also to all the other avid readers who took part in the challenge.
   Sports roundup During the last week in August, our tennis boys unfortunately lost to Voortrekker, while our girls’ soccer team had a great time playing against Hermannsburg Combined School, with Hermannsburg Combined winning 1-0. Spring day saw our girls’ tennis team beat Grace College 4-2, and on 3 September we hosted the Primary School Umvoti Athletics Day where we were joined for a most enjoyable day by Wembley College and Wartburg School. We are very proud of Thobekile Masikane of our school, who received the Victrix Ludorum trophy, while the Victor Ludorum went to Deon Wortmann from Wartburg.
   On the web Stay in touch with what’s happening at our school by joining our school’s facebook group. We currently have over 700 members and continue to grow each day. It’s a quick, cost-effective way for learners, parents and Old Scholars to stay up to date on the latest Hermannsburg Happenings and get notified of upcoming events, or just to see what old friends are up to. Search for ’Deutsche Schule Hermannsburg’ and click on ’join group’. See you there!

05 September 2011

   Environmental issues Hermannsburg continues to get greener as we strive towards achieving our Eco-School status. Arbor day was celebrated with much enthusiasm and fun on Friday, with all the learners dressing in civvies and the teachers dressing either in school uniforms or other fun outfits. Both the Primary and High Schools joined forces to plant one of the trees of the year - the Common Bride’s Bush (pavetta gardenifolia) - while the Kindergarten visited the Country Nursery to see if they could spot some butterflies, bees and other bugs that they have been learning about in this week’s theme.
   Junior Nature Club This past weekend, the Junior Nature Club went on a field trip to Emanzini Private Game Reserve. The rainy weather forced them to spend Saturday morning indoors at the KZN museum in Pietermaritzburg, where they were able to view animals without getting wet. In the afternoon, some very elusive giraffe were tracked down whilst on a game drive around the reserve. Sunday’s warm weather meant they could round off the enjoyable weekend with a walk - bringing them very close to the wild life.
   HMB Golf Day There are still some slots open for golfers wanting to join in the fun on our anual Golf Day at St. Cathryn’s on 17 September. Anyone interested should contact the school secretary or Piet Nel at St. Cathryn’s.

29 August 2011

   Grade 12 The expression ’time flies’ has become so cliché that one wants to come up with something new - something fresher - to express how quickly time, well, flies. It seems like just a few weeks ago that the 2011 school-year began; that the new matriculants proudly walked into their matric classroom; and here they are, having recently celebrated "40 days" and already writing their Trial Examinations. We wish them all the best!
   Sports roundup Our tennis boys beat Wembley 34-32, while at the Quadrangular Athletics meeting, our athletics team tied with Wembley in third position. Well done to the Greytown High School team for their victory and for hosting a very well-run event! Hermannsburg had some pleasing results, especially in the Boys’ U19 section, with Ulrich Bosse coming first in the shotput and Njabulo Gumede coming second. On 25 August, Hermannsburg hosted a Primary School Boys’ Hockey tournament. Wartburg and Greytown Junior School joined us for a fun-filled afternoon for the boys.
   HMB Golf Day The date for our 14^th annual HMB Golf Day (Saturday 17 September), at St. Cathryn’s Golf Course, draws near and golfers are encouraged to phone the school or St. Cathryn’s to book their four-ball (4BBBS). Non-golfers are also welcome to join us for a relaxing day on the clubhouse deck overlooking the dam and for an enjoyable evening and delicious meal after the awards ceremony.
   Mudman 2012 Another date to diarise is the aQuellé Hermannsburg Mudman 2012, to be held on Saturday, 4 February. Since its inception, our Mudman has continued to grow each year, with 2011 boasting more than 600 participants! We are hoping to reach the 1000 mark for 2012 and encourage young and old to get their team together and start shaking off that winter flab!
   Both our Golf Day and Mudman offer excellent sponsorship and advertising opportunities for companies and businesses. Phone our school on +27 33 445 0601 for more details.
   Join us on Facebook for regular updates on What’s On at HMB!

15 August 2011

   Athletics Hermannsburg School held its interhouse athletics meeting in cool, but dry weather conditions at the weekend. A number of events had been dealt with prior to the meeting on Saturday and the only record that was broken, was broken during the pre-event finals. Thabiso Manzini broke the triple-jump record in the boys’ open section, with an impressive 12,12m jump.
   The competition was keen and good results were recorded at the meeting on Saturday. In the junior section, Jordan Pope and Hayley Munday were victor and victrix ludorum respectively. The U14 boys’ champion was Tobias von Seydlitz, and the girls’ champion trophy went to Ilse Ortmann. Thabiso Manzini was awarded the senior victor ludorum trophy and Chezelle Volker was presented with the victrix ludorum trophy.
   Kudu was the winning house, followed by Nyala with Eland in third place.
   The next athletics meeting will be the quadrangular meeting, between Greytown High School, Wartburg, Wembley College and Hermannsburg. This meeting will be held in Greytown on Wednesday, 24 August 2011. Spectators and supporters are most welcome to join us.
   Speech & Drama On Friday last week, Hermannsburg staged its annual Speech and Drama festival. Two adjudicators from the Speech and Drama Association of South Africa, Mrs Faye Smith and Dr Pamela Tanesik, travelled to Hermannsburg to adjudicate the items prepared by the learners.
   Seventy-eight items were presented, 53 by primary school learners and the balance by High School learners. The adjudicators enjoyed spending the day at Hermannsburg and were particularly taken with the Grade 8 choral verse presented by Christel Brooks and Samantha Shawe. The two girls, along with Thabiso Manzini, achieved A-plus gradings.
   On Tuesday, 9 August the parents of the primary school learners were treated to a repeat presentation of the delightful poems and choral verses.
   Kindergarten Open Day The Kindergarten and Grade Rs hosted a wonderful Open Day on 9 August, which was attended by current and prospective parents.
   Trial Examinations The Grade 12 learners will be writing their trial examinations, starting on 29 August. We wish them and all other Grade 12 learners in our area everything of the best for the time that lies ahead.

08 August 2011

   Senior Nature Club Hermannsburg’s Senior Nature Club spent this last weekend based at the Eshowe Environmental Centre, a perfect place to be based to explore the area. Saturday was spent in Mfolozi Game Reserve. Although it was unusually cold for Zululand, a good number of interesting sightings of birds and mammals were recorded.   
On Sunday the group explored the Dlinza and Ongoye Natural forests. The forests are looking unusually lush for this time of the year, due to the unseasonal rains about ten days ago. The members of the Nature Club were taken on a guided walk of the Aerial Board Walk in the lush canopy of the Dlinza Forest, as well as a walk at ground level, where a pair of blue duiker delighted the group with their territorial antics. Good sightings of a very special and seldom-seen bird, the Spotted Ground Thrush was one of the highlights of the visit to the forest.
   Hockey On the sporting front the senior hockey teams at Hermannsburg were hosts to touring teams from the United Kingdom. The boys did well and won against the visiting teams from Norwood Free Grammar School, whilst the girls had to admit defeat to their English visitors. Besides the good time that was enjoyed on the field the visitors enjoyed a trip to Lilani Hot Springs and a pleasant evening socialisng with their South African hosts.
   Cultural Activities Cultural activities included Hermannsnurg’s annual Speech and Drama festival held at the school on Friday and the participation of a number of Hermannsburg’s choristers in a KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir concert, which was staged in Richards Bay at the weekend. External adjudicators were pleased with the variety of performances staged by the Hermannsburg learners in the Speech and Drama festival and the results will be published in next week’s edition of Hermannsburg Happenings.
   Athletics The interhouse athletics meeting will be held on Saturday, 13 August. Visitors are welcome to join us for the day.

1 August 2011

   Environmental Quiz Hermannsburg’s A and B environmental quiz teams participated in the National finals of the WESSA Mondi interschools Environmental Quiz at the weekend. The contest was held in the Colin-Webb Hall of the University of KZNs Pietermaritzburg campus.
   Schools from all over the country participated, making it a truly representative national event - a team from Mamelodi in Gauteng, an Eco-Schools Epworth team from Pietermaritzburg, Penryn College from Mpumalanga, East Griqualand and a number of local teams, including Wembley College, participated. It was great to have three teams representing the Umvoti region!
   Jason Londt was the quizmaster, who was professional, yet relaxed and amusing at the same time, in his approach to the diverse subject matter. Sue Swan, who got the environmental quiz interschool contest going almost thirty years ago, when she was the chairperson of the Umvoti WESSA branch, presented the prizes and welcomed the guests and participants. Competition was keen, as usual, and at half-time, Hermannsburg A were lying third, with a three-point gap between themselves and the leaders. When the top three school were announced at the end of the quiz the audience knew that it could be anybody’s victory - the top teams had been so close all along. Finally the announcement came that St. Charles was in third place, Hermannsburg’s A team was placed second by half a point to the victorious team from Penryn College - well done Penryn!
   The final scores were as follows; St. Charles B 84 points, Hermannsburg A 85,5 points, Penryn College A 86 points. How close can you get? Hermannsburg’s B-team did well to come 6^th, having been in 7^th position at half-time; they came up and did well to end on 71 points.
   It was a most enjoyable evening, the audience participation was fun and a lot of learning takes place in this relaxed forum. Make a point of being there next time!
   Science Expo Hermannsburg’s Grade 11 Life Science learners attended the Science Expo in Durban at the Durban-Westville campus of UKZN at the weekend. Some very interesting and a great variety of projects were entered. The results of the expo will be published in next week’s Greytown Gazette.
   Hockey The Junior hockey boys, the U11 team, participated in a hockey tournament at Treverton at the weekend. They had their first taste of playing on astroturf and thoroughly enjoyed the games played against the other schools. The team played against Bisley and won 2-0. They lost 0-1 to Treverton and drew against Howick. Parents who travelled to Treverton enjoyed the morning with their boys and their support was very much appreciated.
   Tennis The senior girls played tennis against St. John’s. They played lovely tennis, with long rallies, good sportsmanship, lots of laughs and the score was 3-3 in the end. An appropriate score, as the girls really enjoyed the afternoon together.
   Elephant Whisperer Last Friday the senior primary learners attended Lawrence Anthony’s interesting talk at New Hanover Prep. They were delighted to come back to school with his books for the school library, which he signed.
   Open Day - Kindergarten The Kindergarten and preschool will be hosting an Open Day on Tuesday, 9 August. This will be a good opportunity for working Mums and Dads to come along and join us for an informative and enjoyable morning - from 09:00 to 12:00 - just come along and meet the HMB team.
   Athletics Hermannsburg’s interhouse athletics meeting will be held on Saturday, 13 August. Spectators are welcome to join us for the day; refreshments will be served.

25 July 2011

   Germany Exchange Programme (GEP) This year’s GEP was once again a great success. After the German visitors spent the Easter holidays in South Africa, the Grade 10 learners of Hermannsburg were able to spend holidays and school time with their German partners during the June/July holidays.
   Two important new aspects have been added to the South African’s tour of Germany: Firstly, the group was able to visit and explore the city of Konstanz at the shore of the Bodensee. Konstanz borders on Switzerland and for that reason it was bombed during the Second World War. Most buildings in the CBD were built in the 1500’s and they are still "original"; restored, repainted, well-kept, yet still the original building. Magnificent! Konstanz has a colourful history. For centuries the Roman Catholic bishops of the southern parts of Germany and parts of Switzerland were seated here. During Medieval times an important synod of the Roman Catholic church met in Konstanz, which condemned Jan Hus - a forerunner of the protestant reformation - to death. A magnificent dome in the city centre still testifies to this history. Konstanz has also been important in Germany’s history towards becoming a democratic state. After a time of learning, the Hermannsburg group visited a beautiful beach site and enjoyed a cold swim on a scorchingly hot day.
   Secondly, the tour group established an important contact with the Gewerbliche Schule in Metzingen. Metzingen is the most well-known retail city in Europe, with all major textile brands displaying their products there. The Gewerbliche Schule is a school that does not merely offer a mainstream academic education, but also trains its learners in three different fields of trade: Metal work (including motor mechanics), textile work (including sewing, fashion and design) and industrial and chemical cleaning (which trains learners to professionally clean buildings, including hospitals and other buildings that are in need of special hygiene).
   Other highlights included a visit to the art museum of Baden-Württemberg, which displayed amongst others originals by Joseph Beuys, Otto Dix and Pablo Picasso. A visit to the Mercedes Benz Museum, which allows its visitors a "travel through time" from the humble beginnings of the motorcar to the highly specialised vehicles of our time, was scheduled. A visit to an office of the Deutsche Bundesbank, which is the German version of our South African Reserve Bank was possible. A tour through the picturesque university town of Tübingen, with its castle, bookshops, the Neckar River and its famous punting-boats was enjoyed.
   Many more highlights could be listed. However, a special mention needs to be made of the group’s attendance of a musical in Stuttgart’s famous theatre only for musicals: "Ich war noch niemals in New York" is a delightful little love story that incorporates the many hits which Udo Jürgens produced during his long life as an entertainer. The learners not only enjoyed the performance (during the interval they were already loudly chanting some of the catchy tunes), but also marvelled at the technical possibilities that come with a specialist professional musical theatre-house. At the end of the tour many learners did not want to return home, but as soon as they were all on their way they were looking forward to sharing their many exciting experiences with family and friends.
   So: It’s back to reality and almost everybody is back to start the new term with enthusiasm and newly charged batteries. Daniella Dedekind, our head girl, is still in Iceland where she is enjoying a prize which she won, following her entry into an international competition with her outstanding project on environmental issues.

23 May 2011

   The Hermannsburg School family has been on a roll with a number of exciting activities being hosted by the school in the last few weeks.
   Hockey The last week also saw a number of sports teams out and about. Hermannsburg’s girls’ hockey teams played against Wembley College with closely contested and exciting games. Hermannsburg’s first team lost 1-2; The U16 team lost 0-1 to Wembley College and the second team drew 0-0. The girls’ teams, U9’s and U10’s, played in New Hanover Prep and for most of them it was the very first time that they had played a match against another school. The excitement and the chaos were great. They played against Wartburg and New Hanover Prep with the following results: HMB U10 lost 0-1 to NH and 0-2 to Wartburg; the U9’s lost 0-2 to Wartburg and 1-2 to NH. Their coach was very pleased with them.
   The senior girls’ teams played against Greytown High School teams and enjoyed the good atmosphere of sportmanship, which these two schools share. Thanks to Greytown for hosting the matches. Hermannsburg’s U14 girls lost o-3 to Greytown High School, the Hermannsburg second team lost 1-3, the first team lost 1-3 to Greytown High and the U16 team brought victory home for Hermannsburg, winning 3-1 against the Greytown girls.
   Two Hermannsburg boys’ hockey teams played against Maritzburg Christian School at Hermannsburg. The U15’s lost 0-3 against MCS’s second team; Hermannsburg’s first team drew 0-0 against MCS’s first team. The boys played good hockey.
   Choral Evening On Friday evening Hermannsburg hosted a choir festival in which Hermannsburg’s choirs, ensembles and soloists participated. The hall was packed with an enthusiastic audience, which had been welcomed with hearty bowls of soup and homemade bread. The Hermannsburg musicians formed the first part of the programme and after the interval the KZN Youth Choir entertained the visitors with a great variety of pieces, from old favourites to challenging modern performances. Gérard’d du Toit, the conductor of the KZN Youth Choir and Hermannsburg’s director of music, led the senior programme.
   Schulfest At Schulfest on the Saturday, many folk who had enjoyed the choral evening with the Hermannsburg School Family were back again to spend the glorious autumn day at Hermannsburg. The Potjie competitors were ready early in the day and had their pots bubbling away most of the day, enticing visitors with delicious aromas. The many sporting activities on the main field provided good entertainment for those who enjoy seeing action and the tug-of-war provided plenty opportunity to shed some energy, for those who wished to do so. The Old Scholars’ hockey was entertaining; they played against a mixed scholars’ team, with the young and energetic scholars eventually winning 1-0 in a very tightly contested game.
   The evening started with the prize-giving, all the prizes of the day’s challenges were distributed, as well as the lucky draw for the beautifully made patchwork quilt, which was won by Cynthia Ryan. Schulfest was a happy day, with some new activities, like the dance competition, adding a new dimension to the programme. Old favourites, like the meat sale and coffee tent, the craft market and horse riding demonstration, never fail to please the visitors. A very big thank you goes to all the supporters of this event, the Hermannsburg school family greatly appreciates the support from the school family and the broader community.
   Schulfest Sport As part of the Schulfest programme, the girls played hockey against teams from Alex High in Pietermaritzburg. The girls had some exciting hockey and the scores were as follows: Hermannsburg’s first team won 3-1; the second team won 3-0; the U16’s won 2-0 and the U14’s won 2-0. Needless to say the Hermannsburg girls were ecstatic with their good results and enjoyed the enthusiastic audiences and supporters at their games.
   The boys played Sevens rugby at the Schulfest and were very pleased with their results. The rugby was played as a round robin against St. Dominic’s from Newcastle and Waterfall College from Hillcrest, and the results were as follows: Open boys, Hermannsburg vs Waterfall, Hermannsburg won 14-5; Waterfall vs St. Dominics, Waterfall won 17-12; Hermannsburg vs St. Dominic’s, Hermannsburg won 26-0. The U15 boys also played in the tournament and the results were as follows: Hermannsburg vs Waterfall, Hermannsburg won 22-0; Hermannsburg played against Waterfall again and this time it was Waterfall's turn to win, 15-10. Unfortunately, Wembley College had to withdraw from the tournament. The boys thoroughly enjoyed their games and look forward to the next tournament, which will be held this coming Saturday.

16 May 2011

   Hockey On Friday, 13 May Hermannsburg’s 1^st boys’ hockey team played Wembley College’s 1^st boys’ hockey team at Hermannsburg. Taking to the field quietly confident, the Hermannsburg boys played some of the best hockey their coach has seen them play this season. Their structure, movement off the ball and composure in front of goal gave much for their spectators to cheer about. Hermannsburg won the match 4-0 with goals scored by Sandile Zwane (2), Olaf Sinn and Steve Nel. With wins against Grace College (1-0) and now Wembley, there promises to be much excitement surrounding Hermannsburg hockey in the weeks ahead. The U16 boys followed the winning streak of the 1^st team and won their match against Wembley College 2-0. Well done, boys!
   The girls’ hockey teams played against GHS of Pietermaritzburg. The girls were up against extremely strong opposition and came home with losses all round, but positive to improve as the season progesses - the next matches will be played at the Schulfest on Saturday, which will include a match against an Old Girls’ team at 15:00 on Saturday afternoon. Hermannsburg’s first team played against the GHS second team and lost 0-6 in a hard game. The second team lost 0-3 to GHS, the U16’s lost 1-2 in a closely contested game against the GHS team; the U14’s lost 0-2.
   Rugby The senior Rugby boys played in a Sevens Rugby Tournament at the weekend. Hermannsburg’s team lost 5-15 against the Wembley College boys. They won 39-0 against the St. Dominic’s boys and Hermannsburg’s boys won 32-5 against the Waterfall Christian School. The boys are enthusiastic and are looking forward to the tournament this coming Saturday at Hermannsburg. The less experienced junior boys played against Wembley College and Waterfall Christian School and lost both games.
   Mpumalanga Tour The Grade 7 class of Hermannsburg had its annual tour to Mpumalanga, together with the Grade 7’s from Wartburg. They had a wonderful time accompanied by their Class teacher, Nils Röttcher and teacher Debbie Walton. They travelled to Wittenberg school on the first day and then on to Tshukudu Game Ranch, where they stayed in a bush camp for three nights enjoying the following activities: game drives, game walks, walking with cheetahs, identifying birds, trees and animal spoor. They were very excited about being privileged to be able to see the big five at Tshukudu. The next stop was the Forever Resort at Swadini where a boat ride on the Blyde dam was arranged for the group, they then visited a reptile park and a rehabilitation centre for wild animals. Next on the itinerary was a visit to Sabie, where the group was able to visit Bourke’s Luck, Pilgrim’s Rest, The Three Rondavels and the Gold Mining Museum. The list of sight-seeing highlights seems to be endless, so many beautiful places to see: God’s Window, Mac-Mac Falls, Trout Farms, cycling along the Sabie River and a visit to the Sudwala Caves completed the wonderful trip. The group came back full of stories and bubbling over with enthusiasm about all the exciting places they had seen and all the interesting facts they had been able to absorb, by just being there and learning so much about the beautiful Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces. Thank you to all who made this tour possible for the Grade 7 class.
   Environmental Quiz Hermannsburg’s A and B teams praticipated in the annual regional contest of the WESSA Mondi inter-school environmental quiz and were delighted with the first and second places, which they were able to secure in a nail-biting contest.
   Greytown High School provided the venue for the popular quiz this year. Ten teams entered from Hermannsburg, Wembley, Greytown High School, Domino Servite and Greytown Secondary School. Kevin Cockburn was the quiz master, who provided a fabulous variety of questions, pictures, plants and riddles for the teams to deal with. The competition was extremely keen and by half time it was anybody’s contest.
   The final result was that Hermannsburg’s A team snatched victory from the Hermannsburg B team with two points difference, closely followed by Wembley College’s A team in third place. The top three teams were all presented with beautifully framed certificates and book prizes, all pertaining to an environmental theme.
   E-info boxes from WESSA were presented to the two most deserving teams, who had made a huge effort to be there and to participate in the quiz. These prizes went to Domino Servite and Greytown Secondary School’s A teams respectively.
   Cliff Walton, Umvoti’s WESSA representative and quiz co-ordinator, commended all teams on their efforts and encouraged the participants to continue to keep their ears and eyes open, whenever they were outdoors and to continue to take good care of the environment. Mondi’s area manager, Mr. Michael Shuttleworth, presented the prizes, which had been sponsored by Mondi. We also express our thanks to MONDI, who have presented the school with a bench, which was donated to the school in memory of Jürgen Greve and his input in conservation and environmental matters at our school and in our area. The support of the spectators at the quiz is much appreciated and the team who puts together the quiz once again did a fine job - well done and thank you!
   The national finals of the quiz will be held at the Harry Webb Hall at UKZN on Friday, 29 July 2011 - all specators are most welcome to attend and support your local team. Sincere thanks go to Mr. Scholz and Greytown High School for hosting the contest and for their generous hospitality.
   Schulfest Hermannsburg’s Schulfest will be hosted this weekend with lots to see and do for all visitors. The festivities will start with a musical variety concert on Friday evening, which will consist of the Natal Youth Choir presenting half of the evening’s programme, and Hermannsburg’s choirs and musicians will make up the other half. The Schulfest on Saturday will start at 08:00 with hockey fixtures for the girls’ teams. The stalls will open at 10:00, the popular meat sales will take place during the course of the morning, sport will be on all day, including the Old Scholars’ hockey match against the school girls, delicious treats all day - HAVE YOU ENTERED THE POTJIE COMPETITION?? - the Riding School will be showing off their horses and riders on the main field at the school, music will be provided to entertain and to encourage all who would like to enter the dance competition - hope to see you all there! Stay for the big screen rugby and party in the evening.

09 May 2011

   Germany Exchange Programme (GEP) Two weeks before Easter the German exchange group from Reutlingen, Germany, met up with their Grade 10 counterparts in Hermannsburg. After a getting-to-know-you-weekend in Hermannsburg the German visitors joined up with their host families. In the families they were treated to a rich variety of truly South African experiences which ranged from a tour to Cape Town to visiting the Pilanesberg, from a fun-filled day at UShaka marine World to game-spotting in the Hluhluwe Game Reserve, from shopping in malls (which are uncommon in Germany) and shopping off the pavements to enjoying our beautiful coastline.
   After Easter the South African and German group enjoyed a safari experience for a week. Their first stop was in Richards Bay, where there was ample time to swim in the ocean. One highlight was a sightseeing tour of the harbour on a yacht. The captain of the boat introduced the young people to the history of the harbour, its main purposes and the marine life to be found in the bay itself.
   Four days were then spent as guests of Dr. Heinz Kohrs and his wife Debbie on their bush farm at Pongola on the shores of the Jozini Dam. Dr. Kohrs and his wife were instrumental in reintroducing elephants to that region and have at the moment adopted a number of black rhino in order to help with a breeding programme for these highly endangered animals. It is therefore not surprising that the young people spent most of their time either walking the veld with a guide in order to learn more about the flora and fauna of that region, or taking part in exciting and informative game drives (to be introduced to the many species of antelope roaming the bush), or learning to identify trees, insects, birds and animal dung. Very special learning sessions consisted of getting to know about the research that is done on elephants in that region and all the problems that have to be faced when trying to manage an eco-driven business.
   The young people returned from their safari "well-bonded" and with a wealth of experiences (not to forget the hundreds of photos that will be shown to German families in the days to come, when the visitors return to their school and their homes and families).
   Mpumalanga Tour The Primary School learners have also been busy, exploring and discovering places of beauty and interest in our wonderful country. The Grade 7 class went on a 10-day trip to Mpumalanga and the Grade 1 to 6 classes visited Sugar Bay on the North Coast for two days.
   Sport The boys’ hockey teams played against Grace College at the weekend and enjoyed being up against well-matched opposition teams. The first team won 1-0, the U15 team won 2-1 and the 2^nd team lost 1-2. All teams had good games and are looking forward to a good season.
   Last week it was reported that Nadia Ortmann had been selecetd to attend the finals of the Midlands Hockey Trials. Today we are able to announce the pleasing news that she has been selected for the Midlands U16A team - a superb achievement - well done, Nadia!
   Sängerfest / Choral Festival On Sunday this coming weekend, on 15 May, Hermannsburg will be hosting a Choral Festival. This will involve a number of Lutheran Parishes from all over the country. Guests are welcome to join us for the celebration of music in the church on Sunday, starting at 10:00.
   Choral Evening A Choral Evening, which will include the KZN Youth Choir, will take place on Friday, 20 May in the congregation hall. The annual Schulfest will follow on 21 May, starting at 08:00 with a hockey tournament. Stalls and other activities will start at 10:00 - do join us for these functions.
   

13 April 2011

   Activities before the Easter Vacation Hermannsburg’s staff and pupils are enjoying a well-earned break after a very long and busy term. Before the end of term some interesting activities took place.
   The entire high school spent five days on the banks of the beautiful Bushman’s River near Weenen, the Grade 10’s welcomed their German exchange partners and Hermannsburg hosted an evening with Hilton Ratcliffe, well-known astrophysicist. Further details regarding the bush-camp and the German exchange will follow in the coming weeks.
   On the Thursday before Hermannsburg School closed for the Easter holidays, Hilton Ratcliffe addressed high school pupils, staff, parents and members of the community at Hermannsburg in an interesting show, which he entitled "A Personal Journey Beyond the Galaxies". The audience was enthralled by the challenging and interesting presentation of Hilton’s take on "Global Warming / cooling??" - Black holes - really?? … or maybe not? The "design" of the universe as opposed to "big bang" and a whole lot of "coincidental" consequential developments and constellations. Interesting answers to probing questions - "yes" or "we don’t know" - "no" is not an option, as long as "no" has not been proved, e.g. is there life on any other planets, which is comparable to life on the planet earth? Maybe …?
   Hilton Ratcliffe is an old Greytownian, who matriculated from Greytown High School in the sixties, and is now is enjoying being reconnected with the past, rekindling old friendships, reminiscing about "the good old (bad old?) days" and is hoping to be able to host more evenings, during which he can share his tremendous knowledge and experience with young and old. Hilton has published two books, the first one The Virtue of Heresy - Confessions of a Dissident Astronomer is quite accessible to the layman, but by his own admission, the second one is quite "technical" - enough said - the book is entitled The Static Universe.
   The reactions from folk in the audience ranged from open-mouthed disbelief, to vigorous nodding in agreement, to head-shaking and questioning looks - the full range, it is fascinating to listen to somebody, who enjoys sharing his (controversial) views with a mixed audience, at no time does one feel pressurized into believing Hilton’s "personal view", but it certainly makes one stop to re-think what one has believed to be "true" for as long as one has known that the universe is all around us!
   What a privilege to have such a knowledgeable and good speaker in our midst - thank you, Hilton!

09 March 2011

   Nature Club The Hermannsburg Nature Clubs both had outings this weekend - seniors and juniors. The juniors tackled one of the legs of the Blinkwater Trail and did extremely well - they saw lots, were enthusiastic about all the beautiful views from "up there".
   The Senior Nature Cub spent the weekend at Mthunzini’s Mlalazi campsite on the Mlalazi River and very close to the beach. The weather was perfect for camping, beach activities and trapping and identifying butterflies, although we had hoped that the farmers would get their share of "perfect weather" too.
   The campsite is full of interesting birds, some resident Zebras with a one month old baby and numerous red duiker flitting from one lush bit of grass to the next. After setting up camp on Friday the group was able to walk through the beautiful dune forest to the beach, where sights and sounds of the night were observed and identified.
   On Saturday the morning started with a study of the Mangrove Forest on the banks of the Mlalazi lagoon, where Fiddler Crabs, mangrove sails and mudskippers were observed in their natural habitat. The sensitivity of such an area can best be understood, when one is right there to see the human interference and its effects on such a finely tuned ecosystem.
   A visit to the beach before lunch gave everybody a chance to cool down from the sweltering Zululand heat. In the afternoon the group was divided up into smaller groups, who competed against each other for the rest of the weekend, in all the activities set for them. They were taught to build butterfly traps, how to collect and pin butterflies, how to identify butterflies, which food plants and habitats the butterflies have and the life cycle of the butterflies was studied. Much interest was shown in the many different species of butterflies, which were identified at Mlalazi. After the activities of the afternoon, another quick dip in the refreshing sea was a welcome treat. In the evening the groups competed against each other in an enviroquiz, based mainly on the facts which had been learned at the weekend.
   On Sunday the butterfly activities continued and the outing ended with poster presentations by the groups and a prize-giving for all. It was a successful and happy weekend, enjoyed by accompanying staff and pupils alike.

16 February 2011

   The week has been filled with a good balance between academics, sporting, cultural and social events for Hermannsburg pupils.
   Cricket The cricket teams have had some good matches and the teams are generally showing good form. The boys’ first cricket team played against Domino Servitas, they all thoroughly enjoyed the match. Steve Nel made a whopping 105 runs, not out and Ulrich Bosse chalked up an impressive 86 runs - well done boys.
   All three high school cricket teams played against Greytown High School and all had exciting matches. The first team won by 7 wickets, they also pushed the boundaries of sportman’s nerves by tabling the following final score Greytown 106 runs, Hermannsburg were 107 for 4 after 13 overs, the second team won by just four runs, in a very exciting and close contest, the U15’s just lost, by one run, in what was real nail-biting cricket.
   The first and U15 teams also played against the Maritzburg College U16C and U15C teams, Hermannsburg lost to the strong College teams. The second team lost against Treverton’s third team.
   Swimming The swimmers had an exciting time, participating in an invitation co-ed gala at Howick. Everybody enjoyed the first gala of the season and Hermannsburg’s teams did well. The girls came fourth and the boys came seventh in their respective sections.
   Fourteen swimmers from Hermannsburg took part in this year’s Midmar Mile, including sports co-ordinator, Debbie Walton. Three of the swimmers were first-time Midmar Mile swimmers. They all received medals and were pleased with their achievements. Apart from their own personal sense of achievement, it is a great event to take part in with so much international interest, it makes it even more exciting.
   At the end of this week the school will host its annual inter-house gala at Hermannsburg. This will take place on Saturday morning, starting at 8 o'clock, visitors are most welcome to join us for the morning.
   Tennis The tennis teams were lined up to play against Maritzburg College, but unfortunately, the weather did not play ball on that day. The Hermannsburg B team, however, played tennis against Wembley College and Hermannsburg won 46-20.
   Social On the social side of things, Hermannsburg’s boarders thoroughly enjoyed a combined social evening with Wembley College, thank you to Wembley College for the kind invitation. On Saturday evening the boarders had a fun basketball tournament on the floodlit basketball courts at the school.

09 February 2011

   Mudman Hermannsburg held its annual Mudman event in perfect summer weather conditions on Saturday. A bumper number of entries made it a really successful and happy day. The Mudskipper event for the little people had a all-time record of 180 entries, the main event - Mudman full and half distance had 593 entrants, bringing the grand total to a whopping 773 entries. Many of the participants are folk who have been with Mudman since its early beginnings, 13 years ago, they have stayed with the event and seen it grow and succeed.
   The sponsors have been tremendous, the support of the local community, the participation of the representatives of the various support organisations of the school, lots of past pupils and the immediate school family all went towards making it a tremendous success and a happy event.
   Many new aspects of the organisation and administration have developed the event into a more professionally run and more user-friendly event. ROAG’s computer-generated registration system will be a tremendous help in streamlining future events and the increased number of pre-entries, which take place via the website, just alleviate the on-the-day registration bottleneck.
   The business challenge had an pleasing increase in entries this year, They were: Two teams from Pidelta, The Pidelta Pathfinders and the Pidelta Clod-Hoppers; Mascor Isuzu; Village Signs; Davids Midas and Umfulana Travel. The Davids Midas team won the business challenge.
   The Lucky Draws were won by Teresa Bam and Uta Maltzahn, won gym vouchers; Andrew Spence and Daniel Salomon won Giba Gorge vouchers; Daryn Pieters won a weekend at Blythedale and David Groenewald won a week at Sugar Bay.
   The school section had a pleasing number of entries and there was a great amount of competition among the participating school teams. The HIgh school challenge was won by Treverton’s number one team and the Primary School challenge was won by "Gummi Bears" from Epworth. Hillcrest High won the most supported school prize, which is a prize which goes to the school with the most number of entries.
   Individual entries drew some big names among them some top SA athletes. The full swim open 1^st man home was Daniel Carleton and the women’s race was won by Sarah Gray.
The full distance men’s vets, swim option was won by Martin Dreyer and the women’s vets was won by Monica Botha.
The full swim U18 men’s winner was Bradley Schuit and the women’s U18 winner was Savannah Schuit.
The half swim 17+ 1st man home was Greg Nairn and the half swim 17+ 1st lady home was Colette Kriek.
The half swim 14-16 age group boys’ individual winner was James Damant and the first girl home in this age group was Jade Hattingh.
The half swim 12-13 boys’ winner was Sharjah Jonsson and the first girl home was Jamie-Lee Robertson.
The half swim U11 boys’ winner was Tom Earle and the first girl home was Victoria Earle.
The half swim 14-16 team winners were The "Hop, Skip and Jump" team, which was a homegrown Hermannsburg team consisting of Lisa Pretorious, Sam Shaw and Jaco Uys.
The full paddle open men’s winner was Murray Craib and the winning lady was Jean Hackland. The full paddle vet men’s event was won by Kobus Cronje and the lady’s winner was local superfit lady, Caroline Minnaar.
The half paddle 17+ men’s event was won by Gavin Dundas-Starr and the winning lady was Solly Peckett.
   Participants commented on the thorough marking of the course, the pleasingly variable degrees of difficulty, the excellent supply of refreshments throughout and the friendly manner in which all were received.
   The Mudskipper event attracted 170 participants, all of whom had a whale of a time, from the little ones, who swim one breadth of the pool to the big little ones, who swim a length and have quite a competitive attitude to their race. All had a great time. There were no records kept of Mudskipper winners. All those who participated are winners! They all received medals and we hope that they will all be back next year.
   The nifty little HeliCam, operated by Jaco Tredoux, was at the Mudman event taking aerial shots of the activities and demonstrating tremendous skill in controlling his model helicopter, which takes aerial footage by remote control. Jaco can be contacted via his website www.rchelicam.co.za or by phoning 0823971446.
   All this and much more happened on the Mudman day - grateful thanks to all who came out in support of the event. Make a date with Mudman 2012: 4 February 2012. See you there!

04 January 2011

   2010 Matric Results We salute you, Class of 2010! The Hermannsburg matriculants once again achieved a fine set of results. All of our matriculants obtained their National Senior Certificate (NSC) at Bachelor Degree (BD) university entrance level.
   Although no aggregates are officially calculated for the NSC, we offer the following to assist those more familiar with the previous matriculation rules: One matriculant achieved an "A" aggregate, seven achieved "B" aggregates, two "C" aggregates and two "D" aggregates.
   Karin Kassier deserves a special mention for having achieved six "A" symbols and for achieving in the top 1% of matriculants writing the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) examinations in no less than three subjects: German Second Additional Language (Deutsch als Fremdsprache), Life Orientation and Life Sciences (formerly Biology). Well done, Karin!
   We wish all the matriculants every success in the studies, gap years and work experiences they had planned for 2011 and beyond. To the Grade 12 class of 2011: Hard work will have its reward this year!