Bishops Diocesan College

Well done to our Bishops U15A Polo team for their win against SACS 6-5 in the final. The boys played incredibly well and have made Bishops proud. Three boys made the tournament team - Tim Young, Michael Mafunda and Matt Fenn. Michael Mafunda was awarded goal keeper of the tournament and Matt Fenn the player of the tournament. Thank you SACS for an exciting and competitive match!

Well done to our U14A and U15A Water polo teams, who are through to the Finals of their tournaments. Our U14’s play Rondebosch at 12pm and our U15’s play SACS at 12:20pm. We wish them both well!

The u14A water polo side has done very well thus far in the Rondebosch tournament, winning 8 out of 9 games. Best of luck for the finals boys!

Happy Heritage Day! Let's celebrate and embrace the rich tradition, cultures, and histories that make our country so diverse and beautiful.

The Big Ideas Pilot Project has officially wrapped. After 9 weeks of work, many fundraising efforts, stationery, toy and magazine drives, the class ended at Vuka Nomtobhoyi in Langa, spending a morning with the children. The highlight was the beautiful resource book designed by the boys, translated into isiXhosa by Mr Williams and printed by . During the pilot project, the class had to work as a whole group, with many moving parts, to ensure the successful completion. Well done to the Big Ideas Class of 2023.

Our U15A Water polo team is taking part in the Ian Melliar Cup this long weekend. After the second day they are top of their pool after winning 5 from 5. We wish them all the best for the remainder of the tournament.

Wishing our Bishops u15 water polo boys all the best this week at the Wynberg Festival!

Sports Fixtures for (all age groups) (Ian Melliar Cup 2023) Sports Fixtures for (all age groups) (Ian Melliar Cup 2023)

The Big Ideas Class visited .hub.capetown in Noordhoek today. They had the privilege to learn about Permaculture and its importance in our society. They also had a chance to do some team bonding in the form of a landscaping project and cooking their own lunch. Well done to the Team!

Shana Tova to our Jewish community.
Bishops wishes you and your loved ones a blessed and joyful Rosh Hashanah!

The 1st Team golfers played in the WP League Finals yesterday afternoon against Durbanville High School at King David Mowbray Golf Club.
The Bishops team took control of the match from the first hole playing some fantastic golf. Final score: Bishops 3,5 - Durbanville 2,5. Well done boys!

Stefan Breytenbach, Oliver Kane-Smith, Francios Breytenbach and Noah du Randt Won the Inter-Varsities Boat race this past weekend representing UCT A-Crew.

UCT Won for the first time in 21 years and broke a 13-year winning streak of Tuks.

This is an incredible turning of the tides for Western Cape rowing and we are so proud to have four ODs in this winning crew! Congratulations!

Well done Kidd House on winning the senior inter-house soccer on Friday! They beat Founders in a penalty shootout, after a competitive and fun match!

In honour of Mr Ackerman and everything he meant to our school and our community, we are flying our Bishops School flag at half mast today.
Mr Ackerman will be dearly missed at Bishops!

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Raymond Ackerman. Until recently, Raymond was the Patron of the Old Diocesan Union. He first came to Bishops in January 1944 as a boarder in School House, matriculating in the first class in 1948. His college years were characterised by his activity in all spheres of school life, including a strong involvement in sports and co-curricular activities. His desire to help others was evident from an early age and he taught in the Night School, an after-hours initiative to provide education to the support staff from the school.

After matriculating, Raymond went on to the University of Cape Town where he graduated with a B. Com. degree in 1951. He then went into the retail business until he took over a wholesale chain of stores known as Pick ‘n Pay, in 1966. It is this company that he grew into the giant supermarket sector operating across several countries on the continent of Africa. Raymond will be forever remembered for his strong commitment to the consumer, to fight against discrimination and the monopoly on basic goods, and for the way he demonstrated his strong social responsibility.

Raymond was an enormous benefactor to Bishops and the ODU, benefiting all walks of the community—students, staff, and ODs alike. His philanthropy earned him not only the highest awards both locally and internationally, but also the most prestigious award that his school can bestow on an OD—the Robert Gray Medal Award - for an exceptional contribution to society—which he received in 2018 as one of its first ever recipients.

In the Diocesan College Magazine of 1948, reporting on a rugby fixture with Raymond in the backline, the writer commented: “Ackerman relieved the pressure”; “Ackerman converted”. These words about Raymond have rung true his whole life long, always supporting, always encouraging, and always seeking ways to make the world a better place for others.

His love of his school is characterised by his frequent visits, not only as a regular supporter of the First XV rugby team, but also as recently as earlier this year when he attended a special luncheon to honour Wendy and him. There it was announced that an award would be made to a student at Bishops, named after Raymond and Wendy Ackerman, in acknowledgement of their selfless contribution to South African society; and recognizing a spirit of entrepreneurship, innovation, and service to others. Raymond was indeed a “mensch”, a “person of integrity, morality, dignity, with a sense of what is right and responsible.” But he was more than that as he demonstrated his support for his alma mater on a regular basis through kind words and deeds. We will miss him greatly.

We send our deepest condolences to Wendy his wife and to Gareth (1975S), Kathy, Suzanne, and Jonathan (1984S) and to all his family.

RIP, Raymond Ackerman.

Thank you, to the wonderful secretaries who keep things organised, efficient and running smoothly. On this special day, we acknowledge your hard work and expertise, they are noticed, and you are an integral and appreciated part of our team!
Happy Secretaries Day!

Yesterday, 13 of our Bishops boys were confirmed at the service of confirmation for the Cape Town Anglican Schools.

We are extremely proud of these young men and wish them well on their spiritual journey and continued commitment and involvement in the Anglican Church.

Our College SEVENS teams went the distance at the Villager Tournament this past weekend, despite the very challenging conditions. The A-team eventually had to bow out in the semi-finals of the Cup, going down in a tightly-contested match against Milnerton High; the B-team made the finals of the Bowl, but were beaten by Fish Hoek in another close affair. Though the curtain now falls on the rugby season, our players and coaches are already looking ahead to getting started again in 2024. We thank all concerned for the rich entertainment that has been dished up over the course of the winter months!

Today is the annual 24-hour cycle challenge! Amazing atmosphere in the tent this morning! Thanks to everyone in our community for getting involved, we are hoping to reach the R1 million mark, which will all go towards Langa education and sport development.
Special thanks to Vusa for all they do in Langa and our amazing community!

The last game of Day One at the Villager Sevens Tournament was quite a poignant affair as Bishops kicked off against Bishops! After our A-team and our Bs had been drawn in the same pool, both squads played their parts to set in place a thrilling and high-paced display of Sevens rugby. The As now remain undefeated ahead of today’s final pool match, which kicks off at midday.

We are not quite done with rugby season just yet. 20 of our boys will take part in the end of season Villagers 7s Tournament over the next two days.
The first game is at 14h00 this afternoon, pop down for a fun Friday and support our two teams that have entered.

Last night we held our end of season hockey dinner, where we had a chance to celebrate the season, bid farewell to our senior players and thank the coaches and parents who have played such a vital role in our Bishops hockey over the last year.
Special mention must be made to Liesel Crafford and Duncan De Groot for their enormous efforts and contribution this year, particularly for coordinating the recent upgrade to the Woodlands, where honours boards have been installed, and international hockey ODs have been acknowledged by their memorabilia now being featured. Thank you!

Summer is around the corner, and our Bishops rowers are in full training mode! Wishing them a fun and successful season!

The 1st Team Bishops golfers beat Reddam in their last game of the season yesterday at King David Mowbray. This result means that they win the League (South A) and will compete for the gold medal in the WP League finals next week against the winners of the North league. Absent from the photo is Sebastian Dorward (captain) who was unfortunately sick yesterday and unable to play. Well done to our team!

Recently, members of the Road and Trail Running club took part in the 14km Trail Series Super League race in Kogelberg, Kleinmond. All the runners performed exceptionally with many of them finishing in the top 10 of their age group.
Age group results that deserve notable mention:
Matthew Maurel 2nd 🥈 junior
Jack Breslin 3rd 🥉 junior
Alex Horrell 1st 🥇 minimee
Well done to our Bishops trail runners!

We could not be more proud of our 1st XV who fought so valiantly on Saturday afternoon when tackling traditional rivals Rondebosch in front of many thousands of spectators. In a spectacular showpiece of schoolboy rugby, the packed stands of the Piley Rees witnessed an utterly absorbing match as this year’s two best southern suburbs sides threw everything at each other from the first whistle to the last. Though the lead changed hands a few times during a tightly-contested first period, Bishops did well to get comfortably ahead even while running into the wind of the second-half: with just nine minutes of the season left, thirteen points separated the two teams. Rondebosch appeared to move up a gear as the home side defended this lead, however, and, in the end, their converted try in the final seconds of play was enough to seal the deal, thus bringing down the curtain on a very long season of inter-school matches for the hosts.

Final score: Bishops35; Rondebosch 36

Thank you Peter Westwood for taking such good care of our Wild Boys as coach for 25 years!
This, his last year at Bishops, the boys handed over a special jersey as appreciation of his love and dedication for their team over the past few decades! Peter, you will be missed, thank you!

Thank you Robbie Fleck for making our 1st XV, last jersey hand over such a special one. Powerful words that we hope help carry them over the line! We wish our Boys in Blue a great game today.
Kick off at 2pm!

What a fabulous season finale and entertaining Friday Night Lights! Well done to both Bishops and Rondebosch 1st XI teams for a great hockey match, which fittingly ended in a 1-1 draw! Our boys gave it their all, and made us proud! Thank you to and his team for an incredible season. The packed Woodlands crowd enjoyed every minute!

Well done to our Bishops 2nd XI for a well deserved 1-0 win!

Simply Blue stunned again last night as they performed alongside the ladies from
It is always a treat to be entertained by this talented group!

Thank you to our guest speakers for a wonderful evening! Rugby chats and more…. Bish Bosch week is upon us.

Let’s do this ….

It’s BishBosch weekend. We wish our Captain, Nic Allison, and his Boys in Blue all the best for tomorrow’s final match of the season!

Yesterday was a special day for our heads of school, Nic, Ayanda and Ben as they enjoyed their last Eucharist service before their final winter sports fixtures, and mock exams. Followed by a trip to RBHS to formally invite the The Bosch teams to our season finale of Rugby, Hockey and Soccer at Bishops this weekend.
We are extremely proud of how these gents have led the school this year, and we wish them, and their teams well for the local derby this weekend!

Many congratulations to our 2023 Science Expo participants. They have made Bishops proud!
The following medals and prizes have been awarded:
Gold:
John van der Watt and Aadil Dawood (Spectrometric analysis of metabolic byproducts forming as result of physical exercise)
Royal Society of Chemistry Award:
John van der Watt and Aadil Dawood
Silver:
Grant Weich (School lab synthesis and theoretical investigation of YBCO superconductor)
Bronze:
Matthew Griffin (Investigating the effect of monochromatic frequencies of VIS light on photovoltaic cells)
Highly commended:
Daniel-Reed Diedericks and Matthew Earle (Investigating the potential of solar powered trains in South Africa)

This Eskom Expo for Young Scientists competition took place from 21-23 August at UCT.

The annual Fencing Champs took place on Friday 18th August in the Mallet centre. The interhouse cup was won by Founders against Kidd. The Richards brothers took the trophies. Aidan Richards won the epee cup and Daniel Richards won the foil cup. Daniel, as the outgoing captain was awarded the service cup. Kieran Hollis was awarded his half colours in fencing; a service tie went to Tristan Carter for his service as armourer over the last two years. The new vice-captain for 2024 is Landa Tsobo and captain is Thomas de Waal. Congratulations to all the award winners at the close of the winter season.

Fencing Western Cape held a competition this weekend at Christal House. Daniel Richards won a gold medal in U20 epee – winning 15-14 and Aidan Richards won a bronze medal. An excellent ending to the fencing season.

What a treat to have Head Coach of the DHL Stormers chat to the Blueprint Leadership Society today. Thank you to John Dobson for joining us, clearly the have a great leadership philosophy and we hope the boys got some valuable take home from the top!

The Bishops Community wishes Adnaan Lagadien very well ahead of his journey to Pretoria on Thursday the 24th to attend a three-day Cricket South Africa (CSA) national u17 camp. Adnaan’s invite to the camp speaks volumes for the increasingly high regard in which he is being held by those at CSA overseeing the development of South Africa’s next generation of cricketers.

Saturday is our traditional Bish Bosch derby match to end our ‘23 rugby season for Nic and his team! Let’s get behind our Boys in Blue this weekend and cheer them on for the last time in 2023.
2pm on the Piley.
See you there