Jeppe High School for Boys

Lincoln Casais’ remarkable run of good form with the cricket bat has continued right up to the end of this half of the season.
He made 60 for the U14A team against St Alban’s in their last game on Saturday, and was 63 not out against the old boys in the Barraclough Game a few days before that, taking his tally for the year to 1511 runs, at an average of 120, including four centuries and 13 half centuries.
It’s been a batting performance like we haven’t seen for some time at the school, and he has taken a fair number of wickets to go along with it.
In the process, he helped his team to a good year. They played 23 games over the two halves of the season and lost just five of them, to St Sithians, Affies, KES and Noordheuwel. They also beat Noordheuwel once and drew with Affies.
“We are a very good team,” Lincoln said, “and we got better as the season went along. There are a lot of good cricketers in the team and we have turned into a solid unit. We are like a family, we really enjoy playing together. I think we are going to do good things next year.”
Lincoln also plays club cricket for Jeppe Quondam, in the Prem B league and has made a 50 there.
He believes in getting the most out of school – he also played U14A hockey and, he says, he is ‘just missing out on making the top 10 academics in his grade.’
“I love it at Jeppe he said. There is a real brotherhood here. We are all different, but we wear the same uniform and we stand together. I like it that when I am away from the cricket field I have friends who don’t play the game and we can talk about all sorts of other things.”
Watch this space – we are going to hear the name Lincoln Casais often in the years ahead.

Three more Jeppe water polo players will be going to the SA Schools Water Polo Tournament in East London in December. They are Campbell Hustler and Liam James, who have been chosen for the Easterns U16 team and Callen Gorman, who is in the U15 side.
Jeppe old boys Cian Dadswell and Keenan van Rooyen are the U15 coaches.

Pictured are Callen and Campbell

Congratulations to Dunvegan Primary School who won the Jeppe Science Olympics this year. Boys and girls from various primary schools in Joburg got their 'hands dirty' on an afternoon run by our Life Sciences department. Senior boys, educators and guest speakers presented a variety of experiments, displays and even some dissections!

Reminder to all parents and guardians about our AGM tomorrow night.

Our beautiful Boden Astro. 🖤🤍💛

In a few week's time we will be saying goodbye to the Bechet family. Mr Mike Bechet, his wife Cathy, and their twins, Marc and James, have become part of the Jeppe family for the last 10 years and we are going to miss them enormously.
Mike is a larger than life figure who's role and impact at Jeppe has been described in various places lately and no more needs to be said on that. In recent weeks there have been incidents that attest to what he has meant to the boys at Jeppe. Apart from the massive response to social media postings like this one, there have been gestures like the hanging on his gate on Saturday of a shirt signed by all the members of the U15A cricket team. There will be more of that in the next week or two, for sure.
Cathy has been running our finance office with strict efficiency and the twins have been a smiling presence around the school, coaching and umpiring and helping out in many different ways.
Looking back, it’s been a happy 10 years at Jeppe, Mike said. “I’ll always be grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given and to the community for embracing us as a family, especially my twins. I have met and worked with some great boys and look forward to keeping in touch with them.”
Mike stresses that, while his role at Jeppe has come to an end, he is not going into retirement. “I’m returning to an old hunting ground, Pietermaritzburg, and I’m available to work with kids in the cricket and hockey space, wherever I’m wanted,” he said.
They’d be crazy down there not to take him up on that – in fact some already have – there won’t be any settling down into retirement for Mike Bechet any time soon.
Goodbye the Bechets, thank you for all you have meant to Jeppe High School for Boys.

The rowers spent a very hot three days at Roodeplat Dam over the weekend at the Gauteng Schools Championships.
It was very much a mid-season event and there is much work still to be done, but there has been a clear improvement in results, across all the age groups, and director of rowing, Mr Lebo Mashigo, said he is happy with the progress.
“The distances between our crews and the winners of the races have come down a lot since the beginning of the season,” he said, “and in a number of the finals we were right up with the leaders for 1000m and more, showing that, with hard work, we can be in the mix. The medals for our U14s and U16s were very pleasing.”
In all, 16 boats made finals. The U14 double (Reabetswe Mafoyane and Ben Standfest) came 3rd and the U16 eight (Somelezi Mbarulana (Cox); Yassen Whyte; Xolani Magagula; Ross Nosan; Caden Liebenberg; Peter Du Preez; Oliver Standfest; Morena Montle and Matthew Nel) came 2nd.
The results in finals were
JM16 2- 5th; JM19 2- 8th; JM14 2x 3rd; JM15 4x+ 8th; JM14 8x+ 5th; JM16 8+ 2nd; JM19 4x+ 4th, and 6th; JM19 4+ 4th; JM14 4x+ 8th; JM19 2x 7th; JM15 8x+ 5th and 8th; JM16 4x+ 5th; JM16 4+ 5th; JM191st 8+ 4th.

We are at Roodeplaat for the Gauteng Rowing Championships today. The boys are doing well, making A finals and winning some medals

The under-14A and under-15A cricket teams finished off this half of the season on a high note with wins over St Alban’s College on Saturday.
The U14s won by 20 runs, thanks mainly to good performances by Lincoln Casias, who made 60 runs, and Boitumelo Skunka, who took five wickets.
Goolam Ahmed did well with bat and ball in the U15A team’s four wicket win. He took 4/20, and then scored 32 runs.
Summarised Scores
U15A
St Alban’s 142/9 (Ahmed 4/20, Mkhize 3/17). Jeppe 143/6 (Ahmed 32, Cockburn 24, Scott 23).
Jeppe won by 4 wickets.
U14A
Jeppe 160 (Casias 60), Kotze 25. St Alban’s 138 (Skunka 5/32), Franken 2/9.
Jeppe won by 22 runs.

Juan Martin is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as part of the South African U17 hockey team that is playing in the Mirnawan Cup tournament. South Africa won the silver medal at the event last year. They play Canada, S Korea and Malaysia in the group stages, starting on Sunday.

SuperSport Schools Plus | Ayob and Kumar bowl Jeppe to tense win over Pretoria Boys High Jeppe High School for Boys came out on top in a low-scoring thriller against Pretoria Boys High School in Johannesburg...

Nine Jeppe water polo players have been included in the Central Gauteng schools water polo team that will be going to the SA Schools tournament in East London on 7-11 December.
Pride of place goes to Aiden Khoury who made the Under-16A team and Everett Carlin who is in the U15A side. There are two players – Ethan Horn and Mukhetwa Maemu – in the U19B team.

The representatives are:
U19 B – Ethan Horn, Mukhetwa Maemu
U16A – Aiden Khoury
U16B – Diego Caetano, Brayden MacFie
U15A – Everett Carlin
U15B – Josh Dobrowsky, Ayanda Mabaso, Trent Horn

One of Jeppe’s longest standing sporting traditions is the annual Barraclough cricket game which sees the under-14A team play their last game of the season against a team of Jeppe old boys and parents. (The U14As do have one more game – against St Alban’s on Saturday).
Dennis Barraclough was a parent at the school and in 1958 his son was in the, then, under-13 team. He arranged for a team of fathers to play a game against them, and the tradition was born. The team has since morphed into a combination of parents and old boys.
It was pleasing, this time, that there was a fair number of fathers in the team, and in the absence of a couple of youngish old boys who are actively playing the game at a high level, the schoolboys won quite comfortably.
It was a great occasion, played in exactly the right spirit, and graced by the presence of one of our most famous cricketing old boys, Alan Khourie.
Summarised scores
Old boys 150/8 (Franken 5/35). Jeppe 14A 152/1 (Casais 63 not out, Kotze 40).
Jeppe won by 9 wickets

A cricket legend, Jeppe old boy Alan Kourie, paid us a visit to watch the Barraclough game today

The annual Barraclough Game - fathers vs U14A. A treasured Jeppe tradition

Jeppe is going to be a different place come January. For the first time in 42 years Mrs Elize Grace won’t be welcoming her next group of boys to a new year, and convincing them that Afrikaans is a subject worth learning.
She came to Jeppe in 1982, straight from University; met her husband, the late Mr Mark Grace, on her 1st day at the school, married him six months later; and has been part of the Jeppe fabric ever since.
“Looking back, it’s been a good 42 years,” she said. “I’ve had my moments with the boys, but overall, I’ve found that they are tough, but well-mannered and co-operative. We have always been able to find a place where we agree. I’ve taught every grade and while the juniors are sometimes less co-operative, they all grow up to become lovely boys by the time they get to matric.”
Mrs Grace became head of the Afrikaans department in 1996 and ran it for the next 22 years. “I taught matrics for most of that time and we produced some great results, with distinctions aplenty,” she said.
All things come to an end, however, and she is content that it’s time to go. “New people have new ideas and that’s a good thing. I’ve done my time and I need to relax now.”
Mrs Grace will take a year off and then make herself available to teach extra Afrikaans lessons. With all that experience, and the generations in this part of town who have got to know her, the chances are she’s going to be busy.
Farewell, Mrs Grace, we are going miss you. The school will be a different place come January.

As the end of the year draws near, the Jeppe Cultural Awards took place last weekend, with some of our creative talents leaving the stage, but with new creative minds emerging from the wings.
This past year has been nothing but successful, with Jeppe’s pipers having a successful evening at the Geddes Cup and their gatherings; the drama club receiving Best Overall Play at the GRADS festival with their play Mr Mazibuko; the debating and public speaking teams producing fantastic speakers where limits were pushed, and so much more!
At the dinner, awards were given to the boys for their outstanding achievements in their various clubs. While not everyone received an award, we would not have such an amazing cultural department without you. Every boy is congratulated, and every boy is a winner. A massive thank you to our teachers who have tirelessly ensured that our boys are well prepared for events, helping them grow in their talent and allowing them a space where they feel seen and heard.
You are appreciated both by the boys you work with, and by the school as whole. A big thank you to Mr Oliphant, our Director of Culture for his contribution to the department and for his guidance of our budding singers in the Choir.
In the Chess department, run by Ms Maimela, the Most Exceptional Growth award was given to George Onattu and Darius Niadoo, Most Promising Youngster was awarded to Ditiro Moticoe, Most Committed Player was awarded to Aaron Francis, Korstiaan Schouten, and Arone Yaregal. The Long Term Commitment Award was give to Aiden Wallace, and Chess Player of the Year was awarded to Ngaakudzwe Zingoni.
In the Choir, guided and run by Mr Msibi, the Greatest Contributor was awarded to Oarabile Mbaba, and the Outstanding Service to the Chior was given to Mhlengi Khuzwayo, Daniel Grace, and Tisetso Thobejane.
Debating has had a very successful year and was run by Mr Kgaphola, with The Growth and Versatility Award given to Daijon Morgan, The Emerging Advocate Award given to Daniel Grace, The Excellence in Logic and Fortitude Award given to Srikar Prakash, The Loyalty and Brotherhood Award given to Thando Ncobela and Nyiko Baloi, The Junior Spirit of Debating and Intellectual Development was awarded to Rossen Zarkov, and lastly the Senior Spirit of Debating and Intellectual Development was awarded to Daniello Agrizzi.
The E-sports club, guided by Mohale, awarded The Dark Horse Award to Nkosifikile Qokweni, The Best Newcomer award to Tsiame Qhobela, and the AKA “Dad” Award to Thendo Muhanganei.
Thomas Jernberg received the Best Novice Award in the Emergency Medical Care Club, While Tiolen Pillay received the Most Impactful Contribution award, and Oarabile Mbaba the Most Dedicated First Aider of the Year Award. Thank you to Mr Green for your aid in helping the boys.
The Marimba Band also had a very successful year this year, run by Mr Hlabisa. The Pinnacle Performer Award was given to Neo Mogola, The Iron Man Award was given to Cian Pather, The Coach Top Performer Award went to Kidus Sibhatu, and The Manager Award to Jared de Lange.
Mr Thurtell and Ms Holland helped the performing arts department flourish this year, and the awards were as follows. Most Outstanding Service to the Technical Team Award was given to James Eichhober, the Incredibly Infectious Passion for Drama Award was given to Mathew Berning and Nhlanhla Ntuli, The Rising Star Award was given to D’Andre Wessie and Lukas Babcock. The Best Actor Award for 2024 was awarded to Karabo Mphuthi, and the Ken Green Trophy – The Best Contribution to the Performing Arts - was shared by Lathitha Mendrew and Nhlanhla Ntuli.
The Pipe Band, run by Mr Olive and his tutors, awarded The Rory Bellingan Award to Ethan Bellingan, The Solo Piper of the year to James Howard, and the Solo Drummer of the Year to Remo Sogno.
Mrs Dickinson guided our public speakers to success. They awarded Muhammed Ammaar Hoosian the Most Promising Newcomer award, Lufefe Sikhakhane and Chuma Nondonga were both awarded the Bravery and Dedication Award, Lester Mhlongo and Tye Cook received the Charismatic Consistency Award. The Dynamic Duo Award was given to both Leyton Manthopoulos and Jordan Joubert, and Tshiama Molefe received the Ad Astra award.
The Wildlife Club has also had a fantastic year, led by Mrs Clark. The Rising Star of the Wild was awarded to Scott van de Ven, The Wild Survivor Award was received by Christopher Walker, and The Wild at Heart award went to Juandre Adams, Callum Burkett, and Sean Burkett. Ciaran Habig was awarded The Wild Eye Award.
Special Awards were also given, with Thomas Baigent, receiving The Sam Moss Shield for Public Speaking, Daniello Agrizzi was awarded the Standing Ovation Award and Oarabile Mbaba received the Dale Jackson Award for Holistic Heart.
A big congratulations to those who participated in the cultural year. Whether you are taking your final bow, or stepping onto stage for your opening night, you are all capable of doing more than you think. May this year be carried with you all as in your future endeavours.