Principal’s Weekly Update: 10 August 2026

Dear Parents, Grandparents and Guardians 

Urban adventure 

In some cities, one discovers landmarks by signs, but local citizens of our fair city are required to be tactile - we learn  by experience. While it is true that ramping a new speed hump in the dark means you never have to be told that it is  there again, driving at night probably shouldn’t be a mix between the Grand National and Dakar in the dark. Yesterday,  in my nocturnal navigations, I found what must be the rarest sign in Pietermaritzburg: a one-of-a-kind, officially  installed, speed bump warning sign. It seems to me that there is growing evidence of order and organisation in our  city and in our province, and perhaps, like our country which is headed back to investment grade, Pietermaritzburg  will take up the future shape that it needs to assume if we are to be taken seriously as the judicial capital of South  Africa and the capital city of KZN. 

Women’s Day 

This day stands out as a marker that the world and our country are not yet an equally safe and accessible place for  women - and that better is required. I would contend that the greatest fear of all the concerns that fathers and  husbands carry with them every second of every day is that harm would come to women and children, and especially  to those in their direct families. This Women’s Day, millions of compliments will be spoken and appreciation expressed  - and they will all be well-deserved, but for as long as unequal, weak, or even absent justice is the experience of many  women, we will remain in a family crisis.  

Today we pray for every woman in South Africa, on our continent and on the planet, that they will feel and know that  there is a God who is a defender of the vulnerable and that He is bent on delivering the justice that the world does not  seem committed to doing. 

Friday Afternoon Delight 

Friday afternoons are often fiercely contested council discussions at St Charles College, and this Friday one of our  presenters referred to the Harvard Study of Adult Development which found that two particular factors were key to  happiness and a successful adult life. It was quite affirming to note that connection to people when they are young  and a sense of connection to the future were singled out as powerful elements in developing adults who would  contribute to, and enjoy life. 

We also spoke about Fluid Reasoning and Crystalised Reasoning, and discovered that Fluid Reasoning is a measurable  capacity that can be detected in the children who will go on to be the innovative entrepreneurs and problem solvers  who will rule in the economy of the future. 

Friday afternoon turned into an amazing Friday evening hockey extravaganza, while close by, Aquapark held the Grand  Prix gala for Swim SA and scored an excellent review: “Thank you for an awesome few days. Well done - it was a good  meet. Definitely the best SSA gala we have ever attended.” N. Wessels

Can the world get better? 

It does not feel possible, but it is true that the decline of the world can be turned around. While you would not think  it, the economy has begun to move in the right direction. This is largely due to the right leadership doing the right  things at the highest level of our country, and we can be grateful that something has survived the corrupt era that we  have experienced.  

The economy is so important for hope and stability, but it is not number one on God’s agenda and it is strange that  the creation yields little thought to the Creator’s counsel that: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble  themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will hear their land.”2 CHRON 7:14 

Yours faithfully 

Allen van Blerk  

PRINCIPAL