Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: St John’s College, Houghton

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Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).

My oldest son has reached the end of his fourteen year journey at St John’s College. I remember dropping him off on the first day at the nursery school. He was anxious and his little face was quite white, but Greg wanted to go to school and he never complained or cried. He just sat quietly and when the headmistress started playing the piano and the children started to sing, he joined in, and that was that. He started his schooling journey.

Greg has always been an enthusiastic and eager student. After a few weeks at his new school, he asked me if he could learn to play the piano. I enrolled him at a local music school and Greg took to learning music very well. He could read music fluently before he could read. He gave up his music studies at the age of 13 after passing his Grade 5 theory and Grade 5 practical London School of Music examinations. I hope that one day he will return to music.

At six, he decided he wanted to learn to read. In South Africa, children only learn to read at seven, but he was determined and I taught him. We had a slight delay as I didn’t think to teach him the alphabet first, but despite my giant error, he learned to read very quickly and was a real book worm by the age of seven, reading seven to ten children’s books a week.

Last week, he finished high school and is now writing his final examinations.

Greg attended a beautiful school and I thought I would share some pictures of the place he has been so happy for so long.

Front gate to the campus
  • Tuckshop

These are pictures of the main quad decorated for the valediction ceremony and service:

A Valedictory war cry – Boys will be boys!

Greg received the IT award, along with two other boys, with an average for the year of 98%. He also achieved academic excellence honours.

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2021/10/21/light-keepers-house/

Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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80 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Thursday Doors: St John’s College, Houghton”

  3. Congratulations to Greg on his many accomplishments and awards. It’s mind boggling to think children don’t learn to read in South Africa before they are seven. Greg was certainly determined from a young age.

    St. John’s is beautiful, Robbie. What a cool place to attend school!

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    1. HI Mae, it certainly is a wonderful school and a beautiful environment. I also think 7 is late to learn to read but the educators here are most determined in this regard. That is why I taught both my kids to read. I don’t believe in holding people back because of a system.

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  6. I’m sure you have a lot of pride in the young man that Greg has become. Well done on his part and yours. Watching your children meet their goals and follow their dreams is one of the absolute best feelings in the world.

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      1. Hi Robbie is wonderful to see our children achieve well. All my four children left school too early. Two of them returned as adult students, one now has a degree in Equine and the other is studying for a degree in Nursing like I did.

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  15. Congratulations Greg! An Award for Excellence is a prize to be treasured through life. Well done, mum! If KPM ever tire of their South African accounting expert then writing a book on the values of the alphabet could be your next challenge.

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  18. I’m sorry to show up late, Robbie. The buildings and doors are beautiful. I love the rich stone structures. But the real star today is your son. He should be very proud of his accomplishments, as I am certain his parents are proud. Credit to you for giving him the opportunity to excel and for supporting him along the way. Information Technology is a challenging and rewarding field. It will require lifelong learning but I am sure he is ready, should that be the direction in which he takes further study or a career. Congratulations to Greg, and you you and your husband, I hope you all have a great weekend.

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    1. Hi Dan, thank you for visiting. You are not late, you are just in time. Greg is a superstar and I am very proud of him. Both my sons had difficult starts and have 32 operations between them, 18 being Greg’s. He has overcome his setbacks and done well. I think that IT is the centre of all fields now and everyone has to be in a constantly changing and innovating environment if they want to survive. I encouraged him with this programming ambitions as I think IT is the future of everything.

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  23. What a gorgeous school, Robbie, and Congratulations to Greg and to you for all of your teaching! I know how proud you must feel. I was also in awe of his musical ability. Thank you for sharing his wonderful story!

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  26. I would guess that learning music early on helped your son learn to read as well as help him with math skills.
    Congratulations to you and your family. And to Greg continued success in all you do!

    I remember going back to my two year college just for a look see… it was so different. It is difficult to go back to some places – especially after over 25 years or so.

    The building looks like it belongs in a fairytale book. 🙂 Thanks for sharing it.

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  29. Robbie, this is such a wonderful post in all ways. Congratulations to both you and your son. It’s been a great journey for you both. You are the perfect mom/teacher who encouraged his interests and had the privilege of watching him grow. Also, your pictures are fabulous. The sky is the perfect backdrop for the beautiful buildings and doors. Your ending video was so full of spirit. Great, great post. 🙂

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