Today, we celebrate our Founders’ Day. It is a day dedicated to our school – 28 years after it was started. It is a special occasion to reflect on the foundation of our school and the values that hold us together. The school began with just 37 pupils and five teachers – today, we have 438 pupils and 65 staff members. As is tradition, we held a whole school assembly where our Matrics (the oldest in the school) led our Pre-Primary (youngest in the school) pupils in, to the soundtrack of ‘The Sugar Plum Fairy’.
Mr Angus Morton (High School Principal) welcomed all in attendance, especially welcoming the guests of Honour Mrs Hazelmay Duncan (one of the founders of the School), Mrs Shelly Stamatiadis (CCPA Chairperson), Mr Jan de Waal (Board Chairman), and our OISESA guests Mr Dave Wiggett and Mrs Moira Rix.
Our Head Prefects Reese Rumble and Scott Wilkins shared the Bible verse and prayer: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain.” (Psalm 127). Mrs Tracy Wahl (Primary School Principal) delivered the message that whatever we do, it should have a strong foundation.
“We are deeply grateful to the Founders of Cannons Creek, who gave their time, talents, and passion to establish this wonderful school. Cannons Creek is not just about the buildings; it is about the people—the students, teachers, staff, and parents—who make up our community. Because of our strong foundation, we can continue to grow and thrive for many years to come.
So today, as we celebrate Founders’ Day, let’s remember to build our lives on a solid foundation. Let’s go forth in faith, work hard, support one another, and make a positive impact in our world.”
Thank you to our High School Flute Trio who performed ‘Twilight’, and the combined schools’ Choir who performed ‘Dance, Love, Sing, Live’. Our focus theme this year was on the House System, where Mrs Alston gave us the background information to each House, which was followed by whole school warcries, led by our House Captains.
The celebrations concluded with each child receiving an ice-lolly in the colour of their House.
READ ABOUT THE HOUSE SYSTEM
The school house system is something that most schools have. It is a way of dividing the pupils and teachers into groups. These groups have a very special function. They give their members a sense of identity, the opportunity to be part of a team, the chance to work with others towards a common goal and a sense of belonging.
At Cannons Creek, you are all members of one of our three houses: Lonsdale, Riverside or Peak. Those of you who live in Pinelands might recognize those as street names in the area. Let’s look at how those roads came to represent the Cannons Creek Houses:
Right at the inception of the school, the Founders set about looking for a suitable building from which to launch their dream. There was a large house for sale in Riverside Road. The house was owned by the Brookes family (of Brookes Oros fame). They had named the house Cannons Creek, after their family farm in Australia. It looked like it would be great for the school, and could accommodate the plans that were in place – it would be a Primary School only, with 1 class per grade and 12 pupils in each class. The owners gave permission for the school to use the name of the house and the name was registered for the school to use. Then, in the process of getting permissions for the rezoning of the property, neighbours objected and the sale fell through.
With no building of their own, the school started in the Pinelands Club hall in Lonsdale Road, where they were to remain for three years. The space was limited, with no walls around the classrooms. When the need for a high school arose, those classes had to be held elsewhere and the Sunday school rooms of the Presbyterian Church (which was then opposite Ou Meul) were offered.
During the time they operated from the Pinelands Club, the founders kept a lookout for property or land for the school to buy, but there wasn’t much in Pinelands that was suitable. Then they came across a piece of land at the end of Peak Drive, near the Pinelands station. It was fairly small and triangular in shape, but plans were drawn up to try to fit a functionable school in the space. Nevertheless, the project didn’t happen, and the school remained at the Pinelands Club and had to carry on the search. Today, there is a small block of apartments called Pine Acre in that space.
Eventually, the piece of land that we are on today became available and the School was able to purchase it. It was originally going to have another block of flats like Nightingale Close next door, on it. However, we think it is a great space for our school. It has enabled us to grow into the school we are today, with 3 separate buildings, to expand to having slightly larger classes than originally planned, going double streamed and being able to house our high school alongside the primary and pre-primary school.
So, we are grateful to be in Nursery Way, but we continue to give a nod to the other Pinelands Roads that came close for a while to being our address. They are part of our history. And so, Lonsdale, Riverside and Peak became our School Houses. They were each assigned a colour from our badge – Blue, Red and Yellow. When you join Cannons Creek, at any stage from Grade RR to Matric, you are assigned to a House. You become part of a team. You get to work with your teammates, support your teammates and cheer for your teammates; be it at an Inter-House Sports Day, an Inter-House Quiz, an Inter-House Play or by earning House Points for hard work, effort or contributions to Outreach. You are special, you belong.
