Interhouse Guard of Honour 2024

Monday afternoon on Lower was filled with anticipation for the upcoming Interhouse Guard of Honour competition. Each House had seven minutes to showcase its drills, with prescribed minimum requirements but also room for creativity and originality.

Upper, drawn first the previous evening, set a high standard for the others to match. Every House should take pride in their performances, with special recognition for the Section Leaders who brought forth innovative ideas for their presentations. Mr Pretorius, reflecting on the event, expressed satisfaction at the group’s early progress, foreseeing promising outcomes for year-end parades.

“This is the outcome of a lot of reflection and discussion on the heritage of our school and what Retreat means to St Andrew’s College. Just a couple of years ago it appeared that the College Retreat was a tradition whose time was over, that it couldn’t be reshaped for our future needs.

Deputy Headmaster Motsepe led the discussions in 2022 and our senior boys in 2023 produced the biggest Drill Ceremony in the history of the school, with so many boys on parade that it was possible to have house sections, with house flags introduced for the first time.

Our Matrics of 2023 set the standard and they were supported by the Grade 11 and Grade 10 boys, and teacher i/c Johan Pretorius was able to leave a powerful legacy as he took his leave of the school.

So this inaugural Inter-House Drill Ceremony is more than an event, it is the outcome of introspection and challenging conversations, and it is a metaphor for the kind of changes that we need to make in so many other aspects of the school to ensure that St Andrew’s College remains proudly connected to its heritage while also being relevant and progressive.”

– Mr Tom Hamilton

Merriman emerged as the best-drilled House, excelling in unison, salute, and commands. Credit goes to Philipp Maske and Ewan Elder, the Section Leaders, for their exceptional preparation.

Overall placings were as follows:

6th – Espin

5th – Graham

4th – Armstrong

3rd – Mullins

2nd – Upper

1st – Merriman

Special thanks to the adjudicators, Mr Pretorius, Mr Alcock and Mr Dewey for their time and the professional way they went about assessing the day.