EXCELLENCE IN SPORT & CULTURE
Founded in 1998, Ashton International College Benoni can be described as a school of opportunity and choice; offering a ‘uniquely different’ amalgamation of subjects, state-of-the-art facilities and an experienced and efficient administration. At Ashton we encourage all students to participate in the variety of Cultural, Academic and Sporting extra-curricular activities; including our community responsibility and specialised clubs. As are all aspects of Ashtonian life, our extra-curricular activities are deeply rooted in our College Ethos and Philosophy. Our Ethos of kindness, respect and responsibility, combined with our Philosophy to encourage each student to develop their unique talents, allows us to assist our students in unlocking their full potential in life.
Sport Sporting codes at Ashton Benoni, in this arena our student truly shine both with in house sports and externals. We are incredibly proud of our students that have participated on sporting codes at Provincial and National level, these sporting codes include, gymnastics, arialnastix, dancing, judo/ martial arts and golf. We are incredibly proud of the diversity within our co-curricular sports. Our Junior college sporting codes that we offer and award Ashton colours for include the following; athletics, cricket, cross-country (Both Government and private SISA leagues), indoor and field hockey, swimming, netball, mini netball, soccer, mini soccer, tennis (doubles and singles league), softball, T ball, and equestrian.
This year, we could not have been prouder of our super sports stars, our U11 Netball team went into the government league playoffs undefeated. Our U 11 Soccer team also went onto the season’s playoffs undefeated. Our U11 Cricket team were undefeated this season and had one player who was selected for the U17 South African indoor cricket team! Our U11 and U13 Softball teams were undefeated in their leagues and played their hearts out in a tough playoff final for both teams.
Our Swimming squad competed in our second year of being in the A league Gala against the strongest swimming school in the area and made us incredibly proud!
Our Cross-country was our biggest and strongest team we have ever had; not only did many of our runner advance to Greater Benoni but 11 of them then advanced again to the provincial D17 league! 2022 was an exceptional year for our Senior College sport and culture codes. Throughout the year a number of our students represented Ashton at Provincial and National level in athletics, swimming, hockey, golf, chess, soccer, cricket, softball, tennis and equestrian. We started the year with an outstanding athletics season as the reigning champions for the 11th year in a row. Furthermore, four of our athletics students were selected for Gauteng Champs and performed very well. Both on and off the field, our students made us proud. Undefeated in all their matches, our u16B Netball team made it to government league playoffs. Our u15 cricket team won their SISA league despite the tough competition from other local schools.
Our golf team placed third in their league with one player achieving Provincial colours. Our tennis students gave their all at Gauteng East Senior Inter-High and our boys team secured an outstanding win despite playing against formidable local teams. Our soccer, hockey and softball teams also performed exceptionally.
As in the Junior College, Cross-country was also a popular sport amongst our Senior College students and a huge success, with the number of students committing to it increasing year upon year and two athletes progressing to the Gauteng champs. Mountain biking was also introduced this year and we hope to see an increase in participation going forward. After just less than a year of training, our Eagles cheerleading team, secured their position at Nationals and placed 5th in South Africa.
Culture
Our Junior College Culture exploded this year with the most outstanding achievements being made on and off the stage! Through sheer determination and hours of practice, our JC Chess team were the winners of the very tough and incredibly competitive SISA league. Attaining 2 first place and 2 second placements against 12 school. Competition was tight this year with our section of our Quiz team who went on the make us very proud and the annual SISA Quiz this year. Our Grade 1-7s competed in the SACCE English Olympiad this year, with outstanding results and many full marks being achieve, we can’t wait to continue this tradition. Our annual Spelling Bee was a delight this year with tough competition.
We absolutely shone in the Public speaking arena clenching 5, 1st place winners across the Grade 1 -7s. This liked in beautifully with our outstanding achievements at the Benoni Eisteddfod which culminated in us winning two overall best performance Trophies in drama and Music. Speaking of music our Junior and Senior Choirs outdid themselves with their spectacular Spring recital and they were joined by our Marimba bands who also competed in an international Marimba and steel pan festival where they shone beautifully. We were incredibly proud of our Robotics team who took part in their first ever Robotics Lego league were they had the most amazing learning experience competing at UNISA, we are going to come back even stronger next year.
Lastly, we are very excited about our new cross-stitch club introduction, our students have flourished and are learning life skills that will last forever. What an amazing year filled with competitions and achievements. Creative writing and eisteddfod are alive and flourishing at Ashton Senior College. What a wonderful year. Eisteddfod season was amazing. Students ‘live’ performances, the audience’s reaction and the adjudicator’s feedback made this all worthwhile. Studying the words of a poem, prose, speech or practicing a mime, or a dramatised piece was all worthwhile. Our students received Prestige, Honours, Gold and Silver certificates which deserves applause, but nothing can beat the excitement and enthusiasm of a live interactive performance.
The students participated in the English Olympiad, in the SALA and SACEE creative writing competitions and in our very own Interhouse Poetry Competition. Entries were assessed by external adjudicators who all praised the excellent talent and creative ability of our students. Jane Fox (the author who evaluated the SACEE writing competition) praised our students for their excellent stories, poems and speeches. In the words of Voltaire, “Writing is the painting of the voice.” We are so proud of creative writers who participated in the English Olympiad and other writing competitions and encourage them to continue to ‘paint’ their voices on a page.
Our talented actors, actresses and writers from each house took to the stage to produce original plays for our Senior College Inter-House Play Competition based on the theme, “Fractured Fairy Tales”. However, it was House Cambridge whose play ‘Far, Far East Rand’ walked away with the trophy. Leaving the creatives to their plays and speeches, our Senior College robotics had another exciting year filled with challenges and many sleepless hours. Due to other time constraints and ever-expanding ideas we had no successful enrolments for the DARPA Level 2 or 3 Trials. There is no doubt, however, that the “in theory” will result in a successful trial for the various teams, especially with the Level 1 Vocational “Roboteers” joining the engineering ranks.
Our chess team performed exceptionally well in all competitions, pulling off an amazing late night win at the Gauteng Schools Team Championships and placing third in Gauteng. Furthermore, one of our star chess players ranked first in South Africa country.
Our Debutantes and Squires were involved in raising money and assisting various charities throughout the year. The Valentine’s day sales raised over R10 000. Each Deb and Squire went shopping for baby clothes that were handed over to The Almond tree baby home. The return of the Fashion Show raised R16 000 which will be handed over to various charities at a special assembly in February next year. Plastic bottle tops have been collected. This is an ongoing project to assist a needy person with a wheelchair. Various water and food collections have also taken place. The Term 4 Food collection is going to the Sonop Caravan Park in Farramere which houses a large number of families in need.
With the huge variety of sport and cultural activities offered at Ashton throughout each phase, there is something to suit every student’s unique skills and interests and that’s what makes Ashton International College uniquely different.
Contact details:
Tel: 011 395 2070
Emails:[email protected]
Address: 47 Beryl Street, Goedeburg, Benoni, 1501
