The 2023 Chronicle

MICHAELHOUSE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

M THE MCPT MISSION READS: The Michaelhouse outreach programme is operated by the Michaelhouse Community Partnership Trust (MCPT), a registered public benefits organisation, focused on improving the functionality and optimizing the effectiveness of our 16 community schools as places of learning, with special attention on leadership development, teaching capacity and training, infrastructure maintenance and education technology. ichaelhouse is ranked in the top 100 schools globally and has been an acknowledged centre of education excellence for 125 years. Within 20km of the school there are 16 under-resourced rural state schools situated in communities where unemployment and poverty are a daily reality. Consistent with the Michaelhouse core values of integrity, humility, compassion, courage and service, the Community Partnership Trust, a registered non-profit organization (NPO: 015292), has been established as an outreach programme to add value to these 16 schools, with the singular focus being to improve their functionality as places of learning and add value to the broader Midlands community. Annually each school is evaluated and benchmarked to ensure that improvements occur in respect of instructional, infrastructural and leadership functionality. A dedicated team of three full-time staff, supported by a committee of trustees and committed volunteers, oversee 10 core projects to achieve this. Core to this outreach programme is partnering with communities where the schools are located, collaborating with school principals, heads of departments, teachers and Department of Education circuit managers in the Lion’s River and Mpofana circuits. Where building, plumbing and electrical work is required we use local community suppliers

as far as is possible, so the money stays in the community. This significantly enhances the notion of schools being at the centre of their communities. An additional component is that each of the ten Houses at Michaelhouse will “adopt” a school, giving their boys a way to carry out community service where it will add value. In the past year we raised R4.5m in donor funding; our target this year is R8m. By way of background there are some 30,000 schools in SA, with 5% considered world-class institutions, 15% considered functional as places of learning and 80% dysfunctional. This does not necessarily mean they are failing, but they are under- resourced. We have 16 such schools on our doorstep. IMPACT Over the past seven years we have grown our impact and now • 25 Eduhelpers deployed (Eduhelpers are young teaching graduates employed as interns on a basic stipend, with a view to providing them will full employment as a teacher) • Infrastructure improvement • 10 funded projects in our footprint schools (some still to be funded) each of which has a dedicated project champion. • Improved boys’ service, with each House adopting a school. • Three annual collective community events focusing on sport, art and music concentrate on seven focus areas: • 16 schools in our footprint • Leadership training in 24 schools

• Boys Service • Library Bus • Sports Tournaments • St Raphaels

• Boys Service • Sports Tournament • St Raphaels

• Boys Service • Arts & Choir Festival • Sports Tournament • St Raphaels

• Boys Service • St Raphaels

• Boys Service • St Raphaels • 7 Projects

• Boys Service • 10 Projects • St Raphaels • Sports Tournaments • Arts & Culture Festival

• Boys Service • 10 Projects • St Raphaels • Sports Tournaments • Arts & Culture Festival • Eduvelopment

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