The 2025 Chronicle

BOYS’ SERVICE PROGRAMME

Written by Mrs Peta Roberts

volved in weekly sports practices and clinics at Nottingham Road Primary School. Donations were also made to a hock ey club (Inanda and surrounding areas) and to the Westridge tennis club (Durban). The project was continued by the boys of West in 2025. Brunton was also the recipient of the Richard Heddon Award for Service at Speech Day. TJ Magoasheng (A Block) and a group of friends helped at a tutoring centre in Lidgetton under the direction of Ms Sindiswa Zuma, and also helped with donating resources that included a photocopier, paper and stationary. Oliver Thompson (C Block) started significant fundraising for the establishment of the buildings, facilities and resources for an eco-friendly ECD centre at Lion’s River Primary. Oliver states the following: “I’ve founded SHO – the School Movement for Action, Reach & Transformation. Our mission is simple but pow erful: to turn the basic right to education into a lived reality for children who are too often overlooked.” BALGOWAN CONSERVANCY TRAIL RUN: MARSHALS AND ASSISTANCE The boys continued to support and marshal at running events at the conservancy. BALGOWAN RESERVE Boys were provided with gloves and tools and embarked on the removal of alien plants in the reserve. MANDELA DAY On the first Friday afternoon of the third quarter, each House prepared an enormous potjie pot of soup. These were distrib uted to our partner schools on the following Monday morning, along with bread and surplus vegetables. WEST RAFFLE Significant fundraising took place at West in order to replace the soccer nets at their partner school. The remaining funds are to be used to buy fruit trees in support of Arbour Day. SUNFIELD HOME Regular service to Sunfield Home occurred during the first half of the year and will resume in 2026. The visits see the boys play games of soccer, bocce, black-ball pool and table tennis with the residents of the home, among other interactions. FUTURE-FIT PROGRAMME The D Block boys who choose the Future-Fit programme work closely at times with MCPT schools, exploring innovative ways to address some of the challenges in these communities.

Honours: Brian Brits, Craig Cribbins, Kyle Indeche, Kutlwano Molokwe, Jarred van Niekerk Colours: Finley Macgregor, Molemo Mahura, Ivan Nel, Rorisang Obasi, Matthew Rees, Joel Reinhardt The boys’ service programme this year has been active and fulfilling, with more and more boys involved in activities which serve our local communities through House projects and other initiatives. HOUSE PROJECTS Each House at Michaelhouse is paired with a Michaelhouse Community Partnership Trust school, and during each quarter boys from each House volunteer to engage in scheduled visits to assist with various tasks and activities identified by the prin cipals of these schools. In addition there are at times independent projects that the boys assist with, such as clean-ups and gardening initiated by the parents of Crystal Springs Primary School in Lidgetton. The MCPT is now supporting five new ECD centres from Lion’s River to Mooi River. It has been wonderful for the boys from East, Ralfe, Tatham and Farfield to be involved in various proj ects in support of these new centres, from painting the centre at Zenzane (Farfield) and preparing the playground equipment in Rosetta (Tatham and Ralfe) to reading to the children and supporting their activities in Nottingham Road (East) and help ing re-establish the vegetable garden in Mooi River (East). The boys have shown sincere enthusiasm and commitment in their service of these schools. There were approximately four visits a week by different Hous es to their respective partner schools. The activities included: assisting with homework and maths revision; facilitating rug by and cricket skills; developing reading and comprehension skills; working in the vegetable tunnels and gardens; and enjoy ing a game of soccer with a focus on positional play and tactics. Service is integral to the ethos of Michaelhouse and we are committed to ensuring continued productive and meaningful boys’ service. We are grateful for opportunities provided for us to draw alongside MCPT schools and to be involved in service projects. OTHER NOTEWORTHY PROJECTS In addition to the House projects, there were several other op portunities available to the boys to serve their community. BRUN10 PLAY IT FORWARD The 2024 Peter Brown Memorial Award was given to Brunton Bigalke for his project Brun10 Play it Forward. This project in volved the refurbishment of sports equipment, namely cricket bats, hockey sticks and tennis racquets. Brunton refurbished the equipment himself and not only donated it but was in

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP SHIELD MCCORMICK

The shield is awarded at Prize-giving in the first quarter to the House that accumulates the most points for service during the

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