The 2025 Chronicle

to progress. My deepest appreciation goes to an amazing team. I am going to add my special appreciation to: my unbelievably efficient and loyal office staff, Angela Jonsson, EA to the Rector, and Nikki Veenstra, administrator to the Rector and Board of Governors, who do an amazing job every single day steering the Michaelhouse ship; to the Revd Chris Meyer for his outstand ing work as Chaplain in ensuring that there is a lively Christian fervour within the school; to Mr Sibusiso Ncamani for his en gagement with the boys in his pastoral role; to Mrs Win de Wet for enhancing our academic offering year by year; to Ms Joni Warburton for her innovative work overseeing our finances and operations; and to Mr Brendan Gittins for all he has done in steering the discipline, the logistics and much else. As you will know, Brendan is deservedly moving on to his first headship at Jeppe High School for Boys, where he was head boy in his last year. He will do an excellent job there and, hopefully, return to Michaelhouse in due course. We wish him, Charne and little Jack well in their new assignment. Our executive team is truly outstanding and I have huge confidence that Mrs Win de Wet and Mr Bart Wielenga, our Acting Rector and Rector-elect, will develop Michaelhouse in wonderful ways in 2026 and beyond. I would like to express my gratitude formally to Brigitte, my wife, for her unwavering, highly perceptive and extremely loyal support over so many years, and I will comment further on this in other venues. And my sincere gratitude goes to our Chairman, Andrew Schaefer, and other Board members who spend so much time in the cause of Michaelhouse. Their com mitment, wisdom and sensitivity to the needs of the school have been vital in providing continuity in changing times and in ensuring that Michaelhouse remains a school which is ex tremely attractive to such a large number of applicants, with waiting lists at every level. My 20 minutes is now up, and we are all looking forward to the address of our Senior Prefect and also to that of our guest of honour. And so I leave with one final word to the boys in the A Block. Boys, I encourage you to reflect deeply on your time here in the most amazing bubble that is Michaelhouse, to under stand the privilege that it has been to be a Michaelhouse man, that this honour should be worn modestly and that it provides the platform for your future life, and that, if it is possible in later years, you should try to give back in however great or small a way you are able to, just as our guest of honour today has done in his own lifetime. It has been the greatest honour and privilege to serve Michael house over the past nearly seven years; there have been many challenges in those years, but they have been immensely re warding and fulfilling. Brigitte and I will miss you all enormously.

tions about similar support. We must all continue to make a difference in this country whenever and wherever we can. Our Old Boys have certainly made an impact in 2025 in so many areas, but perhaps most notably in rugby. Over the past year we have seen the likes of Wandile Mlaba and Campbell Ridl op posing each other in the Under-20 Rugby World Cup, Luke Da vidson playing for Saracens and, on the domestic scene, Tom Nel in the winning Griquas team. Most of our leavers go on to the top universities in this country and in the UK or USA. One example is Luke Kaufmann, who was sixth in academic ranking amongst last year’s matriculants and who has just started at Peterhouse College, Cambridge. The continued support of all Old Boys remains hugely beneficial to Michaelhouse, and the leadership of Sean Lumley, who has recently handed over the presidential baton to Rich Bates, has been significant in the success of Michaelhouse in so many ways. One of these is the fostering of the mentorship pro gramme in which our senior boys, having mentored the incom ing E Block, are now themselves mentored as they leave Mi chaelhouse and move on, most often to university, by Old Boys who are between the ages of 20 and 33. All 127 of our matrics are partnered with 127 Old Boys, essentially on the basis of shared interests, location, degree courses and the like. This is, we believe, a significant development in the lifelong journey of a Michaelhouse man. I applaud it heartily. Michaelhouse continues to attract international recognition. Some of this may not be statistically based but it was, never theless, gratifying to receive an award on behalf of the school in London recently for our being one of the top 10 schools in the world outside the UK. Perhaps of even more significance is a re cent award from STEER, a UK-based organisation which tracks and promotes mental wellness amongst young people, includ ing at football clubs like Chelsea Football Club. In an era when mental wellness and support for those who are struggling is of ever-greater importance, the award for the STEER Champion School of the Year 2025 is a mantle which we wear with pride. I want to thank all of our staff for their tireless efforts to work with our boys and with each other in the cause of Michael house. One example of this at the end of last term was in the outdoor education opportunities for our boys in, for example, the C Block Journey and the D Block Pondoland experience. It is not sheer delight for all teachers in all schools to spend 13 days sleeping under the stars or in the rain, and this only scratches the surface of the huge commitment of the men and women on our staff who simply make things happen. On an ongoing basis we wrestle with the issues of the day in sustainability, AI and social media and everything else that is topical and important

ADDRESS BY THE SENIOR PREFECT, LEROTHOLI SEEISO

“Welcome to my house, welcome to your house, welcome to our house, welcome to Michaelhouse.” These are the words I ended my first speech with as the Se nior Prefect when welcoming our E Block boys. This welcome has quickly become a goodbye, as this is my last speech as a

Michaelhouse schoolboy.

Only now am I realising after a challenging couple of days of reflection how difficult it will be to leave the gates and to say goodbye to an institution that has cherished me through the good, the bad and the ugly, and which has given me a strong foundation for life. Only now do I truly grasp the true meaning of

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