The 2025 Chronicle

pils in the complexities of year-end procedures, in partic ular drafting the annual financial statements, focusing on complex topics like share movements, dividends and the tax landscape for companies. A huge highlight was the accounting webinar hosted on Tuesday 19 August by Miss Kelly Rose-Innes, a senior audit trainee in Business Assurance at BDO LLP in Bristol. This insightful ses sion covered her personal journey in accounting; she also gave an address on the key differences between financial and man agerial accounting, and included a robust question-and-answer segment. We are extremely grateful to Miss Rose-Innes; this opportunity was incredibly valuable, and the boys learned a great deal about the accounting profession and different areas of specialization. Looking forward to 2026, we are confident in our ability to fur ther enrich the boys’ educational experience and build on the excellent work done this past year. It remains our overarching goal to equip our pupils with the knowledge and skills neces sary to succeed in their future endeavours, both within and beyond the field of accounting. We are committed to fostering a learning environment characterized by discipline, hard work and a balanced approach to education. This commitment will continue to serve as the foundation for our department’s ef forts in the years to come. “Shaping the future leaders of the accounting profession.” as a comprehensive introduction to coding and robotics. Pupils worked in pairs to create working prototypes of a variety of in teresting projects, including fitness trackers, weather stations, games and musical-note generators. Pupils learned to interact with low-level hardware and make use of the device’s LEDs, buttons, accelerometers, light sensors and audio-input compo nents. We hope that this will inspire our pupils to further pursue robotics and coding in both their education and future careers. A highlight of the year was Michaelhouse’s continued strong showing in the SA Computer Olympiad Talent Search. This pres tigious competition saw 19 630 high school students from 201 schools across the country take part in an online problem-solv ing and critical-thinking assessment, serving as the preliminary round for the Programming and Applications olympiads. Of our entrants, an impressive 218 earned certificates. OUR BOYS WERE AWARDED THE FOLLOWING DISTINCTIONS: • 92 bronze certificates – awarded to the top 30% of participants nationally. • 85 silver certificates – awarded to the top 15% of participants nationally. • 41 gold certificates – awarded to the top 7% of participants nationally. Following this achievement, selected boys progressed to the Applications and Programming olympiads. Several were award ed gold certificates in the first round of these competitions:

of Mr James Kiln and Mr Che Charles. They are fully committed to the success of the department, and always do more than their required duties. A key strategic initiative was the overhaul of the D Block curriculum to better align content with the C Block curriculum, ensuring boys are provided with a solid foun dation for future studies. Mr Kiln assumed the role of D Block Controller in the second semester, successfully administering all teaching material and assessments. Mr Charles was equal ly influential, providing in-depth assistance with moderation across all Blocks, resource creation and marking assessments across D to B Block. He was also actively involved in providing extra support and teaching specific lessons in C Block. As a de partment we are committed to fostering a culture of discipline, hard work and balance. Our pedagogical approach is strategically designed to system atically build accounting expertise across all Blocks: • Laying the foundation ( E and D Block): We start with a comprehensive introduction, meticulously establishing the fundamental concepts and basic processes of accounting. • Analysis and Reporting (C and B Block): Boys then delve into the intricate world of financial reporting. They learn to draft, analyse and examine key financial metrics, including profitability, liquidity, solvency, risk management and rate of return. • Corporate Focus (A Block): The final stage immerses pu Head of Department: Mr Dominic Gruijters Staff: Mr Ian Crawford, Ms Aimee Nell, Mr Simphiwe Xulu, Mr Vuyo Mkhize (Intern) The Computer Studies Department contin ues to provide a comprehensive and cut ting-edge education which enables pupils to study and work in an ever-changing technologi cal landscape. The department offers two IEB subjects in A, B and C Block: Information Technology and Computer Applications Technolo gy. In addition the department has a dynamic and innovative offering for all pupils in D and E Block. Artificial intelligence (AI) has undergone a sea change in recent years and we have embraced the newest technologies in this area by educating our pupils in its creative and appropriate use. Our E and D Block curriculum included a term-long module on AI, with a specific focus on prompt engineering, AI’s impact on the world of work and education, accuracy of information, its use in the creative arts and its effects on news and social me dia. Pupils are encouraged to make use of AI to further their own independent learning but are cautioned against using AI in a way that will breach the school’s academic honour code. The E Block curriculum also saw the introduction of micro:bits – a single-board programmable computer. These devices served

COMPUTER STUDIES

68