The Chronicle 2022

TUTOR GROUPS Each tutor has a tutor calendar which provides ideas, material, and resources around relevant topics throughout the school year for them to work through with the boys in their tutor groups. In addition, all staff receive a weekly email with further ideas based on current events. 2022 saw a number of topics covered including vaping, social media, and the benefits of self-disclosure (part of our AS Tracking programme). STUDENT PROGRAMMES Throughout the year there are different programmes and interventions to assist boys in their development and relationships. Here are a few: BODIES, BOUNDARIES AND BOARDING A look at your rights and responsibilities as a boarder. This is for our E Block when they enter the school. D BLOCK TALK SERIES CAMP Speakers included Derek Redfern and Tim Barry and looked at topics to assist Grade 9 boys with their development and relationships with their peer group and more junior boys. SEXY SMARTS This day long workshop on sex and sexuality forms part of the D Head of Department: Mr Herman Visagie Staff: Mr Righardt Kotze, Mr David Pachonick, Ms Wendi Erasmus, Mrs Lieschen Harrison, Mr Jayden Gengan, Mr Sihawu Dube, Mrs Katherine Cass, Mr Tim Jarvis t has been another busy, but successful year from a Life Orientation perspective. We started the year on a high as the final IEB results from the 2021 A Block group were released. They produced the best results since the inception of Life Orientation at Michaelhouse. They walked away with 78 A symbols, an unbelievable achievement which is only possible with dedicated staff and boys working in confluence. The bar was set very high and our aim this year was to build on this momentum with the long term hope of every Michaelhouse boy achieving an A for Life Orientation. Life Orientation is a compulsory subject for every student in South Africa and offers a great opportunity to address and discuss some exceedingly important topics that often fall by the wayside. Life Orientation provides opportunities to formally teach life skills to the boys and to encourage them to function successfully as individuals and as part of society. In short, Life Orientation is about relationships: the relationships you have with yourself, your friends and family, the wider community, as well as the environment.

Block Integrated Studies Programme.

PARENT COURSES

STRONG MOTHERS, STRONG SONS We have run this course, facilitated by Cape Town psychologist Megan de Beyer, with great success for several years. Last year we had to run the course online, but it was wonderful to hold it in person in 2022. DISTANCE PARENTING Given that we could not run our fathers & sons’ course we instead ran this new course for parents who are new to the boarding experience. Run over three weeks, the course considered how best to support boys who are boarding, given that parents can’t be physically present with them. With the demands of high school education there are many boys who need academic support. Our gratitude goes to Mrs Katherine Cass our Academic Support teacher in this regard and whose support often overlaps into the area of pastoral concern. Finally, thanks go to my secretary Mrs Caryl Ballance. Without the support of all these people it would be impossible to do what we do in term of support, counselling, and pastoral care. Life Orientation is a broad subject and therefor we often rely on outside experts, also known as Enrichment Speakers, to address our boys. This year we focused on the theme of addiction in all its forms. We had the privilege to welcome Joshua Ramsay form BeInTouch who spoke to the boys about addiction with a particular emphasis on pornography. Professor Peter Van Zyl Smith form the University of Cape Town focused on smoking and vaping while Chris West-Russel, a registered addiction counsellor, discussed the addictive nature of gaming and vaping. All of these experts had their own unique approach and I am confident that they all made the Michaelhouse boys think about addiction in a more informed and critical manner. The E and D Block years are introduction years. The E Block started the year with an introduction to boarding by the school counsellor, Mr Jarvis. It gave the boys the opportunity to get to know him and to ask any boarding related questions. In the second quarter, they move to study skills with the learning support staff, Mrs Cass and Ms Erasmus. This gave the boys the opportunity to meet the learning support staff, and to discuss different study skills and methods. The boys found this time to be extremely valuable in preparation for their first high school examination. In the third quarter, they discussed social media as this was the time when they were allowed to bring their cell phones to school. In the last quarter, they met with the learning support department again to work on their time management

LIFE ORIENTATION

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