Rector’s eNews 31: 15 October 2025

Just after we broke up for the holidays, we received the news that Mr Brendan Gittins has been appointed Headmaster of Jeppe High School for Boys, starting in January 2026. Brendan has made a great contribution to Michaelhouse and I know how much he has valued and enjoyed his time at Michaelhouse contributing in so many ways in a wide-ranging portfolio encompassing the operation of the school and including an oversight of discipline. He will be sorely missed, but we understand how, as a previous Headboy of Jeppe himself, it is an opportunity that he could not turn down. And so we wish him every success in his new role and hope that he may be in a position to return to us at Michaelhouse at a later stage of his career. A search began immediately for his successor to the role of Deputy Head: Pupils and some progress has been made in this regard. Applications close next Tuesday. So we wish Brendan Gittins, his wife, Charnê and young Jack well as they head north to Johannesburg in December.

Following the enormous success of the C Block Journey, the D Block Pondoland Experience and the E Block Outdoor Education Week, the Michaelhouse campus was a busy place over the holidays with a number of academic activities, music and sports festivals and training camps taking place here. Having a two-week holiday was hugely beneficial to our boys and staff as they also travelled to a variety of different venues for these activities. You will read more about these later in the eNews.

As we move into the Christmas Quarter with exams coming at the end of this term for all Grades, it is important for the boys to sharpen their academic focus. This may require, in some instances, better organisation of their time and a reduction of thought and energy spent on frivolous things. But it should not detract at all from a commitment to those areas in the cultural, sporting and service realms which usually occupy them. It is an absolute fallacy to think that teenage boys can be taken out of their normal programme of all-round activity and achieve success in doing so. Our research at Michaelhouse shows that those who are used to a programme of sport and suddenly stop it decline in their academic performance. The reasons are not only related to the consequences of the reduction of exercise and the adverse effect on their concentration and well-being, but also because they often find that their lives lack all-round purpose without the camaraderie and sense of direction that exists in the sort of activity which allows for a release of energy. I understand that a number of boys in their matric term wish to “give up” sport in order “to work” and this seems to be the common practice in many schools, but our experience at Michaelhouse is that it is entirely possible and, in fact, easier to maintain one’s academic focus at the same time as engaging in the normal activities outside of that focus.

Sharpening academic focus actually means doing simple things well: concentrating in lessons, asking questions when material is not understood, being productive in prep time by consolidating material or getting ahead of the game by exploring the next topic of study, planning revision sessions, meeting deadlines, handing work in on time and, overall, being an active learner. There is the old adage that those who fail to prepare should prepare to fail: boys can create their own success in all spheres of life at Michaelhouse by adopting a dedicated approach in class and in prep, as well as in co-curricular activities and striving to meet the targets which they set for themselves.

Click here to read the Rector’s eNews.