Rector’s eNews 13: 7 May 2025

Our derby day fixtures against Hilton over the past weekend saw, once again, the fiercest competition and the greatest camaraderie between like-minded boys giving of their best for their schools. Practically all of the games were on a knife-edge until the end and, ultimately, mutual respect prevailed between boys whose focus may have been narrowed in an all-out quest for victory on the field on the day, but who have a broader range of interests, abilities, and sensitivities than is generally evident on the field of play.

Schools such as Michaelhouse promote the notion of the all-rounder,  the young man who has a spiritual base, who is academically inclined, who participates in music or drama or debating or public speaking, who has an interest in many fields and develops a passion in some, a person who has a sense of humour and of honour, a young man whose life is underpinned by values and integrity.

The notion of the development of the person who can “do all things if he will” (Alberti) was a feature first of classical Rome and then of the Renaissance –  hence the term “Renaissance man” and the multiplicity of talents was never more evident than in a person such as Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) who had an inventive mind, whether it was in art or music or literature or science.

The nurture of many talents, intellectual, artistic, musical and physical is a feature of our school and it is the broad base of talents that is the springboard for young Michaelhouse men discovering their niche in life after school and in excelling in a chosen field, a field which may not necessarily have been apparent in a boy’s schooldays.

Other schools may produce more Springboks than Michaelhouse and we are, of course, delighted when one of our boys goes on to reach international heights in sport, but we do not see sport as the principal yardstick by which to measure ourselves. We aim to be competitive in a range of areas, not only in sport as we value a range of human attributes, skills and abilities. So we see the context of our position in the recently-developed league tables for various sports; we do not eschew them, but neither are they all-important to us. An educated person has all-round abilities and strengths, one of which may be in demonstrating sporting prowess.

To underline the above point, here is a picture of the Chapel Choir singing at the ATKV Applous Concert last evening in Hilton just three days after the derby day. The Chapel Choir comprises 64 boys (exactly 10% of the entire school) and the Chamber Choir 15 members. Both choirs include top sportsmen and both took Gold last night.

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