July 24, 2024

Rector’s eNews 22: 24 July 2024

/ Uncategorized

The Board has been working alongside our Executive Committee at Michaelhouse to produce a Michaelhouse Generational Plan which provides a vision for the school up to the time of our 150th anniversary in 2046. Inevitably the canvas is painted with sweeping strokes rather than minutely, but it provides a point of reference for our community.

The covering letter for the Generational Plan goes out under the signature of the Chairman of the Board, Andrew Schaefer, and me as the Rector and appears below:

 

Michaelhouse Generational Plan | 2046

The Chairman of the Board, Governors of Michaelhouse and the Rector are delighted to share with you the Michaelhouse Generational Plan | 2046.

Our founder, Canon James Cameron Todd, envisioned Michaelhouse shaping young men “of understanding, thought and culture.” Those words articulated at Speech Day in 1897 have endured for one and a quarter centuries. They have been the guiding words for Teachers, Rectors and Governors who have encouraged the nearly 9000 boys who have passed through the gates of our great school to live worthwhile lives according to the Christian values of integrity, humility, compassion and courage in service to community and country.

Doing great things takes time and so we have looked far beyond any of our tenures to envision what the Michaelhouse of 2046 – our 150th anniversary – might look like. While we do not profess to have all the answers, we believe that there are a handful of enduring characteristics and objectives that will be as relevant in a generation’s time as they are today.

The Michaelhouse Generational Plan | 2046 articulates this thinking by declaring who we are and how we will educate our boys; it defines our campus and our environment; it speaks to the triumvirate of our community for life (the Old Boys Club, the St Michael’s Club and the Community Partnership Trust); and finally, it speaks to how we will finance our future.

The Generational Plan transcends Chairman, Governors and Rectors. Our hope is that it will provide continuity, lessons and a foundation on which our successors are able to build.

This first iteration of our Generational Plan is high level and deliberately simple. It is a series of short statements – or mandates – for detailed plans to be developed and delivered over time. The Board will commit to review the Generational Plan annually and be accountable for the development and progress of how each statement will be realised.

We invite you to join us on this generational journey. Together, we will ensure that Michaelhouse for generations to come, continues to meaningfully contribute to the betterment of our diverse communities, our country, and humanity.

Watch the launch video here and read the Generational Plan here.

 

Well done to those boys who were involved in receiving instruction from Michael Flockhart (Sportstec) on how best to coach fellow pupils as well as the boys who made a large number of litres of soup to take to our footprint schools on Monday as part of our contribution to Mandela Day. Spending time focusing on the needs of others and small acts of kindness are all important in nation-building and we need constantly to be aware of the notion of re-directing privilege rather than focusing exclusively on our own individual aspirations and wishes.

 

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