Rector’s eNews – 26 January 2022
/ Rector's eNewsThe highlight of last week for many of us was seeing the boys in action on Saturday playing cricket, water polo and basketball against our first opponents of the season, Northwood. Our E Block were representing Michaelhouse for the first time and we were up against Northwood with their 1300 boys. As you will see from the results below, our boys did well and this should provide a good platform for us for the rest of the summer season. Paddlers were away, too, and several did extremely well in preparation for the Dusi. Michaelhouse certainly “does have talent” and the sheer enthusiasm of the boys on Saturday and, prior to that, on Friday at the Swimming Gala was palpable.
Term is very much underway with a variety of activities for the boys; included in these are society meetings which happen at various points throughout the term. I have included, as Appendix A, a list of the societies which are on offer and it is mandatory for boys to join a society as this can provide an important interest area to augment academic study and sporting and cultural events. You might like to ask your son, in due course, which societies he has joined.
I do not necessarily allude in the eNews to the topics which have been under review at assembly each week, but I thought I would do so on this occasion as I elaborated, inter alia, on the issue of discipline, the importance of which I had spoken about last Wednesday as we embarked on the term. In a general sense, I hope that the boys understand that, without a sense of discipline, they will achieve very little: if individuals are simply able to “do their own thing”, there will be no cohesion in any group within the school whether it is a society or a team or the House. In particular, I wanted to draw the attention of the boys to the outcome for them if a certain rule is broken and this relates to the use of drugs, including cannabis. I spoke about this, recognising that it can be confusing for the boys since cannabis has been legalised for use by adults in private, but it remains a dangerous drug for teenagers because of the development of their brains over this time and, whatever may or may not be thought about that, it falls into the category of all drugs in the way that the school responds to its use. The message to the boys was simple and intended to be proactive: boys have been told that if they bring drugs (other than prescribed medication) into the school or are found with them here or test positive, they must expect to lose their place at Michaelhouse and have to leave the school. I give this message to the boys at the beginning of each year and do so in the clearest possible way to protect them on those difficult occasions when they may be at a party somewhere and they need to make a snap decision as to whether they go down the slippery slope or steer clear of drugs. It is always helpful to the boys when parents reinforce what the school is saying in terms of rules and approaches to discipline so that boys cannot steer a course between parents and the school. My thanks go to you in this regard.
Appendix A – Safeguarding Policy
Appendix B – Academic Open Days 2022
Appendix C – Learner Personal Accident Insurance 2022