Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan valley in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
History
St. Michael's Diocesan College was founded in Pietermaritzburg in 1896 by James Cameron Todd, an Anglican canon. The school was established as a private venture with fifteen boys in two small houses in Loop Street.
James Cameron Todd had a clear idea of what he wanted the school to be. He wrote: "A man's tone, moral and spiritual, as well as intellectual, is largely determined for life by his school."
Within a few years, Michaelhouse became the Diocesan College of Natal, governed by a permanent trust deed and administered by a board of governors.
In 1901 the school relocated to Balgowan, when some 77 boys took up residence in the buildings which remain the core to the school to this day. Its name was later changed to Michaelhouse. The school adopted the 9th century chorale "Stars of the Morning" as its official school hymn.
Motto
The Latin school motto, Quis ut Deus translates to 'Who like God?', or, less literally, 'Who is like God?'. This motto is derived from the name of the school whose origin stems from the Hebrew Mikha'el which translates to the same. The school hymn, Stars of the Morning, reflects this with the line Who like the Lord?' thunders Michael, the Chief."
Rectors
James Cameron Todd (1896–1903) Edward Bertram Hugh Jones (1903–1910) Antony William Scudamore Brown (1910–1916) Eldred Pascoe (1917–1926) Warin Foster Bushell (1927–1930) Ronald Fairbridge Currey (1930–1938) Frederick Rowlandson Snell (1939–1952) Clement Yorke Morgan (1953–1960) Robert 'Tommy' Norwood (1960–1968) Rex Frampton Pennington (1969–1977) Neil Jardine (1978–1986) John Hay Pluke (1987–1996) Reginald Dudley Forde (1997–2001) Guy Norman Pearson (2002–2012) Gregory Theron (2013-2018) Paul Christian Fleischack (2018-2019) Antony Roy Clark (2019-)
Relationship with Hilton College
Hilton College and Michaelhouse have enjoyed a long history of friendly rivalry. The two schools have much in common and are the only two full boarding schools remaining in KwaZulu-Natal. The schools are located near one another in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
The bond between Hilton and Michaelhouse has developed since 1904 when the two schools played their first rugby match at Hilton College, which Hilton won 11-0. Both schools consider each other their main fixture in all sporting disciplines. The high point of this rivalry is the biannual Hilton-Michaelhouse Day. This event, held alternately between the two schools, sees them play one another in rugby and hockey. The culmination of the day is the main rugby match between the two schools' 1st XVs, which is the oldest continuous rugby fixture in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Academics
The years of study are referred to as blocks E to A. "A block" is the equivalent of grade 12 or year 12 and has boys aged 17 or 18 and "E block" is the equivalent of grade 8 or year 8 and has boys aged 13 or 14.
Michaelhouse educates boys and has an academic staff of about sixty with a male teaching quotient of approximately 70%; the master/pupil ratio is 1:10. Each grade has 5 classes with approximately 22 boys per class.
Michaelhouse school-leavers write the Independent Examinations Board exams and consistently achieve top results.
The school has produced over 30 Rhodes scholars to study at the University of Oxford and 10 Elsie Ballot scholars to study at the University of Cambridge.
The school hosted the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships in 2002.
The estate and facilities
Pietermaritzburg foundation (1896 to 1902) The school was founded in a building in Loop Street, Pietermaritzburg. It had capacity for about 30 boys in total, but it was not long before that became inadequate.
Balgowan estate (from 1902)
Around the turn of the century, approximately of land in the picturesque Balgowan valley, approximately 45 minutes north-west of Pietermaritzburg was donated to Rector James Cameron Todd. The buildings were started in 1900 and the school took occupation in 1901. The first buildings to be completed were the existing administration block, vestry and gallery of the now extended chapel, and Founders House.
The Michaelhouse Nature Reserve
The hill overlooking Michaelhouse is one of the rarer biomes in the country (Midlands mistbelt grassland) and is the preferred habitat for an indigenous antelope, the Oribi.