Michaelhouse

Description

Michaelhouse is a private boarding school for boys nestled in the Balgowan valley in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. The Michaelhouse Nature Reserve overlooks the school and is a Midlands mistbeld grassland - one of rarest biomes in South Africa. The school caters for Grade 8 to Grade 12 and currently has 567 students. The sister school is St Annes Diocesan College.

Feeder schools to Michaelhouse include Clifton Prep School, Highbury Prep School, Cordwalles Prep School, Clifton School, The Ridge School, Pridwin Prep School, Winston Park Primary School, and Rivonia Primary School.

HERITAGE

Founded in 1896 by James Cameron Todd, Michaelhouse was established as a private institution with 15 boys in 2 small houses in Loop Street.

ACADEMICS

The school motto is Quis ut Deus which means “Who Is Like God?” The Michaelhouse boys write the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) exams each year and achieve consistently good results. The Matric pass rate in 2016 was 100%.

SPORT & CULTURE

The school is best known for its rugby, squash, canoeing, hockey, and debating. The most important sports grounds are called Meadows.

SPORTS

• Rugby
• Squash
• Hockey
• Canoeing

CULTURE

• Debating
• Music
• Acting
• Art

SCHOOL FACILITIES

• Media centre
• Open air amphitheatre
• 600 seat capacity theatre
• Sir Herbert Baker Chapel
• Michaelhouse Nature Reserve
• 3 indoor and 1 outdoor basketball courts
• 3 glass-backed championship and 3 standard squash courts
• 7 hard surface tennis courts
• 2 heated swimming pools and 1 training lane
• Driving range with synthetic putting green and driving nets
• 1 water based hockey AstroTurf
• 8 turf cricket pitches (indoor and outdoor nets)
• 10 rugby, soccer, and hockey fields
• 1 indoor and 1 outdoor climbing wall
• 1.5ha dam for canoeing and canoe polo
• Fully equipped gymnasium with sports scientist in attendance

BOARDING

There are 8 boarding houses at Michaelhouse, namely Founders, Foundation East, Foundation West, Farfield, Tatham, Baines, Mackenzie, and Pascoe.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Michaelhouse has 20 scholarships available annually, including the Open Major, the Major Trust, and the Major Allrounder. Please view the school's website for more details.

NOTABLE GRADUATES

• John van der Ruit
• Sir John Craven
• Wilbur Smith
• Dale Benkenstein
• Robert Holmes a Court
• Peter Brown
• Pat Lambie

MICHAELHOUSE MUSIC FESTIVAL

Since the first staging of this national event in 2015 the festival has quickly grown to become an important occasion on the social calendar of music lovers around the country, attracting more than 5 000 visitors to the Midlands where they enjoy world-class musical entertainment from performers as diverse as Ladysmith Black Mombazo, Beatenberg, The Kiffness, The KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and open mic stages.