Kearsney College turns

ROBIN LAMPLOUGH TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SCHOOL’S HISTORY AND ITS SUCCESSION OF HEADMASTERS

The renowned school started a hundred years ago at Kearsney, inland of KwaDukuza, the old Stanger, on the Natal North Coast. There Liege Hulett had built a palatial home that, by 1920, was empty. Hulett, by that time Sir Liege and a widower, had moved to the Manor House – overlooking Durban’s Mitchell Park.

Liege Hulett was a faithful Methodist, and back then there was no Methodist school closer than Kingswood in the Eastern Cape. To run the new school, Hulett chose D. Pyne Mercier. In 1923, Pyne Mercier was succeeded by Robert Matterson, formerly a teacher at Kingswood. Almost all the pupils at Kearsney in those days were descendants of Liege Hulett, who died in 1928.

The Great Depression of the early 1930s made it unlikely that the school would survive. Members of the school staff addressed an appeal to South African Methodists and, as a result, the school was able to move in 1939, to a piece of land in Botha’s Hill, between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. With six classrooms, two boarding houses and a dining hall which doubled on special occasions as a place of assembly, the school began its second chapter in a new location.

Before the end of the year, World War II had begun. By its end, 23 Kearsney Old Boys had died in service, a loss keenly felt by the small community. After the war, Old Boys built a memorial cricket pavilion, a project which started a very active Old Boys’ club.

In 1946 Robert Matterson retired, to be succeeded by Stanley Osler, a Kingswood Old Boy and brother of the famous Springbok Benny Osler. Osler saw potential for significant growth. He commissioned the building of the Kearsney chapel, with space for twice as many congregants as there were boys in the school.

Osler was succeeded by James Hopkins, long-standing member of staff and direct descendant of Sir Liege Hulett. He presided over the golden jubilee celebrations in 1971 and the opening of the Kearsney library. The glass windows that decorate the entrance to the library are artefacts taken from Kearsney

Manor, where the school began and which had been the home of Hopkins’s greatgrandfather.

Jimmy Hopkins was succeeded by Colin Silcock. He is reputed to have commented that Kearsney boys were good at being gracious in defeat, and he wanted to make sure they had more opportunities to be just as gracious in victory. The indoor sports centre that he opened during his tenure contributed to Kearsney’s sporting competitiveness.

 1939: A view of Kearsney’s original dining hall at the Botha’s Hill school, taken from the classroom block.

 2021: Today nutritional analysis, conducted by the school’s professional caterers, ensures the boys’ dietary needs are catered for in four bright dining halls.

 1947: Finningley House and the adjacent dining hall.

 2021: Finningley is one of four boarding houses for seniors at Kearsney, with Grade 8s being accommodated in Haley House.

 1922: Kearsney headmaster David Pyne Mercier with Kearsney choir boys at the original North Coast school.

 2014: The international award-winning Kearsney College Choir has won 15 gold medals and seven silvers at the World Choir Games between 2000 and 2018.

During the Silcock term, Kearsney joined the small group of private schools admitting black pupils. In the same year, the Kearsney Board of Governors ended its historical association with the board of Epworth, the Methodist girls’ school in Pietermaritzburg.

In 1991, Silcock was succeeded by Owen Roberts. His first year in office saw the opening of the Kearsney cultural centre. One of the hallmarks of his tenure was the growth, both in size and in prominence, of the Kearsney choir. Roberts also aimed for an improvement in academic results. He introduced the practice of boys writing tests every Saturday morning, before their sports commitments.

Roberts was succeeded in 2001 by the present headmaster, Elwyn van den Aardweg, from Pretoria. His solid emphasis on academics, particularly mathematics and science excellence, has seen Kearsney post outstanding results, with distinction rates double those of the Independent

Examination Board in these subjects for 10 consecutive years. He introduced Mandarin as a matric subject, and the building of a new academic block, designed in line with international best practices for collaborative and modern learning and research. The Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival and development of the SportZone, which provides facilities to complement the school’s High Performance programme, have taken place during van den Aardweg’s tenure and contributed to Kearsney becoming a premier independent boys’ school in South Africa.

Without doubt, however, one of the greatest challenges to any headmaster in the school’s history has been presented by the demands of carrying on in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Headmaster, all staff and boys are to be congratulated on the creative ways they have adapted to these unique circumstances. *

#BackAKearsneyBoy

Last year this initiative raised R362 000 to assist Kearsney College families whose income was seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Much of this was driven by California-based old boy Michael Hall. It assisted some families to keep their sons at Kearsney and enabled boys without access to laptops and data to receive these, to ensure their online learning was not impacted.