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Interview – Gary Norton – Staff
Gary was a member of staff at St David’s from 1989 until 1996 when he was acting headmaster.
He then went to Oakhill in Knysna before returning to take up his current post as headmaster of
Marion College.
He recalls that his sons Ryan and Shaun, together with the Edey boys started cleaning up the
reservoir adding fish and feeding the ducks.
In 1994/5 there was a combined Biology/Geography trip for the grade 9’s (then standard 7) that
he made together with Father Brewer to Groot Marico. They used a farm as their base, it was
very wild and the boys had to make their own toilets and wash their utensils properly. Gary told
the boys that they had to have a knife and to make sure that they didn’t get hurt as there were
no facilities or anaesthetic if needed. On the Saturday, early evening he and Father Brewer
were relaxing when Gareth Simaan, Robbie Tait and Murray White came to them. Gareth said
Murray had cut his hand. Thinking that the boys were conning them, it didn’t look real, they told
them to go away. However, when they had a good look at the hand they saw how serious it
was. They bandaged him up as best they could, got on the bus and, with Father Brewer got to
Ventersdorp where they got directions to a doctor. They had to open a gate and two large
alsatians came running toward them, they managed to get past them and find the doctor who
wasn’t impressed saying “You guys from town don’t know anything”. So the hand was stitched
up without anaesthetic just as Gary had warned the boys!
There was another memorable trip to Hoedspruit, Blydepoort, also a Biology/Geography camp.
On the Sunday the boys were playing touch rugby by the pool and Bradley Geldenhuys
managed to break his foot. During this camp an impala was shot and the boys had to cut it up,
bleed it and make a potjie. They also went hunting as a part of a culling exercise. One of the
boys was stung by a scorpion, very venomous with urotoxic venom; fortunately they managed to
treat it. Bradley Geldenhuys then disappeared, at 3am, he saw a zebra and went to pat it and it
promptly kicked Bradley on the head. On leaving they had a chicken parade, checking no
rubbish was left behind when Bradley called out that he had seen something in the grass – Gary
promptly told them all to get on the bus!
On another occasion, one of the teachers, Robin Henderson took the grade 8 boys to the
weather station; he came back in tears as they had been so badly behaved. Gary summoned all
the boys and asked them to write down who was really naughty. He then dismissed the boys but
told them that if they had been naughty they should come to his classroom. Out of 75 boys, 72
went to his classroom and when he asked one of the smaller boys why he was there to get a
hiding, he replied that he thought he had better come just in case his name was on the list.
Another pupil, Kieran Rowan was diagnosed with leukaemia and Gary remembers telling him to
think that, like Pacman, his cells were gobbling up the cancer – he survived and is still alive.
On a Friday afternoons Gary would take some of the boys fishing and many of the naughty boys
would come along. Gary recalls asking one boy why his father never came and fished with him,
he replied that his father did spend one afternoon with him but told him he had given up
R15 000 he would have earned had he been working instead. Needless to say the boy didn’t
ask his father again.
Gary’s wife Alison is a prep school teacher at St David’s
JE August 2011

Interview with Heather Joseph – Staff - 1975 to 2019
Heather began her teaching career at St David’s in 1975 at the tender age of 19. Brother
Timothy who took over from Br Anthony as headmaster was a close family friend and offered
her a teaching post.
One of Heather’s fondest early memories is that of the staff celebrating her 21st with champagne
during break in the staff room and she remembers going back to the classroom to teach slightly
tipsy!
When she joined St David’s, the school was very small, the boarding had closed, the junior
school had its own staffroom and they were provided with a lunch in what is now the committee
room, formerly the Brothers dining room. There was unity between the junior and high schools
and Heather taught in both, through the grades up until standard 8. At one time she taught the
Art class from the junior school through to matric in the high school with talented pupils such as
Christian Zimelke and Gregor Schafer.
Heather remembers George Manolios fondly. He was junior school headmaster having taken
over when Mrs Kempster retired in 1974. He was a wonderful head, very kind, supportive, who
encouraged his staff and was well liked. Mr Murphy took over the headmastership of both
schools in 1982 and, once he was exposed as a wrestler was replaced by Mr Frielich, then
Darryl Boswell and in 1989 Paul Davies was appointed headmaster of the high school and Greg
Royce headmaster of the prep school.
In 1989 Heather moved to Durban and upon her return in 1993 she rejoined the staff and is still
teaching Art in the prep school. In the interim Annika Carter had been appointed as the Art
teacher in the high school and Heather carried on class teaching and with great determination
and motivation built up the Art programme in the prep school. She organises an annual art
exhibition for the prep school boys and produces some amazing work. Without her artistic skills
some of the sets for the prep school plays and musical events would not be so inspired.
Heather has always been actively involved in the school and was a class teacher for grades 3,
4, 5 and 6 and for standards 8 and 9 and Art for standard 10. At times she was very involved
with soccer and did a course in the game and in refereeing. She scored for cricket, ran the
school swimming galas and did the announcing, she also organised the compilation and
publication of the school magazine for ten years and organised the matric dances. She went on
several soccer tours and remembers the tour to Durban staying at the Maharani with Willy
Castle, Carol Ansell and Terry O’Mahony. Then another tour to East London travelling by train
and she recalled that Glenda Anderson always went along too.
Some sad occasions were when Father Plestus, Monsignor and chaplain died and when
George Manolius left.
Staff she remembers are Br Aidan the bursar who was very kind, Ann Carpenter, Audrey
Williams the secretary, Nancy Buckley-Jones the matron who had a doberman called Lola, Mary
Ryan the matron who followed her, Pru Johnson a secretary whose son Simon became head
boy and Gail McEwan.
When the Brothers ran the school it was unbelievable, the ethos of humility and simplicity was
strong, the staff very supportive and they respected one another. Heather also liked Paul Edey
and felt that he brought a new dynamic to the school.
Heather has taught so many boys and remembers many but some standout such as the
Dedecker boys, Lucykx boys, Stephan Andradie, Siphiso Ngwenya – the first black Head Boy,
Greg and Jason Zenopolis and Christian Zimelka.
Outside of school and her outreach activities there, Heather is involved with animal welfare, the
SPCA and the Irwin Dog Rescue Centre.
JE 2012

Interview with Byron King – 2007
Byron came to St David’s mid-year 1998, grade 3. Byron’s family had relocated from Cape
Town, where he had attended a small government school, to Johannesburg. Debbi Zambon
was his teacher and he recalls that it quite an intense and overwhelming experience for him.
The sport was much more competitive, the buildings formidable and it was very cold.
Johannesburg was very different and he didn’t have as much freedom as he had in the
Cape. His mother Cheryl started working at the school and therefore, Byron spent most of
his time at the school.
Willy Castle ruled the prep with an iron fist, but Byron used to see him at school and
afterwards in a social capacity together with his parents. Byron’s passion was his guitar and
was encouraged and influenced greatly by Rick Wilson the prep school headmaster. He
participated in sport with swimming, soccer, and athletics but he never featured in any top
teams.
Byron though that Ron Thackwell, Mandy Everson and Craig Sinclair were excellent
teachers with Craig having an incredible general knowledge which he imparted to the boys.
Roger McIver was his grade 7 English teacher and although he loved English, he fought him
all the time but now they are the best of friends and Roger is one of his mentors. The prep
boys love to hear the story of how Mr King and Mr McIver didn’t get on. Byron remembers
well the grade 7 lunches with food from Steers when Rick Wilson made a speech and
mentioned every boy in grade 7.
Byron felt more integrated in the high school but wasn’t a member of the main groups. He
became friendly with Dino Zuccolo who was very driven, worked extremely hard and in spite
of that always came second. Boys grew up quickly in high school. In grade 7 you tend to
think you are invincible until the grade 8 camp with guys you had never seen or met before
and of course new teachers. The older boys seemed enormous and the entire grade 8’s
were scared of them. Initiation was fierce and the matrics were vicious with the grade 8’s in
Byron’s year, but the boys respected them. They had a great 1st team rugby and when they
mentored the boys one on one gave them guidance..
By grade 9 the boys became a bit cockier with hormones, girls, cell phones and the
accompaniments of the teenage youth. His class was a close knit group and became more
so after the death from cancer of Justin Bessler which brought them together again after
leaving school.
Byron took sport more seriously in high school and did well in swimming, water polo, and A
and B team rugby. He lived for sport and no longer played his guitar until he reached first
year at varsity. Byron was captain of the B swimming team and captain for one or two rugby
games.
Special events, Byron recalled the New Zealand and Australian rugby tour in his matric year.
The team consisted of 25 boys including 5 from grade 11. Boys on tour generally become
very close and this tour was no exception. His fondest memory is of the 1st team rugby
beating St Stithians at home in 2007. The stands were packed Byron was on the bench the
atmosphere was electric. From a social point of view there was quite a bit of tension as
many of the St David’s boys were friendly with St Stithian’s girls. He also recalled the time in
grade 8 and 9 when St David’s beat KES.
Byron was line-up monitor, but didn’t receive a leadership scroll. Rod Smith told him it was
his sloppy dress and behavioural issues that let him down. Mr Smith was his favourite
teacher teaching English but also covered Life Skills. He always came late by 10 or 15
minutes to start a lesson, although he was very strict on discipline. He was housemaster of
Osmond house which always did well, the theory being that he selected the boys for his
house whilst they were at the grade 8 camp.
Byron also studied Art and found Anneke Carter to be a great teacher and made the subject
so interesting. Once, the boys went with her to the Carlton Centre to draw the Johannesburg
skyline. She allowed the boys some freedom for 40 minutes and many of them wandered off
with the result that they arrived back at school late and missed several other lessons. In his
matric Byron achieved a distinction in Art with several other boys, he didn’t struggle with the
history of Art and spent many Saturday afternoons doing pracs in the Art room.
Walter Thompson was the boys’ rugby coach from grade 8 to grade 10 and taught Maths.
The boys really enjoyed him, he treated them well but they understood the line they
shouldn’t cross. He treated the boys like adults on the rugby tour and they rewarded him with
the U16 rugby team winning all their matches. Then for some reason things changed and the
boys became demotivated and lost the drive to win.
Marius Buys was an interesting teacher coaching rugby and teaching Afrikaans and
Geography.
Byron was awarded scrolls for U16A rugby, U14A rugby. He did help out with the SMILE
programme once but unfortunately didn’t have time to participate more than that. He
performed in house plays in grade 11, auditioned for the school play but wasn’t selected.
Byron respected the ethos of St David’s and realised it was a privilege to have received a
Marist education with its focus on modesty, humility and simplicity.
After Matric, Byron took a gap year and together with Cameron McLullich went to St
Augustine’s a Marist school in Cairns, Australia near the Great Barrier Reef. The school
uniform was different but the ethos was very similar. A top boy’s school it was run by Marist
brothers in their 40’s upwards, living on the premises. The head brother Michael was aged
about 55 and Byron enjoyed the Brothers innovative and modern approach to Marist
education, It influenced his eventual decision to become a teacher. He visited 3 Marist
schools whilst in Australia – St Josephine’s in Sydney, Marist Ashgrove in Brisbane. All, the
schools offered boarding and were absolutely phenomenal. Two Australian Brothers are
starting a Marist organisation and members will be recognised as an official Marist educator.
On his return to South Africa, Byron went to Stellenbosch to study for a BComm but
absolutely hated it and decided to return to Johannesburg and study to become a teacher.
He started working and studying through Unisa simultaneously and regards himself as
extremely fortunate to have Rick Wilson as his guide and mentor. Teaching is very different
now with the use of Ipads, laptops and smart boards etc.
Byron is currently an intern at St David’s and believes he is fortunate to have guidance from
Rick Wilson and other prep school teachers.
JLE August 2013

Historical collection

Interview with Rick Wilson – 2013– Farewell speech by Willy Castle
Mr Rick Wilson a summary of 18 years.
I am one of those(probably unusual) people whose favourite part of any function is the speeches.
Normal conversation ceases, times becomes momentarily suspended and people are joined together
to listen, laugh, cry and share in a personal story.
I have 3 goals for this speech
1 Not to cry
2 Make Mr Wilson cry
3 Make sure all of you know how important Mr Rick Wilson’s contribution of 18 years at St David’s
Marist Preparatory School has been.
How do you condense 18 years not easily so sit back and relax because it is going to take a while.
Mr Warwick BruceWilson was born in Zimbabwe......Married to Gerry and has two grown up sons,
Bruce and Andrew. We all know that Mr Wilson is a lover of dogs and now has two dogs, he loves
the Kruger Park and we have some great days in the park together, a brilliant golfer and now a keen
mountain bike fanatic. Oh yes and Pizza and chilli are Mr Wilson’s favourite food, just ask Col Chetio
at Blue Bird shopping centre.
Good evening to all you special guests who have gathered here to celebrate the life of a man who
has had a remarkable influence on all, our lives not to mention 18 years as headmaster of this
wonderful preparatory school which would equate to teaching approximately 1500 new pupils
entering St David’s.
To try and find out what Mr Wilson headmaster does all day we hired the heavies from Gr0 and
asked them what Mr Wilson does all day and here are some of the answers...
“He works on his computer all day and drinks tea”
“He’s ticking work”
“He watches the children on camera”
“He does gymnastics in his office”
Just before leaving my house this evening I phoned Linda who unfortunately cannot be here as she
is in America and said to her “Lin did you ever think in your wildest dreams that I’d be standing
before hundreds of people making a speech” and I could hear a giggle and she said “Wily you don’t
appear in my wildest dreams”
It was on a chilly day in August 1995 when we were busy with our annual inter-house cross country
on the College rugby fields when Mr Edey came down the dreaded First rugby team stairs with a
gentleman in tow wearing a green jacket. We all thought he was going to introduce us to the recent
winner of the Masters in Augusta but no such luck, we were introduced to Mr Rick Wilson our new
headmaster.
My first memory of Rick was on the side of the football flled in East London when he was teaching
and coaching St Stithian’s . Little did he know that he would still go on football tour to East London
for another 21 years and fall among thieves on and off the train. Mr Sinclair or Captain Morgan as he
was known on these trips will remember them as the highlight of the year. What happens on tour
stays on tour.
It is not widely known that on Saturdays Mr Wilson wears red underpants not in case he has a bad
golf game but o support his favourite football team which at the moment the name escapes me. Rick
also, unbeknown to most people won the “Cow and Gate Beautiful Baby Competition”, when he was
months old. I leave it to your imagination whether he looked like the cow or the gate! By the way it
was the girls’ category!
In no time at all we were as staff introduced to SWOT analysis, new strategies and the effective use
of technology in education. During this time we embraced technology, our teaching methods
changed and we came to understand that schools don’t in fact exist for the sake of teaching, but for
the sake of learning.
During this time Rick guided us through this most exciting phase of growth and development. Rick
has assembled a great team of professionals and sees hi srole as one of servant leadership where we
are rigorous, but not ruthless.
Rick’s own claim to technological fame is winning the staff technology award for shredding his tie in
the shredding machine while Mrs Donaldson and Mrs Mackenzie were overcome with emotion.
We all know how important assemblies are to Rick and how without fail, a dog comes into the story
– which reminds me of a story....
One evening after Mass a priest was just about to leave the church, noticed a man with a dog. He
went up to the man and asked him “What are you doing here with a dog?” The man replied “The
dog has come to pray”. “Dogs don’t pray” said the priest. “This one does” said Rick. “I don’t believe
you” said the priest, “It’s absolutely true” said Rick. “OK” said the priest, “Then show me what the
dog can do”. “OK” said Rick and the dog got into the pew, knelt down, took a Missal from under his
collar and started praying. The priest shocked listened for a full 15 minutes, speechless and so
impressed with the dog and the quality of the prayer. When he regained composure the priest said
to Rick “I have never seen anything like it; do you think your dog would consider joining the
seminary?” Rick, throwing his hands up in disgust said “You talk to him, he wants to be a doctor”.
We all know Mr Wilson is a prankster of some note – always interfering in equipment and switching
off sound systems and hiding diaries, keys and anything just to stir with someone.
He has however been caught out himself. A few weeks after Rick and Gerry had moved onto the
school property, Linda and I were walking past Rick’s driveway next to the back of the Music room.
They had just come back to the house because they had left something behind and needed to get it.
Their car was parked outside the gate with the keys in the ignition – what an opportunity! I climbed
into the car and drove it around the front of the now Music room. We waited until Rick came out of
the house and then it started: “Gerry the car is gone! I told you we are now living in Gauteng!! Beep,
beep, beep!” Rick ran up to the gate to speak to the guard to see if he had seen his car drive out. The
guard looked at Rick as if he were on drugs. By this time we could not be quiet and Rick heard us
laughing and discovered his car parked own by the tennis courts.
On another occasion Rick had just lit his Weber braai and put the meat on when I happened to pass
the gate. I saw that it was unattended and nipped in and wheeled his braai out to the road and
waited for him to go crazy when he came out to turn the meat.
When my Combi was stolen during Mass at Rosebank one Sunday, I walked back from church
straight to Rick’s house and said to him “Okay where’s my Combi?” I am still looking for it.
Gerry you took the pranks in your stride and also gave us Rick whenever we needed him at school
functions. We thank you for giving up your family time and sharing the many school occasions with
Rick and supporting all the different activities including feeding the geese, ducks and birds. We
would like you to accept this small token of appreciation from all of us.
We would also like to thank Rick’s school wife , tea girl, file finder, and someone who helped us on
many occasions into getting off campus when we needed to get him away. Mrs Coleen Donaldson,
please come and receive a gift on behalf of Rick and all of us. Good luck, for I believe the headmaster
for next year is quite a difficult pain in the neck!
We all know Rick enjoys a good party, loves his music and is very knowledgeable about different
genre of music. After one of our pub crawls through the property (we used to start at the pavilion
and then go to Mac’s flat, then Fr Brewer’s and a few other houses), on returning home after a pizza
fight at my house, Rick slipped and fell in his house. Gerry called me and off we went to Sandton
Clinic for Rick to have 38 stitches in his head. The next morning when Rick went into a Grade 5 class
one of the boys said “Good morning Sir, you look like a baseball”.
Rick is well known for his assemblies, Grade 7 luncheon speeches are legendary and each year the
boys look forward to him including all of them in his story.
Mr Wilson has given unselfishly of his time to support the boys and parents in all the activities in
which they participate, namely academics, cultural and sporting. Your presence has really been
appreciated by all of us.
On behalf of the pupils, parents and staff, we would like to thank you for your commitment and
dedication to St David’s Marist Inanda.
We all say thank you and wish you a fantastic retirement until you get bored and start the next stage
of your life. Our prayers go with you and Gerry. We are really going to miss you. Thank you.
Please will you all stand and join me in a toast to Rick and Gerry.
Willy Castle 2013

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Interview with Father Michael 1999 – 2007
At the end of 1998 Father Brewer had retired because of advancing lung cancer. Father Michael
had left Rivonia having completed a 10 year contract 1988 – 98 and was in London on long
leave in May 1998 staying at the Jesuit church, Farm Street when he was told that Father
Brewer had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. There were boys at St David’s whose families
were parishioners and he was sometimes invited to functions at the school. As he had always
liked the school, he offered his services and was accepted as chaplain.
He had taught in three Jesuit schools when younger and he prided himself that he never had to
use corporal punishment on the boys and always managed to subdue them with a look or a
tongue lashing. At St David’s he joined the RE department and taught RE to the matrics and
then to grade 8. It is difficult teaching a subject that is not counted for marks so this provided the
opportunity for some boys to misbehave. Also this teaching caused him to be regarded as a
teacher and member of staff rather than as chaplain and priest.
Father Michael considered that extra-curricular activities were important occasions to interact
with and get to know the boys, so he was involved with debating, public speaking and was time
keeper at the swimming galas and judged inter-house plays together with Julie Egenrieder. He
had a good relationship with Paul Edey.
After he had a knee replacement, he became rather unstable having no sideways movement
and boys like Greg Hammond would see him coming and clear a path for him. They were
spontaneous and protected him. He had a good relationship with a number of boys.
high school mass was held on Thursdays, before the chapel was built was celebrated in the
Champagnat hall on a table on the stage. There were volunteer teams to transfer the
requirements for mass to the hall and to return them to the sacristy afterwards. They were
faithful and utterly reliable.
He remembered Stuart Fould’s production of “Guards, Guards” by Terry Pratchett and felt
strongly that there really wasn’t any acting just a lot of shouting. Gareth Dry’s gift to the school
was instituting musicals of such a professional standard which revived interest and brought new
energy into the school. It was Paul Edey’s idea to get a musical component into the school and
the musical for 2006 was “West Side Story” with David Schneider taking the male lead role and
managing the aria when Maria is dying. It’s a very difficult aria and without, any musical
background, David pulled it off. Father Michael found it very emotional and was very involved.
In 2007, Gareth Dry approached him with the request to put on a musical “Jesus Christ
Superstar” and asked him if he would have any objection to such a controversial musical. Father
Michael said he would use the occasion to catechise on the gospel events to instruct the boys.
He and Gareth were on the same wavelength and at no stage did he have to say this is
inappropriate. However a former pupil, Deneys Williamson living in the States sent an email
complaining about the musical. Father Michael decided to ignore it and the irony was that his
younger brother Alex Williamson played one of the high priests in the show. Kylo Molefe played
Jesus Christ and found the part to be very emotional for him and for the cast. It was also difficult
for a boy like Kylo to be head boy but he had the support and the ability to handle it.
Father Michael is rather proud of the organ that was donated to the school for use in the new
Chapel of Mary. It is apparently one of the best organs in any school in Johannesburg if not in
the country. He thought it would be appropriate for it to be used for recitals and mentioned
Cameron Upchurch (St John’s) who is teaching a number of boys to play and also plays the
organ at the university church on a Sunday.
JE August 2011

Interview with Rick Wilson – Staff 1996 to date
Rick was appointed headmaster of the preparatory school in 1996, prior to this he had lived in
Botswana for 11 years and before that taught at St Stithians. The reason for leaving Botswana
was that his two young sons needed to go to high school and there was nothing suitable in
Botswana.
Rick didn’t warm to the architecture of St David’s, finding the face brick too Victorian but he
came to love it over the years and in every subsequent project a great deal of effort has been
made to match the existing style. His first assembly was held in the old hall where now the high
school library is. Fairly apprehensive, coming from a very rural and multi-racial environment he
introduced himself to the 350 boys, as they sat on the floor. He talked to them about himself and
his life and how he played in a rock band during his teens. He appeared to have broken the ice
and quickly won the boys over.
As St David’s lacked a suitable large facility, the first speech night was held down at the pool
with the lectern and dignitaries lined up by the baby pool and the boys and parents on the
grandstands. As Rick began his speech, three Egyptian geese flew in and landed in the pool –
Rick jokingly said that his reputation as a good speaker had gone before him and had even
attracted the geese to come and listen to him.
Rick recalls that he was handed the keys to his tiny office in the grade 1 block, now occupied by
a therapist. He saw a cricket clinic in progress on the playing fields and decided to take a look.
As he walked over he was conscious of fierce scrutiny by a short bearded man. He introduced
himself to a suspicious Willy Castle. It took Willy two to three weeks before he had weighed Rick
up and didn’t venture to offer anything in the way of help until he had accepted him as the
newhHead.
Over the years a strong friendship has developed between them. Rick originally lived in the
house next to Willem, the estate manager and one day he and Gerry, his wife were sitting
outside when they heard the most terrible noise which turned out to be Willy and his wife Linda
revving the engine of Willy’s pride and joy, a V6 combi. They had come to fetch them to go and
eat pizza at Panerotti’s which had a special every Tuesday. Both Rick and Willy love garlic so
their pizzas looked rather like a snowstorm of garlic had landed. Afterwards they would then go
and buy sweets at a local sweet shop with Willy buying a huge bag to satisfy his sweet tooth.
On another occasion Rick had decided to go and fetch a video but, on reaching the main gate
realised he had left his wallet behind, he turned around and went back home where he ran
inside leaving his car engine running. He returned to find his car had disappeared; He had
heard of the car theft in Johannesburg but couldn’t believe this was happening to him. He went
in search of his car only to find Willy and Linda sitting on the bonnet of his car grinning from ear
to ear. Another time his prepared Weber braie disappeared only to find it behind the library
where Willy had hidden it.
Rick recalled another rather sad occasion when late at night Willy came knocking on his door
begging Rick to confess that he had stolen his beloved combi. Willy had gone to mass at
Rosebank, parked the combi only to come back and find it gone. This time it had been stolen
and Rick was absolved of seeking revenge.
In 1996 Rick and Paul Edey in consultation with the then chairman of the board, Terence
Wilkinson, then CEO of the Lonhro Group, formulated a rigorous development plan . The school
needed to modernise if it was to become a leading role player in the northern suburbs. The
facilities needed to improve and technology needed to be embraced going forward. In 1997
together with Kevin Brewer and the board the development plan commenced with a grand plan
of all the things that were required to improve the school including a new hall, classrooms, D &
T and IT centres. First came the classroom block to the left of the hall followed by the hall which
was built on the site of the old basketball court. Rick and Paul visited many school halls in
Johannesburg before consulting with the architects. One thing Rick was determined to
incorporate was a steeped or sloping balcony which would afford everyone a view of the stage
together with underground storage. The IT department had been started by Steve Eilertson and
was originally located in a long thin corridor with 10 state of the art 486 machines, which were
totally inadequate. Aware of Rick’s desire to upgrade the technology, the parents started a
petition to the board in support of their headmaster. He undertook three feasibility and
justification studies which was accepted, Jean Rodell was appointed head of IT for the prep
school and the fibre optic backbone installed.
The grade 0 classrooms were where the current IT department is and their playground where
the after-care is now located. Rick’s plan was to initiate two grade 00 classes and house them
together with three grade 0’s in a separate building, The pre-school block eventually followed
and the grade 0 classrooms were converted into our current computer classrooms.
When Rick first arrived the high school pavilion was an asbestos shed with no change rooms
and the boys were forced to change in the open in full view of some admiring mothers!. Rick
had built a state of the art D&T and IT centre at his school in Botswana and was determined St
David’s should have the same. He put together a justification for a D & T centre which was
approved by the board. Darryl Webb, deputy prep headmaster was given the job of overseeing
the project together with the new Music centre and high school Art centre.
Parents at St David’s have been extraordinarily generous with their donations and Rick was
never afraid to approach parents on behalf of struggling families for financial assistance when
needed. One parent who was leaving the country gave a donation of R2 million which with his
approval was used to build and refurbish the prep and high school libraries. When the hall was
built there wasn’t enough funding for a clock or stained glass windows for the tower. Rick
requested help via the school newsletter and the money came pouring in. There have been
some extremely kind benefactors who wish to remain anonymous.
Rick’s relationship with Paul Edey was an exceptionally good one and they used to spark each
other off. He enjoyed working together with him on much of the early development. He found
Paul to be an inspirational influence in his life.
Rick also feels that he has been blessed during his seventeen years with a stable, happy and
settled staff. This has been a source of great strength in the prep school with teachers who have
bought into the Marist philosophy resulting in the grade 7 boys being fully prepared for the
challenges of high school. The power of Marist cannot be underestimated and Rick also
believes strongly in the circle of contentment whereby, if the teachers are happy - then so are
the boys and if the boys are happy then so are the parents. Usually about 8 to 12 grade 7 boys
leave the school. Some win scholarships to prestigious boarding schools whilst some boys are
victims of the “Spud effect”. Rick always follows up on these boys and they always do
exceptionally well in their new schools having been given the foundation by St David’s prep
Rick believes he has been the longest serving headmaster at St David’s and, when he retires at
the end of 2013 will have served the school for 17 years and he observes that with the
exception of one year he has seen a new building development each year.
One of the aspects of his time at the school, which he values highly, is the role he has played in
staff development especially with interns. Many teachers have gone on to be heads or deputies
of other schools of which he is justifiably proud.
JLE January 2013

Interview with Mathew Schneider – 2002
Matthew came to St David’s from Grayston Preparatory in 2002 into grade 8. He was the first generation of
the Schneider family at St David’s.
He remembers lining up in the quad next to the smelly ablution block, the matrics seemed huge and he
knew only two other boys from Grayston. He knew no one in his class and his introduction to a boy’s school
was a fight which broke out between two boys during an English lesson.
Matthew went to the Grade 8 camp to Babanangu. It was an overnight trip with the boys sleeping on the
bus, some in the luggage racks and some on the floor.
Matthew enjoyed the sport immensely and was a member of College house with Yvette Snyman as
housemaster. In grade 8 and 9 he played cricket, rugby and athletics. At the end of grade 9 he moved from
cricket to water polo and was a member of the team up until matric. He was a member of 1st team rugby, A
team athletics, A team swimming and 1st team water polo. The U15 rugby team did really well and Matthew
recalled the first year that St David’s was invited to participate in the 10 Schools Gala which was held at
Wits University. He remembers the early morning training the friendship and camaraderie.
Academically Matthew was average as he was too busy on the sports field and didn’t enjoy studying. He
was awarded an honours blazer for leadership, sport and merit and was selected to be a prefect.
The teachers who really stood out were Phil Andrew, Yvette Snyman, Dianne Webb, Teresa Voorendyk,
Brad Ireland and Marius Buys.
Of all the camps that Matthew participated in the grade 11 camp at the “Spirit of Adventure Camp” in the
Magaliesburg was the most memorable. They were the first St David’s boys to go there and it has become
a regular camp ever since.
Matthew made some really good friends who he still sees on a regular basis, they are really deep seated
friendships.
Matthew is passionate about St David’s and loves coaching. He enjoyed his high school career and thought
that Paul Edey was a great headmaster.
After matriculating, Matthew went to UJ and studied for a BComm Sports Management. He continued to
play rugby for Pirates for another 5 -6 years which he thoroughly enjoyed.
After graduating he went into sales for 2-3 years which he didn’t enjoy. He contacted Shane Gaffney and
started his internship at St David’s in 2010 studying for 2 years through Unisa for his post graduate
certificate in Education. He loves teaching and is happy at St David’s. He currently teaches Accountancy to
grades 8 and 9 and Business Studies to Grades 10 – 12. His mentors were Shane Gaffney, Alan Redfern
and Alex Gitlin all who have moved on to become deputy headmasters elsewhere.
Matthew is a member of MOBS and plays in their water polo team.
JLE February 2014

Interview with Mike Greeff – Staff - 2006 to 2015
Before joining St David’s in 2006 as chief executive officer, Mike worked in the banking sector for 20 years
before running his own consulting company specialising in development finance mainly in South Africa,
Eastern Europe and Africa. Mike enjoyed his business which was very successful and identified NGO’s or
groupings that banks would not consider and, under the auspices of Shore Bank, (Chicago) would
guarantee loans with the backing of the US government.
Whilst in the banking sector, Mike ran leadership camps for grade 11 to matric boys through the auspices
of Rotary. As a matriculant and head prefect at Parktown Boys, Mike had attended one of these camps
himself and eventually his boss at the time asked him if he would get involved. Mike also saw this as a
form of outreach through his own company and also his old school. Some of the youngsters who attended
the camps asked him to come and speak at pupil development workshops such as the one he was involved
with at St David’s. Whilst running his own company he continued with this as a form of personal corporate
outreach. This extended to working with staff at schools and several strategic planning workshops.
In early 2000 Paul Edey and Kevin Brewer asked Mike if he would facilitate a staff planning session at St
David’s and look at a restructuring programme for the school management. In 2005 Paul Edey called him
again and asked him if he would do an intervention to assess the success of the restructuring programme
and at the same time told him he was resigning and suggested that perhaps Mike should consider applying
for the position of chief executive officer.
Mike then recused himself from the intervention process and recalls meeting with Tony Chappel, the then
chairman of the board on a Saturday in May 2006.
Mike was not a Marist pupil himself but was a practicing catholic and his grandparents had been managers
of the Maristonian club at Woodmead. Mike’s mother was brought up there and loved everything Marist.
Unfortunately Mike’s parents were not in a position to be able to send him to St David’s and he went the
public school route but always had a very strong association with the Marists. Hs mother sadly passed
away the day before Mike met with Tony Chappel and he regrets not being able to tell her about the
planned meeting. Mike then went through a set of interviews with Br Jude, Mrs Sealand and others and
eventually began his career at St David’s in September 2006 and has never regretted it.
Mike’s involvement with the Marist Brothers was key to his move into education and he qualified as a
teacher shortly after coming to St David’s; all his prior qualifications being commercial degrees. There were
many different issues he was tasked to deal with and, apart from the absolute strengthening of the Marist
link with the brothers and the rest of the Marist world; these included risk and governance; strategy and
ethos. St David’s was and still is a Marist catholic independent school. Mike’s dream is that boys currently
at the school will still have, in twenty years time a Marist school which is relevant to the times to which they
can send their children.
Shortly before he died Br Anthony expressed the opinion that St David’s was more Marist then than when
the brothers were running the school purely because the lay Marists running the schools are so acutely
aware of their responsibilities inherited from legions of Marist brothers who laid the foundations.
St David’s performance is being acknowledged in education and catholic education circles with many
members of staff being leaders in the educational environment having positions within the IEB, ISASA, the
Catholic Schools Office etc . Br Jude was instrumental and brave in his support and encouragement of lay
teachers and staff.
Mike is very proud of how vibrant MOBS has become with a combination of both younger and older MOBS
working together with Willy Castle in the chair.
The Foundation has grown with Chantal Ratcliffe being the right person at the right time followed now by
Lara Klement with whom the development has continued and flourished with a Marist perspective. Mike is
intimately involved with the running of the Foundation which is now far beyond where it started and has
moved to a different level of maturity. Lara has done an incredible job supported by Thierry Dalais, Rob
Smith, Tony Chappell, Gianni Mariano and with Br Jude at the very heart of it.
Mike is currently chairman of the African Law and Brothers Commission which covers the entire African
continent and he reports to Br Javier who in turn runs the secretariat of the laity in Rome. Br Joe originally
asked Mike to represent Southern Africa at the first meeting of this body.
Mike has set in place a good financial management structure with the school being run along business lines
but not as a business, with both schools being directed by the two headmasters and their staff. The school
is currently in a good place and Mike feels that Rod Smith summed it up well in his retirement speech when
he said, “On our day we will beat anyone but we are too small to be arrogant”. The school is in a healthy
space but that can change overnight, it has to be maintained and sustained. Its strength lies in the numbers
with people doing what they are good at, who are passionate about what they do and educating within the
Marist ethos.
Mike currently enjoys a little bit of teaching in guest slots with the grade 8’s through to matric, and is also
involved with staff development assisting with the induction of new staff and is fully involved on a pastoral
level with both headmasters.
2016, Willy Castle will be playing an active role and Mike is confident that what we celebrate in 2016 will be
celebrated in the same vein in another 25 years time with a golden thread running through it.
Mike feels that it has been a privilege for him to live at Maryknoll and to be part of the school for the past 10
years.
Mike has, as from 1 March 2015 been appointed director of the Marist Schools Council.
JLE January 2015

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