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Interview with Paul Edey 1995 - 2006 Staff

ZA ZAR STDS 202000872
Item
2016

Interview with Paul Edey 1995 – 2006
Paul Edey was appointed as college headmaster during 1994 to start in January 1995. He had
previously taught at St John’s College and King Edward VII School, where he was a viceprincipal.
The search for a new head to take over from P Davies was led by Tony Frost, head of
human resources at Lonhro,and a colleague of the chairman of the board,Terence Wilkinson.
1994 had been a difficult year for the school with the board conducting a survey which had
resulted in the headmaster, Paul Davies, stepping down. The deputy head, Gary Norton, acted
as head for eight months with Paul Davies continuing to live at Mary Knoll for 7 months and only
moving out in the December of 1994. The school was battling financially and had endured a
succession of lay headmasters in the college following the last Marist Brother, Brother Timothy
Mc Krindle ( (1967-81) South Africa was in a state of flux with the first free and democratic
elections resulting in Nelson Mandela coming to power in April 1994. The relationship between
the prep school , which was thriving and successful and the college which was battling for
numbers was poor
Paul’s biggest challenges were to win the confidence of the prep school and the parents to
encourage them to send their sons to the high school rather than local rivals St Stithians and St
John’s College. In 1995 sixty four boys were admitted into grade 8 and split into three classes.
Some of the top prep boys had been awarded scholarships to rival senior schools, but for the
first time in many years the numbers were up in the college. The school wrote the Transvaal
education department matriculation examination (TED) and the results were generally
undistinguished. There were 267 boys in the High School in 1995 with Michael von
Guilleaume,head boy and Jeremy Wickens, deputy, leading a small but very talented matric
group.
Although Anglican, Paul made doubly sure that the Catholic ethos remained and strengthened.
The numbers picked up from 1996 with a small but stable staff of 18 with some very strong
teachers such as Lesley Henning (HOD Maths), Belinda Marais (HOD Afrikaans), Richard
Girdwood (English and senior housemaster) and Rod Smith, former headmaster of Sandown
High School. We were very fortunate to have a very successful rugby team in 1995 with the side
winning 18 out of 19 matches and going on a very rewarding tour of Australia to round off the
season. Of interest was the fact that the touring squad had 5 boys in it from Jabulani Technical
High School in Soweto whose tour was paid for through the fundraising efforts of the St David’s
community. 1996 was a very weak year academically but the numbers were increasing and
things were looking up.
Rick Wilson was appointed head of the prep at the beginning of 1996. He took over from the
very successful and charismatic Greg Royce, who had left in the middle of 1995 to become
headmaster of St Peter’s Preparatory. The senior school suffered a blow at the end of 1996
when the loyal and hardworking deputy headmaster Gary Norton left to take up the headship of
Oakhill School in Knysna. Pete Geldenhuys, Andrew Brownlee, Greg Lamb and Richard
Girdwood, all four housemasters left during the course of 1996. In one year the entire college
management team apart from the head and bursar had left. Malcolm Williams, an old friend and
colleague of Paul’s from Wits and King Edward’s, was appointed as the deputy head during

A number of other colleagues from the King Edward’s days joined the staff with Simon Fry
and Stuart Foulds coming in as the heads of department of History and English respectively.
Teresa Vroom became the librarian.
Critically, at this time Kevin Brewer became chairman of the board and together with the school
management team and the support of the Marist Brothers an exciting development plan was put
together for the school. Under the leadership of Bill Carter and Gerrit Wessels of the
architectural firm Taljaard Carter, this was to result in the complete redevelopment of the school
over the next decade. The development plan covered a 10 year period. In 1997 the grade O
block was built and the high school pavilion replaced the long serving zozo hut from which tea at
sports fixtures had been served. For years the long suffering mother’s committee, under the
extremely capable leadership of Mary von Guilleaume, had complained how the cream scones
and cakes had gone sour in the heat of the summer. These developments were followed by 6
new classrooms, the redevelopment of the quadrangle, the amphitheatre and the Champagnat
hall. Two new libraries, a music school and a design and technology centre were to follow in
quick succession when the astroturf and the new car park were developed the school was
almost unrecognisable from its rustic appearance of the mid 1990’s. The school borrowed R12m
with an unsecured loan from Standard Bank after Br Jude and Kevin Brewer went to see Myles
Ruck. It has to be noted that there was some uncertainty over tenure as the land and buildings
belonged to the Marist Brothers and all major capital projects over R500 000 had to be
approved by Rome.
Over the next seven years the numbers in the senior school increased to 500 and there were
now more applicants than places. Scholarships were offered to top children which culminated in
2001 when Garth Horsten, Kyle Wales, Jean Paulo Peirera were in the top 50 IEB matrics for
that year. The sport showed steady improvement under the leadership of Graeme McMillan with
cricket in particular able to compete against the top state and independent schools. Hockey was
driven by Malcolm Williams and the school had reasonably good rugby sides. The prep was
also very strong in athletics, soccer and swimming., this began to have important spin –offs for
the college.
Father Brewer died in 1999, the boys adored him, he was always on the sports field or
backstage providing support to the boys, but he hated authority and didn’t like headmasters!
The school was now being headed up by non-Catholics and there was a lot of talk about ethos.
The brothers started the pilgrimage to France and Rome in order to give lay school
administrators and teachers a feel for, and understanding, of the Marist ethos and charism.
It was comforting to have brothers at the school as a buffer against the board which became
increasingly secular. The school was now being run in a far more business-like manner, but it
was essential that the Marist ethos be maintained, something which was quite difficult given its
location in the richest business centre on the african continent.
Kevin Brewer had had the time and energy to really set the school development plan on its way
and at the same time to keep a close eye on the finances. He was followed as chairman by
Tony Reilly, Eric Annegarn, and Tony Chappel. Certainly the board and PTA had some very
strong people like the Brocco’s, Emmanuels, O’Shea, Busschau, Van Linden families and
Trevor and Glenda Anderson played a major role. The characters on the staff were Anderson,
Ansell, Joseph, Castle and Marais.
Paul was made executive head (CEO) in 2002 which was motivated by Kevin Brewer. Paul had
been head for 7 years and had started looking around elsewhere to further his career. With
numbers around 1,100 the school had to think about where it was going next with the building
having largely been completed. Hence the idea of a super head to deal with the CIE, brothers,
and JOCASCO and to build up the Foundation office. In the first year of the new headship there
was no deputy, or clarity on Paul’s role. It was a difficult period for Paul and his great friend
Malcolm Williams, who was appointed as head of the high school as the new roles were
established. Malcolm was studying for his Master’s in Education and initially had no deputy until
the appointment of David Smith to the role.
Paul seldom interfered with the prep school and only when there was flack did he get involved.
The prep probably got limited value from the new structure. The philosophy behind the
appointment of a non teacher in the CEO role was that Mike Greeff brought experience of
strategic planning, HR, and financial skills with him. He was adept at handling the non- teaching
aspects of school administration.
The admin staff Paul recalled were the bursar Malcom Smit, the charming and efficient pair of
June Anderson (college secretary) and Lindsay Van Heerden, head’s secretary, Genny
Carvalho, Audrey Williams, Mary von Guilleaume, Sister Mary Ryan and Willem van der Merwe
and his great team on the grounds George Ndlovu, Big Julius Shivambu, Thomas Ramutsindela
and of course the long serving Phineas Selima and Julius Shibambu (Zimbabwean) who had
worked in the brothers dining room for years, deceased who worked for the school for 45 years.
Paul mentioned that the book written by Margeurite Poland “The Boy in You” about the history
of St Andrew’s College sold for R450 per copy when it was published in 2008 and a limited
edition of 100 leather bound copies sold for R5000.
Paul is currently headmaster of St John’s College.
JE 2016

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Teresa Voorendyk 1999 to date Staff

ZA ZAR STDS 202000945
Item
2014

Interview with Teresa Voorendyk - Staff – 1997 to date
Teresa joined the staff of St David’s in 1997 together with Dave Smith and Stuart Foulds. She was
appointed as librarian and English teacher by Paul Edey, the same position she had with her former
employer KES. She recalled being interviewed by Paul Edey, Gary Norton and the head of English, Richard
Girdwood.
In her first year she taught two English classes and MUG (media user guidance) to the grade 8’s and 9’s.
Teresa shared the library facility together with the prep school librarian, Mary Clover. With the different
teaching hours and timetables, the conditions were not ideal however she enjoyed the freedom to buy
books and encouraged her library monitors to select books within an allocated budget she set them.
Teresa eventually moved into teaching English full-time and was peripatetic for a few years until she
inherited her present classroom from Liz Sheratt.
Teresa has filled a number of roles in her time with the school being, head of English, housemistress of
Benedict, mentor to the matric group and now being head of Life Orientation, she has enthusiastically run
the long distance running activity at the school and also takes the boys on corporate relays and other runs
outside of school.
She has seen people come and go with many changes some good some not so good. She has so many
memories of events, individuals, matric groups, and the long distance runners and now some of the pupils
she taught are colleagues such as Matthew Schneider, Richard Carey and Kyle Biller. She recalls the
matric group of 2005 as being very special, they were an odd ball bunch of characters but she had a close
bond with them. She still sees some of “her” runners, many of whom have continued to compete after
leaving school.
Teresa has been very happy at St David’s. It has become a very busy school and initially she and other
colleagues were able to attend all the events and functions but now there are too many to cope with. In
1997 there were 42 boys in matric which are now 112 and with 610 in the school. Previously there was time
to talk to each other and the boys, now it is not quite the close knit community it used to be. The school is
competent in so many areas and so many things. Teresa knew not only the names of the boys she taught
but of all the boys in the high school, now there are far too many. She realises that St David’s has to move
with the times and has to compete with other schools.
Teresa prides herself on being the only high school teacher who still has a blackboard in her classroom.
This doesn’t mean that she doesn’t use technology and is not IT illiterate but she prefers the old way of
teaching.
For sometime Teresa was responsible for the school’s trophies, taking over from Father Brewer when he
became ill. This has now been taken over by Karina George and Teresa is grateful that she no longer has
to track down and ensure the return of the many trophies, ensuring they were in good condition and
engraved every year in time for prize giving.
Teresa always enjoys seeing the old boys and there are very few of whom she has negative memories.
She helped many of the boys without charge, some appreciated this and others took it for granted.
Of her colleagues she remembers Paul Edey who made people believe in themselves, he was warm and
kind and made her feel special and she valued that she mattered. Although she initially didn’t get on with
him, she ended up teaching grade 10’s with Rod Smith and he was immensely supportive when she was
made housemaster. She regards Willy Castle as very special and she would run through a brick wall for
him. During her bleakest year in 2005, he encouraged her to run the Comrades marathon and she hasn’t
looked back since. He has been her mentor, friend, running partner and has the ability to make people
believe in themselves.
Teresa has changed direction in her career and is happy to remain at St David’s until she retires; she
regards St David’s as her home. St David’s is a special place and the pride and tradition doesn’t just belong
to the men and the boys and old boys. She was greatly affected by the “bus incident” and how it impacted
on the school and finds it difficult to understand the mentality of the matrics and their expectations of how
they want to treat the grade 8’s.
Teresa believes that the school needs staff that understands and relate to what the staff actually do here
and are prepared to contribute. One has to believe in what one is doing and that not every day is going to
be fun.
JLE February 2014

Egenrieder, Julie

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