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Interview with Cheryl King - Staff – 2000 to 2015
Cheryl was interviewed by Rick Wilson, prep school headmaster and Mike Forder, bursar and was initially
employed as a secretary to the deputy headmasters Willy Castle and Darrel Webb, taking over from Robbi
Orr who had been employed in the position for 5 years. She shared a very small office in the grade 1 block
next to Carol Ansell’s classroom together with Pam Groenewald who was Rick Wilson’s secretary. Cheryl
recalls that when she was interviewed she said she was familiar with Ms Word etc but then went and did a
course. She had to find her way and sink or swim, organising her own space her own way.
Cheryl and Pam had to share the grade 1 toilet with the little boys! Cheryl remembers hearing Carol Ansell
often saying “Excuse Me” to her pupils which she still does to this day. Cheryl’s younger son Calvin was in
gr 2 with Carol Ansell as his teacher, and found it convenient to come and visit his Mom whenever he had a
problem.
In those days there were no emails or internet and Cheryl was inundated daily with phone calls from
parents as communication was very difficult. Working for Willy was a shock to the system as he and Darrel
Webb were like a pair of Duracell bunnies, always on the go. At the time Glenda Anderson was head of the
junior primary phase, Paul Edey was headmaster of the high school with Malcolm Williams, deputy head
with Lindsay van Heerden and Dawn Arnold as their respective secretaries.
Cheryl saw to all the little boys’ aches and pains sending them to matron when necessary. She was
responsible for the newsletter which was printed every thursday working from pieces of paper which was
very time consuming. In addition to this Cheryl also had to help Norman Cahi, the chairman of the PTA with
all his work and often helped Ron Thackwell. Cheryl also typed out exam papers including Mike Mitchley’s
Maths paper which was quite a challenge with an old computer, entering all the symbols and formulae. As if
this wasn’t enough Cheryl assisted teachers who were not computer literate with their termly report
comments
Cheryl also had to deal with the grade 7’s and the pupil development programme which had different tiers
that the boys worked their way through. The grade 7’s then had responsibilities which were good for them.
Darryl was making huge strides in the prep school introducing a new curriculum in addition to the
implementation of Edu Admin. Previously every child had a file; everything was printed and went by pupil
post or more official documents by the postal service.
Cheryl enjoyed Rick Wilson as a boss he was lovely to work for and then the secretaries used to get one
half day off per week. Being a working mom at the school was great in that she could go to the various
assemblies and sports events that her sons were involved in.
Willy Castle was given a cell phone, he then phoned non-stop for everything and anything and would often
call and ask Cheryl to come to the field where he would then tell her what he needed. However they both
worked well together, working hard with long hours often until late at night. Cheryl had to attend all the
functions, there were 75 boys in each grade and each received a personalised letter signed by Rick Wilson,
Willy Castle and Darryl Webb. Copies had to be made and it was all very time consuming.
Cheryl also organised the tours for each age group, grade 3 to 7, booking transport and tickets. There was
no school driver and Red Arrow coaches were utilised. Willy Castle also had a full teaching load followed
by sport in the afternoons.
Cheryl moved to the current prep secretaries’ office in 2003 when Pam resigned and Coleen Donaldson
took over as secretary to Rick. It was exciting then to receive emails but Cheryl still had the responsibility to
call all the schools to confirm venues for all the sporting fixtures. Willy used to put all the fixtures on an
enormous sheet of paper and Cheryl then had to type it up.
Cheryl remembers the fantastic end of year and end of term functions, with parties accommodating all ages
with everyone having good fun.
In 2005 Chantal Ratcliffe was employed as a consultant to the school .Tony Chappel was then chairman of
the board and an advert was placed for the foundation post for which Cheryl applied. Paul Edey, who had
been appointed executive head in 2002 and Chantal interviewed Cheryl. Cheryl was nervous about taking
the job and making the move and discussed this with Willy appreciating his advice. She and Chantal
started working in what is now the deputy head’s office and for the first four months Cheryl updated the
MOBS data base inherited from Stephan Contardo. Patrick Busschau was chairman of the old boys
committee at the time. In 2006 they moved offices again and were in what is currently the admissions office
and the Foundation trust was officially launched.
Initially Cheryl and Chantal’s focus was raising money for the chapel which was completed in 2007. There
were so many events to organise to introduce the Foundation around which there was a lot of negativity.
Functions were organised for old boys and many didn’t arrive. The old boys were pessimistic about the
Foundation and felt that they were just being asked for money.
In 2008 Chantal and Cheryl moved once again to an office in the admin block. Chantal left in 2010 and Lara
Klement was appointed Foundation and marketing manager. The marketing then almost took over, but
MOBS was getting stronger. Lara had a huge task on her hands, introducing a new corporate identity and
she bought in new marketing material with the gazebos, banners and hand outs. Cheryl also had to work
hard with the old boys getting them back into the school. Paul Vidas took over from Patrick Busschau as
chairman of the old boys and now with Willy Castle in that position he has brought a new energy and
enthusiasm with him. The database is now sitting on 5000 old boys, the Grahamstown and Cape Town
events are very successful and Mike Greeff has also made visits to the UK and to Australia. There was a
different vibe this year at the Cape Town reunion with a sit down dinner at St Joseph’s. Facebook is a great
media giving MOBS and the school exposure. Before he left, Malcolm Williams was very supportive and
was instrumental in introducing the old boys assembly, in particular the memorable assembly in 2003 for
old boys of 1973 and 2003. Mike Lamusse organised a get-together and dinner for the 1973 MOBS which
was incredibly successful. In 2007 the Matric Rite of Passage was initiated which was a positive move to
introduce the current matrics to MOBS.
Cheryl finds her role very frustrating at times but is passionate about MOBS and the potential of the
Maristonian and acknowledges that she couldn’t cope with all the events without the help of the support
staff. The highlights of the Foundation and MOBS functions were this year’s rugby festival with the St
David’s 1st team rugby beating their opponents, St John’s. It was an emotional and unforgettable day
seeing the old boys and the school boys together doing the war cry with Willy Castle standing under the
rugby post.
Relationships have been built over the years with parents, staff and MOBS. The old boys have been
tremendous and it is very special now with Willy Castle being prep headmaster and chairman of MOBS.
It has been a difficult decision for Cheryl to resign and to work on a part-time basis although it is better for
Cheryl and gives her more flexibility but still enables her to continue to pursue her relationship with Willy
Castle and 2016. Carey Fisher is now handling the marketing so Cheryl can focus on the alumni. Fiona
Budd’s focus is on fundraising , strengthening the Foundation and bursary funds especially the Willy Castle
bursary fund, having already introduced Snapscan and insituting debit orders. The years ahead will be
challenging and difficult but Willy will be happy as he will always be remembered with his bursary fund.
Cheryl will also be working on the MOBS bursary fund raising more finance, but MOBS will be Cheryl’s
major focus and Willy Castle is very supportive.
The school has grown substantially and it is comforting to see MOBS bringing their sons back to the school.
It’s all about relationship building and is almost like a circle within the school – admissions – prep – high
school – then MOBS.
JLE November 2014