27 April 2023
In an exciting development at Clifton in Durban, boarding is being re-established at the Morningside school for the first time since World War II.
Moreover, the expansion of the school ties in with its Centenary celebrations of next year.
In a recent radio broadcast with Mike Charles, Clifton’s deputy head of boarding, Paul Mackay, and Centenary chairman Sean McCabe, explained how the well-known Clifton boarding school in Nottingham Road had its roots in Durban and how Clifton is gearing up for its 100th birthday.
Boarding at Clifton
https://www.cliftonschool.co.za/boarding/
Clifton Centenary
https://www.cliftonschool.co.za/clifton-centenary/
“On the 5th of February 1924, the founding Headmaster Harry Stubbs opened up a school in his own home, at 102 Lambert Road,” McCabe said. “There were day boys as well as boarders and they would have stayed in the enclosed verandas of Harry Stubbs’ home.
“Downstairs was the parlour, the drawing room and classrooms. Harry Stubbs, his wife and daughter, lived upstairs.
Impacted by World War II
“What happened was in 1942, during World War II, there was this fear that Durban was going to be bombed by the Japanese. In England a lot of schools decamped from the cities to these stately homes in the countryside, so the headmaster at the time, Mr Howarth, promptly took himself, a matron and a whole lot of boys up to Nottingham Road.
“He had secured a farm called Spring Grove, and he continued the boarding section of Clifton in the safety of the Natal Midlands, while his Deputy stayed back on the Durban campus. They built a bomb shelter and the day section continued.
“Ultimately, the two sections — the boarding section and the day section — never came back together, and that led to the creation of two schools: Clifton Durban, under Mr Sutcliffe, and Clifton Nottingham Road, under Mr Howarth.
“For a good 40 years, the two schools were run by a combined board, but by the mid-1980s they were completely separate institutions, but still retained the same badge and the same motto.”
A new chapter
Some 80 years after the end of World War II, the Durban school is ideally poised to expand by adding a boarding establishment.
“Currently we have 520 boys,” says Mackay. “There is certainly capacity for more that we’re hoping the boarding house will bring. It is a fantastic environment…on Rosetta Road, which is on the outskirts of the school.
“It is literally going up from the foundations to the first floor and then to the second and third floors. Like a blank canvas, we have been able to create this fantastic boarding environment upon which we can create our own tradition.”
“We have something that we affectionately call the Clifton way, and it is something that’s unique to any school. It’s the power of relationships. From a boarding perspective, our offering is going to be a home-away-from-home environment, a family environment. Whether you’re a grade 12 or a grade 8, we can play a game of touch rugby together, we can have a game of cricket in the corridor, all of these great things that make up a boarding school environment and make it five years of exceptional fun.
“The campus is on a fantastic space within four roads. It is a mix of old and new buildings. Stubbs House is over 100 years old, and these new buildings are going up all over the campus. We are starting from scratch and will create a modern take on boarding.”
Mackay said the boarding campus will, in a sense, encompass the best that Durban has to offer.
“Durban is definitely our campus”
“Durban is definitely our campus. We are within those four roads, but we get out as much as we can. As an example, there is a Friday morning run along the beachfront. If the boys want to surf or swim, they are welcome to. We use as much as we can around Durban to maximise the fact that we are a Durban-based school, and we enjoy it.”
Clifton Flythrough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krWXG8KBXUY
Regarding the Centenary celebrations, McCabe said the planning began four years ago.
“This is a big deal. We have tried to avoid what perhaps other institutions fall into, and that’s centenary fatigue, where there is just way too much. We’re trying to focus on what is important to us and everything pivots around that idea of connecting.
“We want to reconnect with Clifton Old Boys, and particularly Prep Old Boys, who had gone to other high schools. We want to get them back onto campus. In many instances, they probably wouldn’t have been back onto campus for a good 40 to 50 years. That is hugely important for us.
“The centenary kicks off with the Centenary Festival. It is a week-long series of events, starting off with a Centenary Assembly on the 5th of February 2024, literally 100 years to the day on which the school opened, which is completely serendipitous. There is a book coming out, there is a poetry competition and we’re putting together a calendar of art from across the community — teachers, parents, boys.
“Ultimately, it will culminate in a series of events throughout the year, and we are really excited by it. We’re hoping that we get the community, the people that are connected to Clifton, back on campus to celebrate the school, whether they were there in the 1950s or have gone through all 13 years of Clifton, or have just joined the college. We want them back. We want them to be part of this year-long celebration.”
“Calling us Home”
A highlight of the Centenary is the creation of a song by two Clifton musical talents, called Calling us Home.
“We’ve got a school song and we sing that regularly at assembly,” says McCabe. “But we wanted something extra, and we commissioned our Director of Instrumental Music, Jane Magner, who is the violinist for Veranda Panda, to write and compose the centenary song.
“What was really important about it was how it was going to be sung. We’re very fortunate to have one of our previous Head Boys, Max Koenig, who is the frontman for Red Sheep. Max has got a fantastic voice and he provided the vocals for the centenary song.
We’re really excited by it as it’s a collaboration between a staff member and an Old Boy. Jane has rewritten it to be sung by choirs, to be sung in assemblies, and it’s a song that we introduced at the launch of the centenary this year in February.”
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