‘A great teacher has little external history to record. His life goes over into other lives. These men are pillars in the intimate structure of our schools. They are more essential than its stones or beams, and they will continue to be a kindling force and a revealing power in our lives.’ Deepak Mehta, The Emperors Club Movie  

Over the weekend I watched the movie The Emperors Club (2002), which covered the fictional life of William Hundert, Master at a fictional school in the USA. A number of quotes stood out for me, and in particular the one above from a grown man that William had taught as a pupil.

The truth of this quote is quite outstanding and over the years I have heard many past pupils recount the impact certain teachers have had on them. Some of these memories go back 10, 15, 20 years. You will find few Middleton Grange School teachers listed in the annuls or annuals of history, but you will find them in the lives of the pupils they have taught. Their life as a teacher, as an image-bearer of God, has spoken volumes into the lives of others. And thus, how important it is to speak well into those lives.

Henry Adams once said 

'A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops’. 

 That is why teachers are pillars in the intimate structure of our schools. Bricks and mortar of modern buildings do nothing to stir into life characteristics of godly living. It is the godly, competent teachers who are shaping the lives of your children through the curriculum, interaction, discipline and shepherding of your child’s heart.

Education is not neutral. It either points a pupil towards Christ or away from Christ. It is never a void in which ‘no thinking’ occurs. Each curriculum in the way it is taught, what is taught within it, all have an underlying philosophy, namely ‘God exists', or 'God does not exist’.

The beauty of Christian education is that the teachers at Middleton Grange who are a kindling force and, in time a revealing power in the lives of your child, are those who call Christ as Lord and desire to see your children do the same.

God calls your children to excel in the gifts he has blessed them with, but may we as a school, or parents, never place a higher priority on gifts which are temporal, rather than what is of eternal importance.

As William Hundert says ‘Great ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance’. What will be the contribution of your son or daughter? May it be ultimately to further the kingdom of God through selfless love for others.

Richard Vanderpyl
Principal