Maidstone Primary principal ‘Peter Pan’ retires

At school he was told he had no leadership qualities, at Teachers Training College in Pietermaritzburg they said he was “not good teaching material”, but boy did he prove them wrong.

Mike Whitehead recently had to retire as principal after 26 dedicated years at the quaint Maidstone Primary School.

“I come from a teaching family, but I never thought I would be one! Until I was hitchhiking in Europe and met an old friend who was a teacher. She took me to her school in England and that was when I realised what I needed to do,” said Whitehead, who worked 18-hour shifts as a shunter on the railways in Ladysmith to save money for his overseas ticket.

Back in SA, he went to the Teachers Training College around 1972 and started teaching in 1977 in Richards Bay, around the time they were building the harbour.

“It was like living in a huge construction camp. It was wild! Construction workers are always after a party and I joined in, which was frowned upon by the school. I was transferred to Durban by the end of the year.”

He moved around schools in Durban until he was promoted to vice principal in Underberg and then the big call came to be principal at Maidstone in 1990.

“When I got to Maidstone we had about 88 pupils from grade one to seven. By 1996, we had 267 pupils – we just mushroomed!

‘We settled on a maximum of 250 pupils, which made us competitive in the classroom and on the sports field. I was the only male teacher and I taught grade five, coached during the week, umpired on Saturday mornings and tried to be a father in between.

“It was daunting, but I was young and energetic.”

Cricket was always his favourite sport and he put a lot of energy into it, coaching international starts like Hashim Amla and Colin Munro, who went to Maidstone.

“I still get a lump in my throat when I watch these two boys play on TV.”

One of the first jobs Whitehead tackled as prinicpal was to transform the old, white school into one that reflected the demographics of the area.

“The nationalist party was defending the ‘nasie’ and wanted to close down the school and amalgamate us with Umhlali Primary School, but the governing body said no and we went for the non-racial approach.

“Maidstone had many people of colour living and working in the area, so it only made sense to allow them to send their children to the school. After initial rejection, the department of education allowed us to bring in the Model C system and to let the parents vote on the matter.

“The overwhelming majority agreed. We were one of the first schools in the country to take this step,” said Whitehead, whose children Alex and Saskia went to the school while his wife Sabine is the art teacher.

“In my family, my retirement has been a non-event. They, like myself, never thought I would get this old. I have a Peter Pan syndrome.”

While Whitehead tries to get used to the idea of being retired, he spends his time tinkering in the house and gardening, while he plans on buying a motorbike and going on a roadtrip through the country.

>  Expect to find the latest trends in Health, Wellness and Beauty in Ballito.

>> Meet the top players in the North Coast property industry. See our Property People feature.

Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 061 718 4438.

Please read our WhatsApp broadcast list disclaimer.
Join us on BBM at 59015786
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.