Grant Nupen 2003 - 2004: Implementing the Vision
On February 5th in the Jagger Hall at Bishops Prep, grounds, maintenance, catering, housekeeping and administrative staff from all three Bishops campuses, gathered for a day of valuing, visioning and future planning. A hundred people sat in small groups to hear Patricia de Lille open the day with an invitation to consider the ways in which the school could contribute to addressing educational inequities while striving to build on its already excellent academic reputation. She stressed the importance of talking openly, honestly and constructively, and commended Bishops for its efforts to involve everyone in planning its future.
The vision for Bishops 2010 had started emerging during the conference in September the previous year, and it was important that an opportunity was provided for the support staff to add their voice in creating and supporting this vision. During the day the staff identified things that they valued about the school; they built a picture of the school they would like to see in 2010; they worked on ways of creating this school and finally; they began planning who and how they would implement these actions. The participants identified the Bishops family, the values of the school, the way people are respected and supported, the educational excellence of the school, the benefits, the environment, communication and the willingness to change, as the aspects of the school that they really appreciated and valued.
Grant Nupen presented the vision for Bishops as it was emerging and highlighted the importance of the distinction between the ‘gilded cage’ of the past, where Bishops was seen as an elite and unwelcoming school, with the new Bishops, which was endeavouring to be an open, friendly school. The fundamental values of being a Christian school striving for excellence and an all-round education would remain, but key to Bishops’ future would be the striving to be a South African school, working with communities and seeking alliances in South Africa’s diverse society. The support staff’s 2010 vision went on to include ideas on the school’s standing as an educational institution and its role in the community and the ways in which support staff could excel. The ideal working environment centred on teamwork, interaction between boys, parents and staff, communication, leadership, learning, continuous improvement, appreciation and reward. Proposals for the implementation of these aspects of the vision were drawn up in discussion groups and then presented to everyone to prioritise actions. A staff action team began working on the proposals for implementation
During the first term of 2002, the Revd Trevor Tyers stepped down as Chaplain and Martin Coomer took over the role until a replacement could be formally appointed. Mark Shuttleworth, one of Bishops’s most eminent Old Boys joined a Russian space flight, and while on the flight overhead of Cape Town, he spoke through a satellite link to a gathering of interested Bishops people, and students from his Prep School, Wet Pups.
The Council examined its composition and structures and worked towards improving communication and closer relationships with the school’s stakeholders. A group of eight Bishops staff went to the 2002 Expanded Learning Horizons conference in Australia which focused on ‘Changing Teaching Practice’. The Spirituality Working group prepared a Spirituality Statement which Council adopted, which clarified the school’s approach to its Christian calling. Pastoral care practices were examined and improved, sport and health programmes were adopted, and wherever possible, the school facilities were improved and expanded. Marketing and public relations were addressed more directly than ever in the past. For the first time, colours were awarded for cultural achievements – a move that was greeted with approval.
At the beginning of the third term, staff from all three schools met to hear and discuss grading and appraisal systems for staff. The Outreach Programme was expanded. On Thursday afternoons in the weekly slot in the time table for Civics, up to 160 visiting pupils were bussed into Bishops to take part in various activities as part of the Community Outreach programme. These activities ranged from becoming acquainted with computers, to learning how to swim, as well as other sporting codes. Matric pupils were bussed in to cover aspects of their syllabuses, especially English. At the same time, Bishops staff and pupils ventured out to other communities and institutions to assist there.
New Buildings
2003 started with the opening of a number of new buildings. The Music School had been extended by the addition of a second floor, and new practice rooms and a recording studio. This new building was renamed the John Peake Music School in honour of the late Principal, and was opened by his widow, Sue Peake in February 2003. A new dayboy house, Mallett House, named after Anthony Mallett, the 9th Principal was opened in February by Mrs Vivienne Mallett. Having the eighth house allowed for the increased number of day students to be spread more widely and keep the rations of students and House staff and tutors more favourable. The Simpson Art and Technology Centre was completed and formally opened.
Wayne Tucker took over the producing of the school play from Marion Bradley. His first production was Little Shop of Horrors. He has produced almost every school play since then.
Connecting with the LEAP school
It was at this stage that Nupen was approached by John Gilmour, recent Head of Abbots, who had resigned in order to start a Maths and Science School for Langa. A close working relationship between the two schools subsequently evolved, and Bishops offered assistance in a variety of ways to bring his vision to reality. By 2004, the school, called LEAP (Langa Education Advancement project) had managed to acquire a lease on the old MuPine centre in Pinelands. From the start, LEAP pupils were bussed in to Bishops in the afternoons to be taught in the Bishops Science labs, and also in English classes. Bishops was invited to have two members on the LEAP board, and the two schools shared a number of ventures where, in particular, LEAP students joined Bishops teams in a number of cultural and educational ventures. LEAP was very successful, and soon a second LEAP was opened in Mowbray. Today there are eight LEAP schools around South Africa. The first LEAP matrics in 2006 produced very good results.
As part of making the school a more supportive and welcoming place, the Bishops Support Unit, staffed by Jason Bantjes and James Frazer, was opened for boys in 2004. The Unit was housed in its own building, and its prime purpose was to develop the optimal psychological, emotional, social and intellectual development of the boys, who were able to approach its services privately, as well as being referred to the Unit by staff, where necessary. Successful psycho-educational courses were run for parents as well. House mothers were appointed in each of the boarding houses. The tutor system was changed from what had been grade based groupings, to groups made up of boys from each of the grades, and these groups would stay with the same tutor for their whole time at College. Three tutor periods were allocated for tutor group meetings within the academic timetable. A custom-made Bishops diary which contained the expectations and regulations which applied in the school was given to every boy.
Addressing the business component of the school (one of the areas identified in the 2010 Conference), a Development Office was inaugurated with its prime objective being to raise funds for general purposes, not as in the past for specific identified projects. As part of its fundraising initiative, Bishops launched a partnership with Investec, where in return for giving members of the Bishops community access to Investec services, Investec would return to the school a proportion of the profits made from transactions of the Bishops members who joined and opened Investec accounts.
In the area of sports and health, developments include the introduction of new sports to the school’s calendar, and as far as was possible, increased coaching for all boys, from professionals and also from carefully selected student assistants, from UCT in particular. The school also committed itself to offering its facilities and coaching to a number of community teams, as well as the development of academies, in rugby, cricket and hockey. The Prep rugby academy in particular was successful in gaining support from local communities and also the national unions. 60 boys aged 11 and 12 received coaching at Bishops for two years.
‘Bishops Praise’, the first-ever combined Pre-Prep, Prep, and College service took place during the third term, in the Mallett Centre. Included were council members, the academic staff, domestic, catering, admin, grounds and maintenance staff who were able to attend, which meant approximately 1300 or more people filling the Centre. It was a lively service of Praise and Thanksgiving to God for Bishops and for the vision of the Founder, Robert Gray.
The McBride Apology
At the end of the year, there was a special service in the Chapel during which the Chairman of Council, James McGregor, made a public apology to the McBride family over a shameful incident that took place in 1969. Father McBride, an Anglican priest, had applied to the school to admit his son. The Council at the time had refused him admittance on the grounds that he was coloured and schools classified as white were not allowed to admit pupils other than whites. Admitting him might open the school up to a reaction from the government. The Catholic schools were defying this regulation. At the time of the incident, a petition signed by the students, with up to 63% of the students signing, was sent to the Council, to no avail. James McGregor had apologised in the Anglican Synod earlier in the year and he repeated his apology and confession on behalf of the school and his family, as his father had been on Council at the time. Both synod and the McBride family had graciously accepted the apology.
2004 opened with the continuing drive to expand the diversity of Bishops, through bursary support and improvements in the boarding houses to attract a greater diversity of applications. At the start of the year, there was a staff conference to address the question of “What makes an inspiring teacher?” There was a general evaluation of how well the school was dealing with the action plans developed from the 2010 conference. Which plans had been achieved, and which needed to be refocused and rebooted? The following statement was circulated through the June 2004 Magazine. “The big issues we need to confront, and on which we need to bring our energies to bear are diversity, finances, the maintenance of our ethos in the midst of a conflicting and challenging world, and the creation of a set of attitudes and behaviours which equip our boys of South Africa for the world that they are going to live in. We need to broaden the range of people who form the body of the school in order to include black fee-paying pupils, and black teachers. We also need to work determinedly at changing the hearts and minds of people in the school to reflect the sorts of values which we hold, and which are in line with the general values that South Africa as a country holds, as evidenced in our Constitution.”
In September, the Council appointed Jessica Setterberg to the newly established Development Office to run a continuous fundraising programme to assist the school to meet its 2010 aims. Previous fund-raising projects had usually focussed on specific events, such as the 125 Appeal, the 150 appeal, but the current thinking was to run a continuous fundraising office. The first project was to combine the several Bishops databases, which involving capturing contact details of parents, past parents, and old boys into one database.
Interact continued to grow the Outreach programme with over 20 activities each week, with up to half of the academic staff assisting in managing and supervising the projects, which include the LEAP students coming to Bishops each Thursday, for Science and Maths, and the SMILE programme.
By now, a regular pattern of school events had emerged, which shaped the Bishops annual experiences. The academic programme of mark reports and exams was the core. Departments were building the online Intranet which contained work schedules, lesson plans and resource material all available to the boys on the school’s network which they could download on their laptops. There were regular sports activities, the highlights of which were keenly contested derby events with neighbouring schools. The cultural programmes of society activities, debating and public speaking competitions, annual school plays, music concerts, the Eisteddfod and the three-yearly Classic Pops continued, as did the end of year routines of Valedictory, Prizegiving and the Adventure courses. Opportunities for developing leadership skills through the Prefect system and the Students Representative Forum were encouraged. Outreach activities with local communities grew, as did opportunities for sporting and cultural tours, both local and international, which flourished. The spiritual growth of the boys was an essential part of the regular routines, with chapel services, confirmation classes and shared prayer opportunities for those who wanted to be take part being part of the regular routines of the school. School assemblies were moved from the Mallett Centre to the Chapel.
