Guy Pearson 2013 - 2020
Guy Pearson 2013 - 2016: Consolidation
Guy Pearson was inducted as 14th Principal on 16 January 2013 by the school’s Visitor, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, in the Memorial Chapel in the presence of teachers and boys. He came to the school with an excellent reputation from Michaelhouse, particularly with regard to engaging with the boys and staff. It became apparent that his appointment was prompted by Council’s intention to consolidate the gains that the school had made following the 2010 conference and the benefits that had flowed from it, but for which the energy and drive were beginning to flag. Alongside this, there were a number of new staff appointments internally, including that of Sean King as Business Manager. There were four new House masters appointed, including Marion Bradley as House master of Mallett House, and this was the point when the name was changed from House Master to the more gender-neutral House Director. During the holidays, the two pulpits in the Chapel which had been erected in 1953 and in 1966 were removed after the families involved had agreed. This was done to create more space in the Chapel, as well as returning the Chapel to its original plan, and it made it possible for the increased number of boys in the school to be able to see the alter. To read more of the origin of these two strucures, see here.
The matric results at the end of 2012 were outstanding, certainly the best since 2002, which was a fitting end to the Nupen years. Of the 152 boys who wrote the exam: 150 achieved bachelor degree entry certificates (98,7%); 2 boys achieved diploma entry certificates (1,3%); 100% of the boys passed; 486 subject distinctions were achieved (3,2 per boy); 12% of all subject results were over 90%; 41% of all subject results were over 80%; 69% of all subjects were As and Bs; 5 boys achieved 10 distinctions; 6 boys achieved 9 distinctions; 3 boys achieved 8 distinctions; 12 boys achieved 7 distinctions – this means that 1 in 6 boys achieved 7 distinctions or better.
Before the end of the first term, the Council reversed the structural arrangements of 2009 and ended the position of Headmaster of the College, held by Vernon Wood. Vernon was appointed as the Senior Deputy Headmaster. Guy Pearson took over the line management of the College as had been the situation before 2008. The respective roles of Principal and Senior Deputy Headmaster were clearly spelled out. This was a difficult start for Guy Pearson, but his capacity for remembering boys’ names and faces won over the pupil body and their parents. It was his special gift.
The year proceeded on its usual busy agendas of academic work, sporting programmes, and the wide range of cultural activities. A group of boys went to the Rhino trail, now a regular feature of the yearly calendar since 2002.
A group of staff and boys under the leadership of Mark Mitchell and Jannie de Villiers went to Base Camp on Everest, and sports tours travelled to the Netherlands (Hockey), the UK (Tennis), and a combined Bishops and Herschel group tackled an expedition to Kilimanjaro, by now a regular feature of the Bishops year. In support of cancer victims, the whole school took part in a Shavathon that raised R8000 for cancer treatments.
At the start of the third term, the staff of all three schools attended a residential conference at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, with electives ranging from ‘Managing Personal Stress’, a session on Mind-mapping, another on Strength Finders, but also, ‘Where is Competitive Sport going?’ It was a very successful conference.
When the third term started, the Steffan Coutts-Trotter Indoor Cricket Centre was opened which meant that Bishops now had one of the finest indoor cricket practice facilities in the country. Nine Bishops boys were given Gold awards at the President’s Award function.
My School Card announced a special initiative – a special ‘Swipe for Africa’ project. Bishops entered and under the prompting and support of the Parents Association, Bishops came second in South Africa. The school won prize money of R100 000 which was allocated to fund the changes being envisaged for the space of the Molteno Library. This project was spearheaded by Vernon Wood and Gerry Noel, who had been appointed Librarian after Janis van Tonder’s retirement.
During the 2013 Epic, a special stone commemorating Mark Hanley was laid at Travelers’ Rest in the Cederberg by his widow, Mandy. The wording, attributed to Hillary, was a statement which directly summed up the Epic experience. “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
At the start of 2014, Vernon Wood’s position was renamed Deputy Principal, which was a better title for the role he was playing. Brian Robertson was appointed Development and Fundraising Director, to work with the school, the ODU and the Trust. The school was rattled by various disclosures relating to Tim Hamilton-Smith, who had stepped down under pressure as ODU secretary in 2012. There was a serious division in the ODU which led to a Special General Meeting, out of which came a reconciliation process at the end of the year. The following year, the ODU committee and other office-bearers reset the purposes and mission of the Union, which now focused more on mentoring and supporting young ODs as they left school.
20 staff members went to the South African Boys Schools’ Coalition conference. The school undertook an IQAA quality assurance survey. In the UCT Maths competition, Bishops came 2nd after a 7-year streak of winning.
The Building Committee of Council had for some years been working on a Master Plan for Bishops, with the intention that future developments should be aligned along a clearly delineated path. Sean King took on the implementation of this. There were two main components of the Master Plan. The first dealt with all buildings, open spaces, and walkways. The other was a landscaping architectural plan, which included the trees on the campus.
The Eisteddfod ended off the second term in its customary intensity and pace. During the holidays, James McGregor, former Chairman of Council died, and his funeral was held in the Bishops Chapel on 30 July.
When the 3rd term started, the Music department was at full stretch preparing for the 8th Classic Pops, again held in the City Hall, with a special contribution by the LEAP 1 school.
The restructured Molteno Library was opened on 4 September 2014 by Gerry Noel. The intention of the changes was to create the spaces in which teaching and learning would take place to meet the requirement of 21st century skills. The Library now included separate dedicated areas called the Social and Research Commons, the Learning Commons, the IT Commons, Reading Commons, and the Indaba Commons. Most of the books in the Library were disposed of to various institutions, including the Danowski Collection of books on Antarctica, which went to UCT.
At the end of 2014, the post-matric class was closed down. During the 1990s, the exit exams had been changed from UNISA first year exams to Cambridge AS and A levels. In the eyes of many, including some of the neighbouring schools, this academic year was tainted by the presence of boys who enrolled in order to play another year of rugby. Pressure had been growing from the neighbouring schools who began threatening to withdraw from competing with Bishops rugby sides if post-matrics were playing. The decision was not solely about this – there were academic considerations as well, in terms of cost and enrolment.
The new Woodlands Pavilion was opened by the Chairman of Council, the Principal and the Patron of the ODU, Raymond Ackerman, in a grand ceremony during May 2015, attended by the whole school.
This had been one of the major planks of the 2011 strategic plans. The Building included a Hockey pavilion, offices for the OD Union and space for the Museum and the Archives. This very striking building was designed by an OD, Luke Scott, who combined aspects of traditional Bishops architecture with some very modern features.
Bishops, under Vernon Wood’s leadership hosted, together with the other Cape Town boys’ schools (RBHS, SACS and Wynberg), the 22nd International Boys Schools Conference (2015), which received much praise.
The programme included talks by Desmond Tutu, Edwin Cameron, and others under the title of “Lessons from Madiba”. Guy Pearson wrote, “The organizing committee was chaired by Vernon Wood and he, together with Sally Bowes, Cheryl Douglas and Yolanda Raman, did most of the organisation and planning which took over 12 months. It really was a fantastic team effort by Bishops academic and support staff, together with boys from the AV crew and a number of boys who volunteered as tour guides for delegates. They were all superb ambassadors for the school. Well done to Vernon Wood and everyone involved in really doing us proud. One of the founding Heads of the IBSC who has attended all 22 of these international conferences told me that this was the best conference that he had ever been to.”
Mid-year expeditions included another Kilimanjaro ascent (June 2015), again led by Phil Court and Jannie de Villiers, and the regular French tour, organised and led by Warwick Richter. There were three Rhino trails – in April and two in June, led by Leon Glanvill. Apart from the Bishops boys and staff members, there were also students from LEAP 1 and girls from Herschel. The school’s annual dramatic production, Cold Stone Jug, was taken to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as was Simply Blue.
Bishops boys once again showed strongly at the President’s Award function.
In his 2015 Prizegiving address. Guy Pearson talked about the kind of man that Bishops produced. He drew a distinction between ‘Resumé’ or ‘Eulogy’ values – resumé looked good on a CV; eulogy values would be what could be said in praise of of a person who had died. He also made it clear that the prime reason for Bishops’ existence as a school was the education of young men.
At the end of 2015, Andre Jacobs retired as Deputy Head Sport and Discipline, a position he had held since 2008, and his place was filled by Warren Wallace, who became the first black person to be appointed to the Bishops executive.
2016 was a year of change in the College leadership. During the year, Vernon Wood resigned at mid-year. Marcus Bizony, speaking at Vernon’s farewell and quoting Peter Westwood, asserted that Vernon was “a dignified, wise, caring and humble person with a wonderful understanding of education and what was really important about people.” Marcus ended by saying, “As he leaves us, we feel that our school is much stronger and better than it ever was, and better equipped for the future – and that, simple as it may be to put into words, is a significant legacy, a real testament to the work and personality that Vernon brought to Bishops.” Peter Westwood was promoted to Deputy Principal, while retaining the position of Deputy Head Pastoral. Mark Mitchell became the Deputy Head Cultural. Sadly, Father Wilke had to step aside after being diagnosed with cancer.
Pressure on the school both from outside and within the Bishops community was growing, especially with regard to the relevance of the total education being offered. The need to expand the diversity of the staff and student bodies had been growing since before 1999, and the question of diversity and transformation had been a central feature of the 2010 vision. The Principal addressed support staff in the Theatre at the start of the year, talking about the challenges and importance of diversity.
The usual spate of tours and expeditions took place – White Rhino, the second Everest Base Camp expedition, the Bishops Springfield cultural tour of Istanbul and Italy and the Military History tour to France and Belgium led by Warwick Richter and Dr Rodney Warwick. In March 2016 Willem Steyn, John Knight and Neil Carter took on the challenge of escorting 24 boys on a two-week cricket tour to Dubai and India. Games were played in Dubai, Delhi, Gwalior and Jaipur. The two teams which represented Bishops had a successful tour, winning 11 out of the 14 matches played, but also thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the vibrant culture of India.There was a gathering of the Anglican church at Bishops under the title ‘International Anglicans Ablaze Conference’.
New leadership at the ODU saw Bruce Jack as Chairman of the OD Committee and WP Van Zyl (Senior Prefect in 1997) as Secretary.
It was becoming apparent that there were problems with drainage in and around the Brooke Chapel. The floor of the vestry was sinking and because of the rising damp, the foundations were at risk. Planning to rectify this started, and proved to be a lengthy process.
At the Prizegiving, Guy Pearson reiterated a pledge that he had made at the start of the year, and it is worth repeating. “We need to be reminded that in our Bishops Mission Statement we are called to: ‘respect, nurture and value each person’ and to ‘embrace and celebrate diversity in the communities of our school and South Africa’. As a member of the majority culture as a white male at Bishops, I am personally committed to making sure that I am sensitive to minority groups at our school. These minority groups include race, religion, gender, sexual persuasion, and disability. I acknowledge that the issues are complex and complicated, but I want to make a plea to all of us to be sensitive to our differences and to try to better accept and understand each other. Indeed, we need to learn to celebrate difference because our lives are enriched by diversity. Bishops is a better place because of our diversity and we will be better people the more we learn to embrace it.”
Diversity can not be measured by numbers alone, but rather by changes within the hearts and minds of the current people of Bishops. This requires a transformation within, because only when that transformation has taken place, will the outward signs of diversity be able to be realized.
In November 2016, the Bishops Trust 175 Campaign Appeal was launched. Andrew Selby, Chair of the Council’s Finance Committee explained the purposes of the Trust, and then the Principal outlined the main projects which were envisioned. In the Building Committee of Council, an evaluation of the state of buildings across the campus had recommended that some major additions and renovations were necessary. The three main aims of the Appeal addressed the need for Buildings, Bursaries and Endowment. These included:
- The conversion of the Prep School Library into a modern media and resource hub.
- The building of a Multifunctional Sports Centre at the College which would include basketball, squash, fencing, indoor hockey and a gymnasium.
- The upgrade of the Frank Reid Pavilion and the Aquatics Centre.
- The building of a new Life Sciences (Biology) Block and the upgrade of the current Science Block.
- An upgrade of the Memorial Theatre to increase seating capacity.
- The building of a new Music Conservatoire.
At the end of the year Jannie de Villiers (House Director of School House) left to take up the Head position at Oakhill School in Knysna, and Marcus Bizony, the Deputy Head Academic, retired after 34 years of service at Bishops. In his farewell address Marcus made this comment.
“The last decades have seen the atmosphere at Bishops move a long way from control and into partnership. In the old days the teachers were the law, each individual teacher had his (occasionally her) individuality which he revelled in even when it meant breaking the rules; prefects ran the boys and boys respected the prefects – truth to tell, that respect was grudging and rather closer to fear than admiration – and boys did as prefects and teachers told them. Ask a teacher ‘why?’ and the reply you got was probably ‘because I say so’. Nowadays you can tell when you see teachers and boys talking, that the relationship is so much more trusting (both ways), so much more a pleasure and so two-way – and in Assembly after Assembly we see that it is just as productive and successful.”
