St Peter’s College: Silver Jubilee Celebrations
In the 1980s, during Anthony Parnell’s Headship, parent enthusiasm for establishing a college began to grow at St Peter’s Preparatory School. The Prep parents, PA and Council intended to establish a high school with the same values and ethos to which the Prep students could naturally progress to complete their senior school education. Regarding the ethos, it was understood that the new College was to be a monastic boy’s school. Pressure grew until the PA formally approached the Council to initiate the project.
Following a meeting of all stakeholders addressed by Ann Van Zyl, the newly appointed Head of St Stithians Girls, the Prep Council mandated the PA to form a project team and commence the initiative. The PA Chairman, Patrick Axon (who was the first architect responsible for several of the college buildings), was to locate a suitable site. The Council agreed to loan the project team the money to purchase the land.
Shortly after that, the PA Chairman resigned, and a new team was formed under the Chairmanship of Jimmy Hughes, a Prep governor, comprising parents and St Peter’s Council members. A site was located, and the land was purchased at Megawatt Park. Jimmy Hughes, an engineer, project-managed the construction of the College, while Ronnie Todd, the former St Alban’s College Headmaster, was recruited as the first Headmaster of St Peter’s College by a team led by the Prep’s HR Governor. The main gate of St Peter’s College is called “The Jimmy Hughes Gate” in honour of Jimmy’s contribution to the establishment of the College.
It was then decided to develop the College as a co-ed school which opened its doors in 1998 and as they say… the rest is HISTORY.
St Peter’s College now finds itself in an environment where independent schools face increased competition and rising customer expectations. Merely reproducing past levels of performance – however successful - will not be sufficient for schools such as St Peter’s College to operate to its full potential. Hence it is imperative that we continually seek to improve performance. There is no magic formula; each school is different. So, getting the questions right is crucial to our success. These tough decisions have ensured that St Peter’s College has succeeded - and continues to succeed - in a tough, competitive environment.
Our Proudly Anglican Ethos
St Peter’s is an Anglican Diocesan family of schools that is founded on the Anglican ethos. We focus on personal achievement within an environment that balances high academic standards with sport, music, culture and the development of each student as an individual. A clearly defined value system – comprising respect for each individual, courtesy, and honest and open communication – underpins our Anglican ethos. This ethos is built on scripture, tradition, reason and context. It is an ethos that prioritises best practices, critical thinking and community-building. It avoids polarisation and rather seeks to unite. This ethos is the College's foundation and will continue to drive our purpose. Notwithstanding our Anglican roots, St Peter’s College welcomes people of all faiths to join our community.
We acknowledge that our community has several options for schooling, many of which are good alternatives, but have still chosen St Peter’s College as their school of choice . We are confident that our ethos drives this choice. Our Anglican ethos, having been the cornerstone of the choice made by the community, will continually guide our decisions and actions at St Peter’s College
We are all God’s creatures and in our ethos, brought together as God’s people. Other than limited situations, such as life-threatening emergencies where one student may be temporarily focused on, all individuals in the St Peter’s Community are welcome and considered equal. No group is superior to any other and none are inferior.
From time to time, the College may temporarily highlight specific groups, especially marginalised or minority groups. Whilst such groups are equally welcome at the College, they are not more important than any other. Creating awareness of others, especially not like ourselves, is central to broadening education and minds. People are free to associate with groups of their choice, which choice we seek not to influence.
As the College, we do not associate with any one group to the exclusion of another. We do not endorse one group’s ideas, unless accepted as integral to the Anglican ethos or accepted by our community.
Similarly, flags, badges and symbols adopted by the College will be neutral and not be allowed to polarise our community. Individuals may be allowed to use these in their personal capacities, provided their use in accordance with our Anglican ethos and, where appropriate, in line with our uniform policies. We always strive to find ways to welcome all groups into our community.
Our Mission Statement and Values
I am now in my 21st year at St Peter’s College and starting my 8th as Headmaster, hence can speak with conviction on my tenure as Deputy Headmaster and now as Headmaster.
When I started at St Peter’s College on 01 January 2003, the College was established as a co-educational school, with a different motto to the Prep: “In Futurum Fortiter” vs “Servate Fidem”. The Headmaster at the time, Graham Howarth, together with the College Council under the Chairmanship of Tak Hiemstra, were clear and unwavering in spelling out the vision for the College, which is reflected in our Mission Statement:
“St Peter's College is a co-educational, independent day school espousing Anglican Christian values and providing a balanced, caring, varied and progressive environment. The aim of the College is to ensure that individual potential is achieved through exposure to a wide range of excellent academic, spiritual, sporting, creative, cultural and community activities. Our goal is to create and maintain an environment where trust and respect for the individual prevails, where diversity and inclusion are valued, and where individual responsibility is fostered within the context of teamwork. The unique contribution of each student, staff member and parent is valued within an environment of opportunity, thereby providing the inspiration necessary to equip our students with the knowledge, skills and confidence required to succeed in the 21st Century.”
The College Brand:
From a brand strategy perspective, I want to say that schools operate in a unique and special place, unlike many other organisations. There is a highly emotional connection between parents and the schools – a school has a crucial role in looking after their children, even playing a role in raising and shaping them into who they grow up to be. Not many corporate brands bear this huge responsibility as a school does. So, parents generally have a very close and passionate connection with the school and genuinely care about what the brand represents and how this is executed.
While we need to learn and benchmark from the corporate world on branding and marketing, a school is not the same. We need to carefully consider how to apply these techniques and strategies effectively in the world of education. Right now, most independent schools are thinking primarily about enrolment retention. This is prudent and necessary as retention will be the key for now, for it is times like these that refine and test the resilience of a brand.
From the outset, the College Council and the Headmaster were explicitly clear on positioning the College as a school of excellence so that all parents would aspire to send their children to a school of such stature and ethos. In Graham Howarth’s words: “We want to be St Peter’s College”.
Graham Howarth was seen as a maverick by his Independent School counterparts, and his strong views on transformation were often not seen in a favourable light. There were two initiatives which we established in those early days which have now become household names in the South African School Sector:
- The Sports and Cultural Festival (Est 2003): This tournament was established with a specific goal. There were many rugby and cricket festivals in the SA School’s Calendar; however, nothing for the largest and most popular sports, soccer, basketball and netball as well as cultural activities. It is interesting to note how many schools have recently been inspired by our efforts years later and these sports have also become part of their transformation strategies.
- The Old Petrian’s Girls Water Polo Tournament (Est 2005): This was the first Girl’s Water Polo Tournament in South Africa. As a college, we established it to create an opportunity for our girls to showcase themselves. There were so many boys tournaments available and nothing of the same prestige for the girls.
Both of these tournaments set St Peter’s College apart as trailblazers. The St Peter’s College name has become synonymous with these two events, the first and biggest events of their kind in South Africa.
St Peter’s College has led the way in making tough and, initially, unpopular decisions. Still, all the decisions we have taken have always been in the best interests of our students. Our view has always been to position the St Peter’s brand by living our vision and mission, affirming our value proposition, reminding people why they chose St Peter's College and delivering on our promise. These efforts have turned onlookers into prospects, prospects into enrolments and current parents and students into passionate advocates of our school ethos.
With so many schools offering a top-notch education, our brand ethos is what differentiates our school. From those early days, we have always understood how we want the College to be perceived. Our ethos is our most identifiable feature and the first thing a parent will recognise — and that's why it is so important to reiterate it to our community. Our ethos creates our identity; it helps us create a personality that aligns with our core purpose, helping those unfamiliar with our schools to build trust in it.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support, cooperation and interest in your children’s education. Your children are what brings our community together. The triangle of support between the student, the school and parents, is essential for St Peter’s success. To those who do everything they can to live the St Peter’s ethos, I extend my thanks to you – you are the heart and soul of St Peter’s College
“In Futurum Fortiter”
Rui Morais
Headmaster