PETERHOUSE NOSTALGIA

... MEMORIES ...

1986 : RECTOR'S SPEECH DAY ADDRESS

10 October 1986

Mr Chairman, Deputy Minister of Education, ladies and gentlemen - welcome to Speech Day. It is good to see so many of you showing your support for the school. In particular it is good to see Sir Humphrey Gibbs and Dame Mollie here. Sir Humphrey is to give out the prizes. He has been associated with Peterhouse for longer than probably he cares to remember. Just before these proceedings began, he performed the opening ceremony for a new room off the Quarterdeck a sort of boardroom or dignified meeting place, which is named the Gibbs Room. The inscription says of Sir Humphrey, "huius scholae atque patriae praeclarus gubernator': which I will remind you means "most noted governor of this school and of this land". As a loyal servant of Queen Elizabeth II, and then more recently as a patriotic Zimbabwean, he demonstrates what loyalty and duty mean. That alone is a lesson to us all.

I am grateful to Sir Humphrey, and to all our Governors and members of EXCO for the help and support they give. I confess that Rectors can feel under siege at times. Do you know the story of a beleaguered outpost of the Empire somewhere in the remote upper reaches of the Nile. Military HQ in Khartoum received an urgent wire from them saying: "Send reinforcements; are being attacked by lions and tigers". HQ's rather unhelpful response was, "There are no tigers in Africa". Back came the laconically desperate reply, "Delete tigers". By contrast, the help I get, the help the school gets, from its Governors is always speedily and generously given.

Sir Humphrey was at Eton quite a few years ago, and I wondered what stories of that period from that legend- encrusted place might be recounted. Unfortunately Sir Humphrey had left school a year or two before the Officers Training Corps was inspected by General Sir George Higginson, aged 98, who after taking the salute addressed the boys on his experiences in the Crimean War--which ended in 1856! That takes one back a bit! But to go back less far--when Sir Humphrey was at school his headmaster was Cyril Alington, later to be not only Dean of Durham but also Sir Alec Douglas Home's father in law. Alington once said of his school: "My great difficulty always is to convince people of what is really true, that this is the least exclusive and least narrow place of education in the country". Let us hope we can make that true of Peterhouse-- least exclusive because no one who could benefit is excluded by lack of money, which means a better bursary provision; least narrow because this school must have that breadth of vision, that liberality of spirit, which breaks the constrictions of parochialism, bigotry and narrow mindedness.

Political environment

That is a lot to ask of this school, which over the past year has operated on a multitude of fronts which you can read about in the "Record for the Year" ... a year not without its problems. Have things changed for the better at all in this region of the world since those well-known words: "I tell you naught for your comfort, Yea, naught for your desire, Save that the sky grows darker yet, And the sea rises higher". The problems for southern Africa continue and affect us all, whether in vulnerability to attacks from enemies without, or in shortage of foreign currency. The uncertainty over what is going to happen south of the Limpopo must affect us here. The difficulty in procuring much needed educational equipment must be of concern to a school. And our problems have also been more immediate and, in a sense, more trivial, during the past year. We have had to change our term dates at the behest of the Ministry. We are having to change the structure of our teaching in the Lower School now that we are required to enter our C Block for ZJC, an examination we have always regarded as something of a distraction from the business of preparing boys for '0' level. We have had problems too in understanding what Ministry policy is regarding admission of extra-territorial pupils to the school.

Labyrinthitis and encephalitis

And we have had to change term dates and our modus operandi because of the bug which attacked us last term. That was a worry, and many boys and staff suffered ailments ranging from colds and flu to labyrinthitis and, in a few cases, encephalitis. Earlier this term we were right to be cautious, to send boys home, to impose restrictions and quarantines here at school. As it turned out, we are pretty clear, as far as the boys are concerned. But no fewer than three lady members of staff are ill with a viral disease, which has gone in Mrs Robertson's and Mrs Coughlan's case for a long time now. We hope they will soon be back to normal.

Financial issues

Another problem has loomed large: that of money. We are an expanding school; we are also a school anxious to upgrade and maintain our existing fabric, as well as to uphold the best possible standards in all areas. All this costs money. Nobody ever has enough and in a sense we have been living beyond our means in trying to improve our facilities with an eye to future numbers, while receiving income only from the smaller numbers we have at present. And the single most dramatic avenue to a better financial position is not open to us; if we increased the numbers in each class by five or six we could effect a dramatic change in our position, but as it happens that option is not available on practical grounds alone- our classrooms aren't big enough. My colleagues would want to throw in a schoolmaster's argument as well, and say that on educational grounds also we should not forward that way. So, despite fee increases, we still struggle to balance our books.

I have painted a somewhat gloomy picture. And yet - I am reminded of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. When he arrived in the west from his lonely torment in Russia, Solzhenitsyn found himself again in torment, and he excoriated the western world for its materialism, its indifference and its greed. Like an Old Testament prophet he spoke gloomily of the future and lashed out at the present. Yet, as Bernard Levin writes, such a man is no mere prophet of gloom. I felt that, he writes, "I felt it intensely the night before I met Solzhenitsyn, when I met Garfield Todd. The gentle Rhodesian and the Russian Titan could scarcely be more different, in the experiences they have undergone, the situations in which they find themselves, or the nature of their lifework; yet the same current of delight ran through me as I met them, and the same lightness of heart accompanied me as I left". A school, like an individual, needs to be aware of its problems, and needs to recognise and articulate them. But a great school, like a great man, must cherish also the hope and have the inner strength to go forward with confidence.

Achievements

I believe there have been such signs of grace here in this past year. As well as problems, there have been achievements. Look at the new buildings in use at Springvale House, and the classrooms being built there; look at the Gibbs Room; walk to the Water Garden which delights not only the eye but also the ear; look at the two fine new Chemistry labs. Look at the improvements in the rest of the science department; look at the new bedsits in Malvern; look at the newly curtained and lockered dormitories in Ellis; look at the new grassed and walled athletics field. Look around and you see evidence of material progress in the school. And note the achievements: a pass rate at 'O' and 'A' level of just under 80%; over a dozen boys qualifying to play for their country in rugby, hockey, basketball, polo, polocrosse and athletics; our first four in our young sport of rowing beating all-comers last week to emerge as the best crew in the country; Simon Keevil winning the best young musician of the year award; Gareth Cornes having his fine butterfly collective permanently exhibited in the National Museum; Wayne Stutchbury's batiks on show at the Sheraton; Wayne Nel's winning of a Rotary Scholarship for a year in the United States; John Christou's producing and acting in one of the finest house plays ever seen here; Gosho Park receiving a Conservation Award from the hands of His Excellency the President and last night our management team going to Harare to pick up cheques for themselves and for the school as a result of their success in the National Management Game. There have been other successes: I'm sorry not to be able to mention all of them. These achievements, and the many you can identify in the Record of the Year, are an encouragement and a source of pride for us all.

All this in a school where 31 clubs and societies currently operate, and where 21 different sports are on offer. And the choir has sung twice in Harare Cathedral, and at the National Schools Concert. And since last year six house plays, a fifth form play, a Lower School variety show and a school play coming up. The teaching staff are deeply involved in all this as you can appreciate--running societies, coaching games, organising trips and expeditions; chatting to senior boys at the new Sixth Form Club Guest Nights; taking house prayers and taking services in Chapel; supplying costumes for plays and preparing for the transition from AEB to Cambridge examinations; standing in when colleagues are ill; invigilating examinations; entertaining visiting staff and prospective parents. The list is endless, and meanwhile the marking gets done and the teaching goes on, with never enough hours in the day!

Staff

New staff have arrived: Mr Flower comes to us from the World of Commerce, and is helping us get to grips with our Finances; Mrs Pritchard and Mr and Mrs Peebles have joined the expanding prep school staff, Mr Reg Querl occupies the new post of Sports Administrator who will organise all our sporting activities; Mrs Dray is the new Rector's secretary with the impossible task of organising me! And we say goodbye this term: to Miss Maramba who came to us from the University of Kent at Canterbury as a Chemist. We have enjoyed her elegant presence among us and wish her well as she pursues her academic studies further.

Mr Etheridge leaves us after twelve years service in the careers room and the computer room and the history classroom and the sports field; the fastest starting pistol in Zimbabwe! We wish him and Larry, Dominic and Siobhan, all the best as they move to the chiller dimes of the UK.

Otherwise the staff, both academic and otherwise remains stable, with a continual modest expansion to meet the demands ofa larger school.

Prefects

As always, I am enormously indebted to my school prefects-a more friendly and cheerful band I can scarcely imagine. They have been led, elegantly, intelligently and sensitively, by Farai Munemo, or Jules, whose own exploits over the years at Peterhouse are so notable - from gaining probably the best set of 'O' levels in the country to achieving athletic and cultural successes inside and outside Peterhouse. It was a great joy to me to be able to accompany him to Michaelhouse for their Speech Day in August--at the kind invitation of the Rector. That school and this have many things in common. Farai and I were very grateful to have been enabled to be part of the proceedings there - especially as the guest speaker was that amazing guru, Laurens van der Post. Perhaps, in the years to come, when the dreams of Sir Laurens and every other right thinking person have come true, we shall be able once again to meet with Michaelhouse on the sports field and in friendly rivalry and comradeship. In fact I had to go to Michaelhouse to hear that revealing story of Margaret Thatcher dining with her cabinet. The waiter asked her what she would like. "Beef', she said. "And the vegetables", enquired the-waiter. "Oh", said Margaret, "they will have the same"! We are rather short of vegetables among staff and boys here, I'm glad to say!

Leavers

Our good wishes go not only with the staff who are leaving, but with all the boys. We hope they will retain an affection for and an interest in their old school "Those returning, make more faithful than before". Faithful to the Peterhouse of the future-for the opportunities are great. The achievements of the past year are no grounds for complacency, the problems of the past year are no cause for alarm. The opportunities of the present and future are immense.

The future

We have a Peterhouse community that is far more catholic than ever before. Soon we will be educating boys and girls from the age of five to age to 19. I believe we offer a family package that money will appreciate.As from January 1988 the Lower School will be contained in new purpose built buildings on this side of the road. So we will once again have a unitary school and savings in terms of fuel, time and temper! The concept of the Lower School will remain because we believe that it has been a very successful airlock for boys coming, in many cases from a non-boarding environment, into a senior boarding school. The new Lower School opens at the same time that the Ruzawi C Block intake falls away, so that in future all new boys will together spend a year at the Lower School in close proximity to the other buildings on this site but separate enough for them to have some sense of identity and community as a group on the campus here which will have a total of some 500 boys.

Then, across the road on the Springvale site we shall have a Prep School which by then will have reached about 170. And in addition we shall have our Girls' Wing over there. Let's call it Springvale. Springvale will house about 200 girls from D Block up to VIth Form. Up to 'O' level the girls will live and work over there; after '0' level the girls will join the boys here for 'A' level lessons. I believe that this pattern of two separate schools with an element of co-education at the top is right for Peterhouse at this time. But those are only the nuts and bolts of the package, the bare bones of the opportunities awaiting us. They would bring us not a day's march nearer home if we did not also consider the educational opportunities that lie ahead.

We need to grasp opportunities for service more vigorously. We need to expand our careers and university entrance facilities. We need to encourage our pupils to look out to the wider world: water skiing on Kariba and g and ts on the steep are not the sum total of existence, and we need to make pupils more aware, more responsible, more open to ideas. That is a challenge in academic terms; it is also a challenge in terms of how we allocate our time and resources here. Fundamentally it is a spiritual challenge.

The Appeal

Today we make first mention of our Appeal--an appeal that will seek a response here in Zimbabwe, and which will also be directed abroad, and we are calling that part of our appeal "Out of Africa". We are asking friends of the school, sympathetic sections of business and commerce, people overseas with an interest in the stability and progress of this part of Africa; we are calling on all these to help us. To help us establish a substantial Bursary Fund so that our current income is not spent in this way; to help us with building developments in the houses and the classroom area and on the sporting side. But the Appeal is not merely a matter of dollars and cents. It isn't merely a matter of better buildings and better equipment. Again, fundamentally, it is a spiritual challenge.

It is a spiritual challenge because in a Christian school the things of the spirit matter most. As has been said, "The silicon chip will transform everything, except everything that matters".

Obviously what goes on in the hearts and minds of pupils and teachers is of most lasting importance. Of course these things relate to our surroundings. I believe that we are right to make our school environment aesthetically pleasing. I think the human spirit is inspired by beauty and shape and colour, as it is cabined and confined by meanness and congestion and greyness. We want to have people here like H.E. Luxmoore who became a scholar at Eton in 1852 and was still living there in retirement whenSir Humphrey was at school.

M.R. J ames, writer of ghost stories, Provost of Kings and a pupil of Luxmoore's, said of him: "His desire was that you should have a chance of knowing what was best: and so, if you showed an interest in great poetry or great buildings or pictures or music or plays, he would lavish his time and his money on helping you to see and understand them..." Our surroundings, our facilities, our opportunities here do matter. But they matter most as a vehicle, not as ends in themselves; just as what does on in the '0' and 'A' level classes is not an end in itself. To liberate the human spirit; to give young people some sense of the numinous; to help them see creation in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower, to point them to the challenges and opportunities that face them in this country and this world. To convince them that these challenges and opportunities can be faced successfully only by those who have a spiritual perspective. "Lord I have faith", says the epileptic's father in St Mark's Gospel, "Lord I have faith, help me where faith falls short".

Given faith and vision, we at Peterhouse can rise to the challenges, can launch our Appeal with confidence, and continue to serve our pupils and our country. "I have a dream", said Martin Luther King, "that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character". That day has arrived for us, though not for others. But the dream is not ended: we here still must work for a country and a system of education where character and faith and vision mean more than material achievement and material again. Upon that faith, that rock, is Peterhouse founded. Our plans, and our Appeal, and our developments, will continue to try to make that dream a reality

AJM