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Speech Day 2020 – Rector’s Speech – Mr Jon Trafford
It is 1:30am in the morning, and the phone is ringing wildly. What could possibly be wrong – all the worst thoughts go through your mind. What has happened? Surely everything in the boarding house is fine? I was there 1 ½ hours ago, it was in darkness and all the boys were asleep. Ominously, the voice at the other end of the line belonged to the Deputy Head. He was adamant and demanded that I meet him urgently in his office. No, it would not wait until morning. Arriving sleepily, a table in the corner of the reception area caught my eye; it was littered with half empty quart bottles of beer and a selection of rather fine Cape wines. Seated along the opposite wall was a rather disheveled group of boys, including my Head of House and members of my prefect body. Thinking that the Head of House had been particularly proactive in his duties, I gave him a quick thumbs up before entering the Deputy Heads office. Why else would the Head of House be up at this time in the morning? All too quickly the bubble burst, for the boys, seated outside, had been caught red – handed by the school security having a wonderful celebratory party in the house loft – soon to be renamed “Tom’s Pub and Grill”.Chairman of the EXCO, Mr Simon Hammond; our Guest of honour, Mr Vic Paunganwa; Mrs Hough, Headmistress of Peterhouse Girls; invited guests; Peterhouse Boys and Girls staff and the Vth and VIth Form of Peterhouse, it is my singular pleasure to welcome you here today. I am certain our Guest of Honour does not need much by the way of introduction as he, having taught at Peterhouse, will be known to many of you. What I do know is that he agreed, at short notice, to be our guest here today – Vic many thanks.
Speech Day 2020 – Guest of Honour – Mr Vic Paunganwa
The Chairman of the Executive Committee Mr. Simon Hammond, the Rector Mr. J Trafford, The Headmistress of Peterhouse Girls Mrs. C. Hough, Governors, my former colleagues - the esteemed staff of Peterhouse Boys and Girls, the young ladies and gentlemen of Peterhouse, invited guests. It is indeed a delight and a privilege to share this special occasion with you all. After all that has happened or should I say not taken place this year, I am glad that we have managed to recognize and reward the accomplishments of these high achievers. Congratulations to all the prize winners of 2020.
I was one of those lucky teachers who always seemed to end up on a tour. While I was here at Peterhouse I must have held the record for the most tours attended (maybe Mr. Banda may have done more because he also organized national team tours). Annual Triathlon and Hockey tours to South Africa; a rugby tour to England; I even got roped in to a B Block Chimanimani trip. I have fond memories of climbing up Kweza mountain with Mrs. Shoesmith and a bunch of B Block Boys, singing ‘Jayz on my feet’, just to take the mind off the pain. I thoroughly enjoyed these adventures and it was in these settings outside of the classroom that the true character of Peterhouse pupils was molded and truly revealed. Allow me to reminisce and share with you some of our experiences and what I came to understand about Peterhouse boys and girls.
Speech Day 2020 – Head of School – Crispen Mashingaidze
Chairman of EXCO – Mr Simon Hammond, Guest of Honour – Mr Vic Paungwena, The Rector – Mr Trafford, Headmistress of Peterhouse Girls – Mrs Hough, members of common room, invited guests and the kings and queens of Peterhouse.
Thank you, Mr Paungwena, for presenting our prizes and for your wise words of encouragement. Thank you, sir, for taking the time to be with us, it is always lovely to have you back at Peterhouse.
I am honoured to stand before you today as the 62nd and most special Head of School. Special in the sense that I was given the privilege to lead this great school in a year as unorthodox as 2020. Peterhouse has been our home away from home for the past 6 years. A group of 90 boys entered Tinokura, raring to begin their high school careers with no knowledge of what lay ahead of them. Tinokura prefect Kuda Manase wasted no time in letting us know of where we stood – at the bottom of the food chain. We came, we saw, and we finally made it to the top.
Speech Day 2020 – Head of School – Jade Carlisle
Good Morning to our quest of honour Mr Paunganwa and his wife Mrs Paunganwa. To the Chairman of the board, Mr Hammond and his wife Mrs Hammond. The Rector Mr Trafford, and in her absence Mrs Trafford. The Headmistress Mrs Hough and her husband Mr Hough, Peterhouse Staff, invited guests and of course fellow Peterhouse pupils.
There are many causes of a minor heart attack and I can guarantee you, from experience, that one of them is being told to write a speech. Unfortunately for me it has been difficult to find things to write about this year. We experienced Lent term and had approximately 5 months of school. And with that being said, there isn’t much more I can say. Thank you.
Okay now that I’ve got your attention I actually do have things to talk about, even though I’m sure some of you would have loved if my speech was in fact only 20 seconds.
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