Friday 1 August 2025
Dear Parents and Guardians,
RE: FROM THE RECTOR’S DESK
The term has ended in a rather unusual manner. We are, indeed, creatures of habit, and the departure from
normal routine has certainly caught us a little off-guard. Deadlines rushed up, events seemed to pass at
breakneck speed, and packing up the term has been frenetic. As this arrives in your inbox, lessons will
have ended and all we have left of the term is our rugby fixtures against St George’s. While this will bring
the curtain down on the school’s winter sport season, Peterhouse will be hosting two of Zimbabwe’s most
significant schools’ hockey festivals. Starting on 1 August, the Girls School will be the venue for the
Golden and Silver Girls tournament. 24 schools will be battling it out for the honour of being in the finals
on Sunday. Following on this will be the boys’ Super 12 Festival. This starts on Thursday 7 August with
the final being played in the afternoon of Saturday 9 August. There can be little doubt that, for hockey
enthusiasts, these two festivals will feature some of the best boys’ and girls’ schools’ hockey.
With the end of term, reports will also now be with you. For the public examination classes, these reports
will be very important as they will reflect on the recent “mock examinations”. There is a wealth of good
advice in these reports which I hope will provide all our CIE candidates with some important revision
advice. While academic consolidation is important this holiday, there is an equal need for rest and
recovery; it is all about finding the right balance. There is very little time between the start of the
Michaelmas term and the start of the Cambridge examinations (25 September).
Over the course of the last six months, we have been engaged in a review of our school cell phone and
devices policies. There have been, for some time, concerns expressed about the school failing behind
current trends in managing the digital usage spaces. Complementing our efforts, the visit by Emma
Sadleir to Peterhouse helped provide a professional and expert opinion on our new devices policy. This
has been distributed to you all. This updated policy does align the school with best practice, and we
believe that the new document will manage our cell phone and devices space in a more objective manner.
It will also provide better safeguarding protection for your children. The policy will be effective from the
beginning of next term. Please can I ask that you familiarise yourself with the new policy before returning
your children to school in September.
In another departure from tradition, we announced the new pupil leadership for 2026 in the end of term
Assembly. This decision was taken after a review of our leadership development in the school. In short,
this change has assisted in a more insightful and thorough selection process. It will also provide an
opportunity for greater levels of mentorship early in the Michaelmas Term. For the outgoing prefect body,
they will be able to shift their attention to their final examinations. Congratulations to all those who have
Peterhouse Group of Schools : Private Bag 3741, Marondera, Zimbabwe: www.peterhousegroup.co.zw
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been recognised for their leadership. In their appointment, there was a very clear message that leadership
comes with responsibility and accountability. The following traits were highlighted and will be expected
of the incoming prefect group. The characteristics include humility, emotional intelligence, care,
compassion, a sense of purpose, resolve, resilience and grit, determination, integrity, and a sense of fair
justice.
As we embark on the Michaelmas holiday, I believe we can reflect positively on the past term. Across the
broad range of school activities there have been many successes. In the classrooms, some very good work
has been done, and we hope that this will be reflected in the upcoming examinations. On the sports field,
our teams have not only been competitive but have also played games in the right spirit. Culturally, we
have been entertained with great productions and done equally well in benchmarking assessments (NIAA
and London College of Music). Achieving these results is a tribute to the commitment of staff and I salute
all the work of the school academic, administrative, and service staff. Sadly we also bid farewell to three
members of staff. Tafadzwa Patsanza leaves Peterhouse to take up a new teaching post overseas. Robert
Chiminya Jnr follows his passion for engineering and is joining a mining house in Zambia. We also bid
farewell to Noelene du Rand who joins her husband in Harare. Finally, my thanks go to you, the parents,
for your ongoing support of all our endeavours.
With warm regards,
Jon Trafford
Rector