Bishops Council serves both the College and the Prep. It is constituted in terms of an 1891 Act of the colonial parliament of the Cape, and comprises 12 members. Half are nominated by the Archbishop of Cape Town, and the other half by Council itself. It is therefore very different from the structure of governing bodies of State schools. Council seeks to ensure a good spread of skills and reasonable representivity, both in terms of demographics, and achieving participation from old boys and parents. To assist with this, and to ensure that Council enjoys fresh ideas, internal rules permit membership for no more than two terms of 5 years each though the chairman's term may be extended to a maximum of 13 years.

To assist in representivity, Council decided a few years ago that both the OD committee chairman, and the chairs of the Parents' Associations would be invited to attend as observers. They participate fully and as decisions are invariably taken by consensus, the fact that they may not vote as members of Council is of little consequence in practice. Grant Nupen attends all meetings, with Michael King, as Deputy Principal, together with the Headmasters of the College and Prep.

Council meets 6 times a year; 4 of these meetings with a formal agenda, and the other two serving as an opportunity to talk more generally about the school’s affairs.

Until the beginning of 2009, Council had 9 committees reporting to it. The new structure has enabled this to be reduced to 4, namely Finance, Investment, Remuneration, and Physical Planning and Development.

Council has an executive committee comprising the chairs of the committees and of Council which meets once a term and on an ad hoc basis when required.

Grant Nupen, as Principal, is the chief executive of the school. He meets regularly with the Bishops Executive committee (normally weekly). The College and Prep have their own small executive committees and they in turn report to the Principal. The Principal also meets regularly with the chairman of Council, usually weekly.

Geoff Everingham
Chairman of Council
Nov 2009