Peter Habberton
Peter Habberton attended St Dunstan’s Primary School, where his father was the Rector of St Dunstan’s Anglican Church. He completed a Foundation Diploma at the Birmingham College of Art, and a B.A (Combined Honours) degree in Drama and Theatre Arts and Physical Education at the University of Birmingham. He returned to South Africa towards the end of 1974 and married Jacqueline, a Foundation Phase teacher, in August 1975. Peter coached cricket at St David’s Marist College, where his role developed into that of Physical Education teacher, and he joined the school management team. He also taught English and Art and coached the 1st XV rugby and 1st XI cricket teams.
In 1981, Peter moved to St John’s College, where he taught Physical Education and English and was later promoted to Housemaster. At different times he served as Master in Charge of Cricket and of Rugby, and as 1st XV rugby and 1st XI cricket coach. In 1989, the school generously granted him a sabbatical year during which he obtained a University Education Diploma (with distinction) at the University of Witwatersrand. In 1992, Peter was appointed Head of Thomas More College, with a mandate to save the school from closure. Together with his wife Jacquie, they procured funding for the initial classrooms of a primary school, with the dual goal of ensuring a foundation for academic quality and harnessing the energy and drive of young, involved parents in developing the school. Over the next ten years, Thomas More College grew to 1100 students. During this time, Peter served a term on the ISASA Council as the Regional Chair of SAHISA.
Throughout his career in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, Peter was involved in the coaching and administration of school and senior cricket, and the unification of the previously racially segregated sports bodies. He served as a Board member in both the Transvaal Cricket and KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Unions, was Chair of the Transvaal High Schools Cricket Association and President of the KwaZulu-Natal High Schools Cricket Forum and was the Vice-President of the USSASA Cricket Board. He was also a selector and manager of South African High Schools and U. 19 Cricket teams.
In 2002 Peter succeeded educational pioneer David Matthews as Rector of Tiger Kloof Educational Institution. Having been founded in 1904 by the London Missionary Society, this historic mission school was closed by the apartheid regime in 1963. David’s vision was to re-build and revive the school. Tiger Educational Institution was established in 1994 as an independent Trust to partner with the new government, and the school opened as a public secondary school on private property in 1995. Once again, Peter and Jacquie found themselves establishing a Primary school to ensure the school’s sustainability. Tiger Kloof is a member of the Round Square Schools’ Association, and Peter served on the Board of Round Square as Director of the Africa Region.
Between 2002 and 2004, Peter studied towards a Masters’ degree through St Augustine’s University College, graduating cum laude as Master of Philosophy in Theology, specializing in Christian Spirituality. In 2018, he was ordained as an Anglican priest licensed by the Bishop of Pretoria to serve as an assistant priest (non-stipendiary) in the Archdeaconry of Rustenburg.
After retiring from Tiger Kloof in June 2012, Peter served ISASA member schools as a Regional Director with responsibility for member schools in Gauteng, North West, Free State and the Northern Cape. Peter and Jacquie have four children (all of whom are involved in teaching and mentoring in some form or other) and nine grandchildren. With few opportunities to pursue his passion for flyfishing, Peter attempts to hit a little white ball into 18 holes in as few shots as possible. It keeps him humble.