Six years of leadership. A pandemic navigated. A community strengthened. An evening filled with gratitude and reflection as St John's bids farewell to Stuart West as he prepares to step down as the school's 16th Executive Headmaster. Through speeches, tributes, and the unveiling of his portrait, the College honoured a leader who understood that tradition lives only when it breathes.
The St John's College community gathered in the Memorial Chapel on Friday, 21 November, for a thanksgiving service to celebrate Stuart West's six years as the school's 16th Executive Headmaster. After the service, guests filled Darragh Hall. Peter Wright, Senior Deputy, welcomed them with words from Van Morrison's song: "When you don't need to worry, there'll be days like this."
Family and friends joined the celebration, along with members of Council, fellow heads, and Old Johannians of every vintage. But the warmest welcome was reserved for Stuart and his wife Joyanne, whose partnership has been inseparable from Stuart's leadership.
Above them, fifteen portraits of previous headmasters looked down from the walls. A sixteenth would join them.
Stuart's tenure began in 2020, just as COVID was about to turn the world upside down. From the start, the St John's community saw what would define his time here: empathy, deep thoughtfulness, and an unwavering sense of fairness. His humanity showed not in grand gestures but in opening his home, again and again, with Joyanne, to staff, students, and families.
Lester Lalla, Preparatory Headmaster and Stuart's first appointment at St John's, spoke of a man inspired by Parker J Palmer's belief that good teaching cannot be reduced to technique. It arises from the identity and integrity of the teacher.
"You see it everywhere," said Lester. "His love for the Chapel. His fondness for dad jokes at weekly assemblies, jokes that made us groan louder than we laughed, but somehow opened our hearts. His annual theatrical performances at GROBS. Those impressive playlists. And yes, occasionally, the 'bad boy' imposter on the Harley Davidson."
Stuart understood himself as a custodian, not an owner, of the community entrusted to him. As Frederick Buechner wrote, vocation is "the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Stuart found that place.
Courage, said Lester, is a value Stuart cherishes. It is expressed with good humour and laughter, but it is courage nonetheless. He has guided the school through turbulent waters, supported by his deep faith and Joyanne's unwavering love.
"You are meticulous," Lester continued. "Hours spent preparing weekly assemblies, crafting speeches, writing governance reports. The weekly amphitheatre became your pulpit, our community your congregation. With wisdom, candour, and fearlessness, you invited us to create spaces of belonging and contemplation."
Despite COVID arriving just as Stuart took the reins, the Victory Bell rang throughout his tenure for sport and culture alike. Academic results remained exceptional: an average of 4.3 distinctions per matric student, through some of the most rigorous subject choices available. The students themselves became leaders, comfortable and articulate, reflecting what they had observed in Stuart.
Paul Emant, Head of Sixth Form, took a different approach. He spoke of Dead Poets Society, of Robin Williams asking students to imagine what old photographs might say.
"Stuart," he began, "I want you to consider the fifteen portraits of your predecessors and imagine their words."
Paul traced the St John's story back to 1898, when the founding fathers set its foundations of scholarship, Anglican identity, and moral purpose. Each headmaster has since added something of their own. Some consolidated academic excellence, others extended the school's reach. Some built physical structures, others strengthened culture and chapel life.
Every era has carried its own challenges. From wars, economic shifts, social transitions, and, most recently, a pandemic. Yet in each era, a headmaster chose to lead and believe in what St John's could become.
"The legacy of our leadership has always been one of inheritance and contribution," Paul explained. "You inherit something precious, and you leave it stronger for the next person."
"There's an issue with these portraits. They don't include the wives," he said, mentioning Anne Cameron, Susie Edey, and now Joyanne West. "Joyanne, thank you for your love of St John's. Thank you for being Stuart's pillar of strength. You are a Head in your own right, with your own pressures and commitments, but we have loved your engagement with our community.
Under Stuart's stewardship, St John's has become more forward-looking, more academically responsive, and more attentive to the world students are entering. He hasn't merely protected traditions. He has refined them, reminded everyone that tradition lives only when it breathes.
"Tonight, as you unveil this portrait, we do more than frame an image. We frame a legacy."
Paul returned to his Dead Poets Society moment: "What are your predecessors saying, Stuart? They're saying: You are kind. You are brave. You are beautiful. You are, and were, enough. But they're also saying: Well done, you true and faithful servant of St John's College."
Siza Gule, Head of School in 2025, introduced the students' tribute. He spoke of having only one headmaster throughout his entire journey at St John's, creating a relationship that moved beyond expected respect to genuine understanding. The students had watched Stuart lead with both strength and vulnerability, and that had shaped them.
"Every sentiment in what you're about to see," Siza said, "is a reflection of Mrs West's faithful devotion to St John's through the love she has shown this institution."
The video captured the affection of students whose lives Stuart has touched. Young men who saw him share personal stories and occasionally arrive on his Harley, and who loved him for showing them that leadership and humanity aren't contradictory.
Tina Playne, Chair of Council, presented a gift on behalf of the school. She acknowledged what Stuart has managed from leading St John's through COVID-19, making key appointments, and building connections locally and internationally.
"At Speech Day, you spoke about your journey as a teacher and how the walk itself is the gift," Tina said. "With that in mind, and after consulting with Joyanne, we landed on a gift that reflects a different kind of journey."
The gift was a trip on the Blue Train, a journey across the country that Stuart loves. "The Blue Train follows its tracks with purpose and certainty, just as you have travelled the path of your vocation."
Peter Wright called Stuart forward with Estelle Potgieter, Head of Visual Arts and the artist who painted his portrait. "Heads never truly leave," Peter reminded everyone. "Their presence remains."
Stuart unveiled his portrait. It will hang among the fifteen heads who came before. Students will walk through Darragh Hall in years to come and pause before it. Some will remember the man they knew: his kindness, his faith, his humanity. Others will simply see another face in the line of leaders, unaware of the dad jokes and the Harley, the COVID lockdowns and Victory Bells.
The portrait carries a message: leadership is both privilege and responsibility, no headmaster begins with a blank page, and the measure of a leader lies not in the era they inherit but in the one they leave behind.
Peter concluded the formalities with these final words from Van Morrison: 'When it's nobody's business the way that you want to live, I just have to remember, there'll be days like this.' Surrounded by his family, friends, colleagues, and a community changed by his presence, Stuart West will take his place in the history of St John's.
There will be days like this.
