Former Preparatory School Headmaster Mr Tim Evans passed away in Hilton on Monday, 30 November 2025. Remembered for his kindness, tremendous work ethic and faultless professionalism, Evans headed the Prep during a pivotal time in the School’s development and growth – a time of great change both physically and organisationally – as well as being Head during the first democratic election in 1994.
Evans joined the Prep after a successful time as head of King Edward VII Primary School, from 1981 to 1987, during which he put in place a number of structures, such as a separate Prep School magazine and a new Media Centre – all secured through effective funding from parents. It was perhaps this success, in part, that ensured his headship at St John’s. According to Walter MacFarlane in his history of the Prep, Greater Than We Know, Evans was given the mandate to ‘look particularly into the functioning of the staff and the general management of the school and was to look into the complaints of the parent body’.
Although this was not popular at the beginning of his tenure, Evans took to his task efficiently. Having inherited a school with no subject heads of department and a single Deputy Head, Evans formalised much of the staffing structures that still exist at the Prep today. Accordingly, his time at the Prep is distinct by the hiring of many staff who would remain seminal to the Prep and the overall College, such as Nicky Sulter and Madeleine Midgley. He expected his staff to deliver the best education possible to the boys in their care. He and his staff grew to trust each other implicitly, and he allowed those who worked for him the freedom to express themselves fully in their particular fields. It was Evans who decided that Upper I should form part of the Prep rather than the Pre-Prep. Although this was controversial at the time, it was purely for tighter organisational reasons: to group all the under-9 sports age groups into one location to help with coaching. In turn, the empty classes at the Pre-Prep led to the creation of a new library and media centre.
Adrian Norris remembers Evans as being ‘well-liked by both his staff and the parents. He had a particular way of dealing with parents; firm, fair, and clear about where the line was drawn. He was a traditionalist by nature but also had a wicked sense of humour.’
It was his ability to build and maintain relationships that marked his time at the Prep. Evidence of this was seen during the 1994 elections, during which time many families began to emigrate and leave St John’s due to the worry of unrest in the country. Evans’ response was to gather a group of parents as a body to tackle the problem, which was eventually no longer an issue.
As well as this, great construction was taking place at the Prep, and it was in Evans’ time that the Noel Iverson Music Centre was constructed, as was the Valley Swimming Pool, around the Prep. He also insisted on a refurbishment of the Headmaster’s Office, which had not been altered since 1958.
His time, however, was not without its internal challenges. As the College, as a whole, approached the Centenary, for which a Centenary Venture Committee had been founded under Stuart Morris, Evans saw that the College appeared to be getting all the financial support and attention, commenting that he was ‘finding it increasingly more difficult to defend Prep cut-backs when College appears to be one continuous upgrade’. Indeed, the position of the Prep Headmaster was a pivotal question for him, feeling that the role should hold more significance, even suggesting that it be incorporated into Council, although it was denied at the time. This progressive thinking, it could be argued, has influenced the important and elevated position of the role as it stands today.
He was particularly passionate about sport and personally played several sports at 1st-league level. He loved coaching, even as Headmaster, and looked after the U9A Cricket Team for a number of years. Outside of school, he was a cricket administrator, and he served as chairman of the Transvaal Primary Schools Committee for many years. He also loved the bush and spent many of his holidays in the Kruger Park.
After leaving St John’s in 1996, Evans took up the headship at Cordwalles Preparatory School for Boys in Pietermaritzburg and at St Patrick’s College in Kokstad, respectively, until he retired.
He will be remembered as a fine and influential Headmaster who contributed a great deal to St John’s Preparatory School and to the College as a whole. — Michael Boyd and Adrian Norris
