The school was intended to appeal to the upper African class and charged fees three to four times higher than ordinary mission schools. The first head to be appointed, Peter Holmes Canham a civil servant, came from British West Africa (Ghana). Canham was described as a passionate and charismatic figure eccentric with a fiery, if short-lived, temper. Canham arrived in September 1960 to take up the headship of the College. Upon the commencement of the construction of the College Canon David Neaum left St Bernards Mission for Chikwaka Mission protesting against the construction of the school due to what he considered as the importation of elitism into an Africa crying out for universal education, especially of girls, was iniquitous.