The Chronicle January 2020

8 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Cambridge. He is now married to Kirsty, and working as a paediatrician for the NHS in west London. Katie loved sport – she played 1st team Hockey, Netball and Tennis, and went to Newcastle to study Geography. She now works in the wine trade. The Teddies they went to was a very good school. I think the current version, seven years later, is even better. What have you enjoyed most in your career at Teddies? One of the things I’ve really enjoyed is growing hedges – down the side of Keble Drive and in front of the Kendall Housemaster’s accommodation. I love the hedge behind the second hole on the golf course, too. It’s about the tonal things: we are not a school with fences, we are a school with hedges. I really enjoy the roof of the Common Room in Avenue, which looks like a tortoise shell from above – it is fantastic. I still remember, with David Christie’s encouragement, ordering the slightly more expensive, aesthetically pleasing lights to go along Upper 1 to the boarding houses, not the basic model. We saw it as a statement of intent – an inflection point in the development of the School. We must be financially prudent, but that doesn’t always mean doing things in the cheapest possible way. The aesthetics of the environment make a difference to pupils and staff – and to the feel of the School. I’ve always enjoyed walking back to our house on the Woodstock Road on summer evenings when there is cricket on Upper 1 and loads of pupils on the rugby pitch – teenage boys and girls just having fun together. I look forward to Friday afternoons in my current office because I can listen to the choir practice, then organ practice and finally bellringing practice. It reminds me that we are a village. I’ve also enjoyed it when pupils have surprised themselves. I remember walking back one evening when a junior sports team playing cricket against Radley had just won the match. I remember the players cavorting and whooping as if they’d won the World Cup. And then their coach barked something like ‘Manners!’ and they instantly stopped dancing around and went up and commiserated with their opponents, shook their hands and did everything that they should do. I’ve enjoyed working with such a diverse group of colleagues. I’ve tried to walk about the What have you enjoyed about being part of the school community?

Exploring the countryside surrounding the city of Hangzhou, potential site of our first partner school in China, with Margaret Lloyd, Deputy Head International, and colleagues

What are the defining characteristics of St Edward’s? We are distinctive in a number of ways. We are the only boarding school of our ilk in a city. This gives our pupils many opportunities to stay in touch with real life. This is so important because adolescents should not be protected from the world but be part of it, and see for themselves the many and various ways of being a successful adult. More generally, our close association with the city’s universities gives us a liberal, broad-minded outlook. We are comfortable in the role of the outlier. We have a distinctive academic offering in that we are one of the few schools to offer both A Level and the IB Diploma, and we are introducing an innovative Middle School Program to allow the wheels of our pupils to spin faster than they do following the traditional GCSE diet. I am so pleased that our educational innovativeness is beginning to get the recognition from the sector that the Warden and his staff deserve. What do you hope for St Edward’s over the next 20 years or so? Everything is set up for the School to capitalise on the place it occupies in the market. It has fantastic employees who are all dedicated to ensuring the pupils get the best start in life they can. The Governing Body is a pride of wise lion-hearts, and the Warden is our Philosopher King. If they all remain nimble of brain, eager for change, forgiving of honest errors, and trust their essential humanity, then the sky is the limit.

School in order to get things done rather than relying too heavily on email or summoning people to my office. There is so much to be enjoyed in daily interactions with colleagues – meeting the cleaners on the Woodstock Road early in the morning, or having an impromptu discussion about something topical as I move around the School.

What would you like to be remembered for? For having been human, honest and

optimistic … and for having been a good colleague to all the people who work here.

Do you have any regrets? I wish I’d got to grips with catering sooner. Our Catering Department is run by Ashleigh Eaton, Domestic Bursar, who brings considerable expertise and flair to this important area of school life. Cooper’s, the Sixth Form Café, is better than Costa, and the new café in the Quad Development will, I am sure, be just as popular. We hardly ever receive complaints about the food . outstanding, modern academic facilities and a number of beautiful, inspiring spaces in which our pupils can come together. It is therefore a physical manifestation of the importance we place on academic ambition and community values. There will be a university feel to some of the learning spaces, so it will be fantastic for our Sixth Formers in particular as they prepare for the next stage of their education. Why is the Quad Development important to St Edward’s? It’s a complete game-changer. It offers