St Edward's Chronicle Summer 2018

14 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Simon Palferman What do you do at Teddies and how long have you been at the School? I began teaching part-time in the Classics Department here in September 2013, when this year’s Upper Sixth leavers were brand-new Shells. I then left the school temporarily before re-joining fulltime in September 2015. Since then I tutored in Jubilee for a year and latterly spent two fantastic years as AHM in Segar’s. I also run squash at the School. Where were you before? I spent six years teaching in high school in Japan and another seven years working in overseas development organisations which aimed to improve education and child welfare in some of the most impoverished parts of the world. What are you most looking forward to about becoming a Housemaster? I am looking forward to getting to know the boys in House and to helping them navigate routes through their teenage years rather less haphazardly than I managed myself. Name some highlights from your Teddies career so far. I have so many specific fond memories which include proudly watching individual pupils perform brilliantly on stage, in the classroom, on the squash court and at major school events. But I think my absolute highlights have been the informal moments which occur unexpectedly and spontaneously in the course of the routine academic and pastoral life of the School: pupils have an amazing tendency to disarm with their humour, their insights and their creativity, and these are the moments It reflects reality! If we can provide our pupils with anything during their time at a school – beyond just an appropriately impressive set of academic qualifications – it must surely be the ability to function and thrive in life beyond the Quad, where variety and diversity exist. I spent three years of my school days in an all-boys environment. I still haven’t fully recovered. What are you most looking forward to in the Quad Project? I’m looking forward to the Cowell’s boys being able to roll out of bed into some of the best facilities in the school each morning. Once the construction has ended, the House (and I!) will be in the prime location I really shouldn’t say, but it might have involved communion wine… I’ve grown up a bit since then, and hope that both God and my school will forgive me in due course. What would be your Desert Island book? The Aeneid . Obviously. What are your ambitions for your pupils? That they appreciate that they have opportunities that most young people around the world will never have, and that it is essential that they take advantage of these. I’d like them to be ambitious (aiming to be their very best), gracious (when others are even better) and happy (because they have fulfilled their potential). which have provided me with my most valuable highlights. What do you see as the benefits of co-education? to take full advantage of the spectacular new buildings. What was the naughtiest thing you did at school?