The Schools Mark Turner, M.A. Shrewsbury Headmaster SY3 7BA Telephone: 01743 280525 Facsimile: 01743 340048 E-mail: [email protected] March 2016 Dear Parents and Guardians, I am always impressed at the speed of transformation of the school site, once our pupils leave at the end of term. It is a wonder to behold how a busy and hectic campus can become a quiet oasis within a matter of a few hours. This term, as our boys and girls have embarked on journeys to the far flung corners of the globe, we have quickly changed role to become hosts of the National Eton Fives Championships. Teams from across the country, together with international competitors from Switzerland and Malaysia, have been battling it out for national titles. Amongst them is a strong group of Salopians, who we anticipate will make it through to the final stages of the competition. Although the competition is very much ‘live’ as I write, I can congratulate Lizzie Ware and Sophia Breese on winning the U15 girls’ national title. We hope for more good news from the boys. In my end of term assembly, I spoke to the School about the philosophy of Kurt Hahn, one of the leading 20th century educationalists. Earlier in the term, I had the opportunity to spend a few days inspecting Gordonstoun School in Moray. As some of you will know, Gordonstoun was set up in 1934, by Kurt Hahn, on the model of Schule Schloss Salem, which had been founded several decades before, in Germany. As national socialism came to prominence with the rise of the Nazi Party, Kurt Hahn found that the ideals of his beloved school were not shared by the political agenda setters. After a short period in prison for inciting his old boys not to be beguiled by the Nazi Party, 11th – 16th March 1933, Kurt Hahn saw the writing on the wall and, following the intervention of Ramsay MacDonald, British Prime Minister, was able to escape Germany to build a new school, Gordonstoun, with an even more clearly defined philosophy than that promoted by the original school in Salem. Gordonstoun is a fascinating school, where they live Kurt Hahn’s IDEALS of Internationalism, Democracy, Education, Adventure, Leadership and Service. The strong philosophy underpinning the foundation of Gordonstoun has spawned further United World Colleges across the globe, the Round Square Movement and, perhaps most famously of all, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, which now involves over a million boys and girls representing almost every country around the world. Gordonstoun is, in some ways, light years away from Shrewsbury School. There are fundamental differences in geography, history and the social context in which the two schools have evolved. Nevertheless, I came away from my visit much more aware of the similarities between our two schools than the differences. In particular, we share a commitment to service with the encouragement to our boys and girls to give back, both to the school in which they find themselves living and to the communities and professions in which they will eventually work. Also, both schools share a strong focus on trying to provide leadership opportunities. Although we don’t have a Fire Brigade or Coast Guard Service, we do have the CCF, together with a strong commitment to community outreach and charitable fundraising. I announced in assembly that already this year, through the combined efforts of the Charities Committee, approximately £29,000 has been raised for almost a dozen charities. In the summer, a group of our own students, together with friends from the Shewsy, our youth centre in West Everton, will make a visit to the Shrewsbury School Eye Hospital in Malawi, to familiarise themselves with the excellent, necessary work that is done there. At the same time, I read in a recent newsletter that an invitation has been issued to anybody who wishes to join ‘Team Shrewsbury’ for the Shrewsbury Half Marathon on Sunday 19th June. I gather that funds will be raised for the Restart Centre, which is a programme to support street children in Gilgil, Kenya, that has been visited several times by runners from the Hunt on their East African ventures to explore the birthplace of distance running. In short, we will continue to do everything possible to encourage boys and girls to look beyond the confines of the school campus and identify opportunities to serve. We are already preparing for our quinquennial whole school sponsored walk, in the autumn, to raise funds for the Shewsy, which is more vital than ever before, given swingeing government cuts. In the same tradition, many Salopians make the most of a myriad of opportunities to develop their leadership skills. I am always impressed by the gravitas of those involved in our debating competitions, the contribution made by ‘Postors and other appointed officials, and School Council members, who are increasingly harnessing ‘pupil voice’ into sensible proposals to influence future change. Perhaps the most tangible example of outstanding leadership has recently been provided by the CCF, where, at their Biennial Inspection, the three Section Leaders, Susy Watts (Army), Guy Cabral (RAF) and Ben Remnant (Royal Marines), briefed the Inspecting Officer, Lt Colonel Graham Shannon (Commanding Officer 1 Royal Irish), on how pupils within the school can use the CCF to practice and test their leadership skills. As you will recall, the Royal Marine Section showed their excellence in this regard by winning the much coveted Pringle Trophy. In reviewing the many areas of similarity between Shrewsbury and Gordonstoun, one can only assume that there may have been a cross fertilisation of educational ideas at some stage. Perhaps this opportunity presented itself when the school at Gordonstoun was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence in 1939 and was moved into exile near Montgomery, just a few miles west of Shrewsbury, for the years up to 1945. It is an intriguing possibility that Headmaster Hardy may have met and discussed educational matters with Kurt Hahn during this period. On return from Gordonstoun, I was very aware that this term was even shorter and more frenetic than usual. That notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed a few hours watching the massed crews from Shrewsbury School competing alongside almost three hundred others at The Schools’ Head of the River Race on Thursday 17th March. Although some of our crews found the competition intense, at J16 and J15 level strong performances gave hope for the future, both for the summer regatta season and the years beyond. As announced on the website, the J15 boys’ octuple achieved outstanding success by winning gold medals at Eton Dorney the day after. It is also worthy of mention that our two girls’ crews continued the rapid development of girls’ rowing at The Schools with performances that will have been noted up and down the country. On the last day of term, I was very pleased indeed to attend the Shrewsbury School Parents’ Association Easter Ball. This year the theme was ‘The March Hare’s Ball’. This mind-blowing experience was a concentrated feast of entertainment from beginning to end. Once again, the combined guest list of almost 250 parents has set the standard for their sons and daughters to emulate at the Leavers’ Ball, scheduled for Saturday 2nd July. All those who attended were most grateful to Will Morris and his committee from the SSPA for providing such a memorable evening. The last week of term was particularly busy in that we had to devote a significant amount of time to the interview process to identify the right candidate for a new role, Deputy Head (Co-curricular), with effect from 1st September 2016. With the ever-growing complexity of school life and the almost doubling up of activities as we move towards full co-education, there has been a growing and urgent need for a more co-ordinated approach to the huge amount on offer within our co-curriculum. I think it is fair to say that over the last few years, there have been rising concerns over the pressure on a small percentage of our pupils who, for all the right reasons, sometimes attempt to do too much. Clearly a full, varied and balanced programme is important, but the simple physical reality of not being able to be in two places at the same time can lead to unnecessary pressure. At the other end of the scale, we are aware of a tiny minority of Salopians who adopt a minimalist (even some who adopt a nihilist) approach by trying to avoid much of what is available. Whilst there is truth in the old adage, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’, nevertheless we would like to do more to ensure that everybody is involved in a full programme, with the mesh on the support network set as tightly as possible. After a competitive process of interview, I was delighted to be able to announce that Peter Middleton, current Housemaster of Rigg’s Hall, has been appointed into this important new role. We will be commencing a hunt for Peter’s successor in Rigg’s, as soon as term resumes in April. For now, with Spring in the air, the first stripes mown into the cricket fields and a glimmer or two of sunshine, it appears that we have got lots to look forward to next term. With almost 500 pupils involved in public exams, the next few weeks will be important for ‘appropriate preparation’, otherwise known as revision! We have high hopes that this year’s candidates will be able to emulate the record-breaking success of their forebears last year.