Spring 2019 Newsletter
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CRESCAT IN HORAS DOCTRINA The Old Lennensian Newsletter of the Old Lennensians Association Spring Edition April, 2019 “But the fact is, no matter how good the teacher, how small the class, how focused on quality education the school may be, none of this matters if we ignore the individual needs of our students.” Roy Barnes A Word from the Editor: It has been another tumultuous few months in the history of our school. It is my great pleasure to welcome Sarah Hartshorn, the first ever female Headteacher at KES in over 500 years of our history. I can assure her that the OLs will be right behind her as she pursues her aim of “waking a sleeping giant” and makes KES the best secondary school in King’s Lynn once more. I was personally saddened by the departure of Lloyd Brown after such a short time. He, like Craig Morrison before him, was a good friend to the OLs. We wish him every success and happiness in the future. Touching on that, at the time of his appointment, there was quite a fall out between the Academy Trust and the elected governors, who subsequently resigned en masse in protest against the way the appointment was made and the lack of consultation. I 1 wonder if this is not the time to approach them again with a view to creating a better relationship with parents. Old teachers like me believe that good schools are rooted in and serve their community. They are not just businesses. Like many of you, I was appalled by the recent Panarama Programme which exposed a number of Academy Trusts, which had misused money, encouraged Headteachers to cheat to achieve better results and award themselves unreasonably high salaries. Our Trust has done a brilliant job with the building, which we are all grateful for but, with a strictly limited budget, I wonder what effects this project has had on resources and staffing in all the Trust schools. My view is that all organisations flourish with greater transparency and I would say that improving the morale of staff and developing closer links with parents are two priorities for speedy development. Of course, I write simply as a man who edits a magazine and not someone expressing the views of our Association but I am as passionate as anyone could be about making our school as successful as possible. Finally, for this part, I want to pay tribute to Mike Tagg and Robin Carter, who have both made a huge contribution to our Association and demonstrated the full benefit of their education at KES! Under Mike our finances have been kept ever healthy and a real credit to our organisation. Robin has done a fantastic job as Membership Secretary. In addition they have both been good friends to me since I joined the Committee as a promising ‘youngster’. They are both a credit to this school and I thank them on your behalf for all their years of dedicated service. Health and happiness to them both. Andrew Stephen, Chairman, (1964-71) School House 2 First woman appointed to lead King's Lynn secondary school after 500 years The King Edward VII Academy has appointed its first woman Head in more than 500 years. The appointment of Sarah Hartshorn as Principal of the King Edward VII Academy has been announced by its sponsor, the Eastern Multi-Academy Trust. The Trust says that it hopes Ms Hartshorn, who is currently Vice-Principal of the Thetford Academy, will take up the role for the Summer Term. Before then, she will be spending time at the school, whose history stretches back to 1510, to meet staff and students. Trust chief executive Dr Duncan Ramsey said: “We are delighted to welcome Sarah to the King Edward VII Academy and the Eastern Multi Academy Trust.” From Sarah to the OL's: "It is a great honour and privilege to be appointed as the new Principal of King Edward VII Academy. I am very excited to be taking the helm after Easter. In preparation for my interview I had the pleasure of researching the vast, rich History King Edward VII has. Looking at all the old photos, postcards, famous students (Michael Caine, if you are reading this we would be delighted to see you at one of our future events) and recollections of some of the “old boys” of the Grammar, I could not help but be moved by the legacy that I was about to be a part of; to follow in the footsteps of thousands of pupils that, like the new cohort of year 7s that will join us in September, believe passionately in our motto, “Doctrina in Horas Crescat”. We are lucky to have a school that has traditions that continue to hold meaning and value in today’s society. I plan to remember and celebrate our wonderful history, and with the help of you, build and provide an exciting future. I look forward to becoming an Old Lennesian myself and with your help, and the help of all our stakeholders, I know that our future will replicate our prestigious past." 3 Salvete A warm welcome is extended to: COLBURN Eric 1958-66 Gloucester/School STARLING Marc 1975-82 Windsor JACKSON Paul 1973-80 Lancaster Honorary Members SCREEN Roger Charles 1979-2016 Keene and Thoresby "Roger Screen, who has joined the OLA as an Honorary Member was teaching at KES from 1979 to 2016 and for 20 of those years was Head of Science, his main subject being Chemistry. During his time at the school he was involved with both Keene and Thoresby Houses. Now retired, he lives in North Wootton in King's Lynn." TEBAY Paul 1979 - 2009 TEBAY Mary 1980 - 2009 Gloucester/Windsor and Edinburgh/York We have been tracing surviving Grammar School staff and then ,subsequently ,long serving staff from KES post 1979. Finding contact details isn’t always easy so we would appreciate your help with this. Expanding our Honorary Membership will take time but we will do it. We are happy to receive nominations of worthy candidates. Valete With sadness we record the deaths of the following former pupils and staff and we offer our condolences to their families: Sadly, we lost one of the older former pupils from KES, Don BURLINGHAM, who passed away on 3rd February 2019, aged 89. Don, originally living in Terrington St John, was a pupil from 1941-47. After leaving KES, and soon after doing his National Service, he set up a number of businesses in Wisbech, including a chain of Travel Agencies. Latterly, Don and his family ran Eastern Rent A Van car and vehicle hire. A kind, sincere, and likeable man, Don will be sadly missed by his family, friends, and especially those of us from Sutton Bridge Golf Club. Roger Williamson. 4 In the local free paper the death of Michael JERVIS was announced. Sad news, my father Alan FOX, died last weekend aged 93. He was a life member of the OLs having been at the school 1936-41. I could write an obituary for the OL if you would like, but first I wanted to check the best way to contact the OLs. Many thanks Kevin Fox [I hope to include this in the next edition. Ed] Hi Andrew, Here are a few words about Peter MEDWELL. Peter was the perfect gentleman - always polite and fair. Although he appeared rather shy and serious at times, he had a great sense of humour. At school he was known as 'Flash' Medwell because he once bought a pair of yellow cotton socks and had the guts to wear them in class. He was in a jazz band where he played the trumpet. He was particularly intelligent and gained the greatest number of 'O' levels in his class. If he felt particularly aggrieved about an issue, he enjoyed using the term, 'it's morally indefensible'. When he left school he joined Boots the Chemist but soon moved on to the Met Office where he spent a long career. He worked overseas in Cyprus and Gan and retired as Senior Met Officer at RAF Manston in Kent. In his retirement, he did voluntary work especially on NHS committees. Many of us are very sad at losing such a good friend, particularly after he put up such a fight against cancer. Dave Taylor We are not always aware of the full details and circumstances of OLs who have passed away. The newsletter ought to provide a fitting tribute to all those who have made a significant contribution to the school and I invite readers who know of Old Lennensians who have died and wish to contribute a few lines to do so. 5 FROM THE MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY This is the latest update on current membership of the OLA – we have a total of 244 members of whom 9 are Honorary and Life Members and 5 are ex-staff. I am currently contacting other ex-staff to encourage them to become members. We have had three new members since the last Newsletter. I’m pleased to welcome them to the Association and look forward to meeting them at some future event. The ex-staff who are now members of the Association are:- Mr. MJ Douglass – Deputy Head 1996, Head Teacher 2002-2014 Mr. M Walker – Head Teacher 1990-2002 Mr. RC Screen – 1979 – 2016, Head of Science for 20 years Mr. P Tebay - 1979 – 2009 Mrs. M. Tebay - 1980 - 2009 As usual, the beginning of the year brings about the renewal of membership for those who need to – and as usual there are a few outstanding who still have to renew.