Mr Mike Weston: School archivist, storyteller, and detective

#MyBSN

“Presently when the little Norwegians and Americans and Swedes will be returning to their own countries, and later when their paths become earnest as they go to and fro through another world, perhaps something will remain of that wonderful unity in The English School of The Hague.

It might happen that an ex-pupil, grown up in the diplomatic world, representative of a nation at loggerheads with another, will suddenly realise, “Why, that is Carl the Norwegian boy I once played with or Akio from Japan who gave me some of his sweets.” And that small memory may bring to pass that a seed of international friendship was sown at the English School of The Hague.”

-Nancy Macdona, ex-Principal, Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 1952.

Mike Weston joined the English School at The Hague (the BSN) in 1972 as Head of German. Initially, he intended to stay with the school for a couple of years, but fast forward 50 years and he is still an integral part of our story.

Over the years, Mike has taught a range of subjects and has enjoyed hands-on involvement in many school activities, including the creation of an awardwinning Eco-Garden at Senior School Voorschoten.

Mike first started archiving around 1979, the year that the BSN moved from the old school in Scheveningen to the new building in Voorschoten. Starting a school archive from scratch and tracing the school’s history (about which we knew very little) is the activity that has given Mike the most pleasure over the years.

On reaching retirement age, Mike asked if he could stay on as the school archivist. In this capacity, he regularly dives into the archives and uncovers some remarkable

stories from our past, even managing to locate the granddaughter of the school’s founder all the way in Australia.

It is thanks to Mike’s hard work and meticulous records that we have been able to piece together the BSN’s 90-year timeline and delve into the backgrounds of so many of our #MyBSN stories. Mike’s archives truly are a celebration of our past, present, and future and it is a privilege to showcase so much of his work in this issue of Insight.■

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