EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST
EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH EXECUTIVE HEADMASTER
Mr. Matthew Close Mr. Matthew Close talks about the bursary provisions available at The Royal School, as well as their Future Ready programme and his vision for The Royal School’s future as its new Headmaster. Can you tell us a little about the ethos and values at The Royal School?
Our ethos is very much one of inclusivity; we are a school where every child matters. Due to our size, we know every single child and that’s really important to us - we probably value personal interaction more than anything else. Every member of staff knows every child and vice versa, and all the different year groups know one another, so there really is a community feel to the school. I think that the tight-knit community we’ve created is the method of the school whereby everybody matters, everybody’s views and opinions are of equal value and how we go about communicating those is so important. We talk about ‘guiding principles’ rather than 58 | EDUCATION CHOICES MAGAZINE | AU T U M N 2 02 3
values, and I think that’s quite important because values are very personal; somebody else within my school might not value what I value, while guiding principles help our community know what it’s trying to achieve. We have three guiding principles, the first being one of social justice - and by that I mean an understanding of globalism, respect for others, kindness and humility - social justice in its very widest sense, understanding that we are part of a community and the community is important to us. The second guiding principle is one of self respect, so that’s looking after yourself, being aware of your emotions, being confident, being ambitious for yourself, having self-discipline, knowing what you believe in and making sure that you are true to yourself first and foremost. The final guiding principle we have is that we want everybody to chase their dreams and reach for the stars. The school’s motto is ‘Per Aspera Ad Astra’ which can loosely be translated to ‘Through Challenge to the Stars.’ We see chasing
TOM SOPER PHOTOGRAPHY
FROM THE ROYAL SCHOOL, SURREY
