A Tale of Two Heads

What did you do before coming to St. Peter's?

I read English Language and Literature at Balliol College, Oxford. Then I completed my Cert.Ed. at the Oxford University Department of Education, where I did my teaching practice at a very lively and thriving Comprehensive on the outskirts of Oxford. I started my first teaching job in 1978 at Radley College. I was there for six years, teaching English, coaching rugby and rowing — I ended up coaching the First VHI for two years — and running the naval section of the C.C.F. I lived in a boarding house for three of those six years, and then we moved to Abingdon School, a close neighbour but with a very different setting, in the sense that Radley was a self-contained campus boarding school, whereas Abingdon was predominantly a day school with a small boarding component. I was there for six years, in a very active English Department, running a day house, as well as taking over the Boat Club for a year, coaching the first XV, playing music and singing in the choir; and then in 19911 went to me Edinburgh Academy as Deputy Rector.

What attracted you to a career in education?

My father was an Art teacher, who went on to be a Deputy Head and later Head of a primary school. My mother was a music teacher. My brother is Deputy Head at The Leys School in Cambridge. My sister was a teacher before having a complete change of career. I thought about other career options, such as graduate entry into the Metropolitan Police, but I always wanted to teach: when I was in the fifth and sixth form at school, I used to spend Sundays in a children's home taking children out for walks and trying to do something for people who were underprivileged, and I was always keenly involved in the life of the school. I was at a traditional day grammar school in Hertfordshire, where I was a school prefect, and I acted in plays, played music and so forth. I've not regretted going into teaching; if anything, I've regretted not having some other experience out of teaching to enrich me. However, one of the good things about being in Edinburgh was the way as a city school we had strong links with various organisations and activities within the city. So I got very actively involved in things of a noneducational nature.

What did you find most rewarding about your job at the Edinburgh Academy?

I went to a school where there had never been a Deputy Rector before. What they needed was someone who could come in and help the school run more efficiently. That makes me sound like a boring bureaucrat in a striped shirt — not at all: it was a personnel-type appointment, so I had a number of responsibilities which I undertook to support the Head. Many of the things I started doing were new creations of mine — smoothing the transition from our junior school to our senior school, making better use of shared resources between the two schools, and public relations, trying to make the public face of the school very different. There had been a problem of discipline: it was a big city day school with a small number of boarders, but it was quite rough-and-tumble. I worked very hard to make them behave in a civilised manner — that's something I enjoyed. The thing I liked most about it was that the job I was doing didn't stay still. I was always doing something different. My last year there coincided with our junior Head leaving us, so I took over the junior school for one year. I enjoyed that, too.

Was there a point at which you decided that you would like to become a Headmaster, or did it just evolve?

I had thought about it quite seriously. I think that many of the jobs I was doing as Deputy Rector would have been done by Heads in many other schools, so I had a good insight. One of the things I was contracted to do was to see one Rector in and the other one out — a kind of interregnum — and I felt that that job had gone well. I don't think I was bursting with ambition, but I wanted to be a Head from my first few years in teaching.

A Headmaster's job has many different functions and aspects. What are your priorities likely to be?

I'm very much a person who works with people: I like to have the company of pupils, and I like to have the company of my colleagues. I will be someone who will be seen about the school. I won't be a Headteacher who is behind a desk. I like the idea of looking for the school's

Do you expect to be doing much teaching?

Very little. I love my teaching, and I did quite a lot as Deputy Rector. The difficulty is the regularity of setting and marking prep and classroom work. My job as Headteacher will be to spread my skills, to help and support the Heads of Department and teachers. I want to have some contact with the classroom, in addition to seeing others teach, but as yet I'm not quite sure what that will be. The same is true of sport and music: I hope I can participate and help as an assistant, but the commitment of having my own team would leave me overstretched at times.

What are your first impressions of St. Peter's?

It's clearly thriving, in many ways: academically, in terms of numbers, and in the sense that there has been a clear vision to buy property and invest for the future. There has been good management of the funds and finances. And the staff are clearly well-qualified and well-motivated.

Do you have any specific aims, ambitions and objectives for St. Peter's?

I want to consolidate what's been going on. I want to have a very good, hard look at what the school has been doing. I'm not coming here with a vision of how I see the school shaping up in the next ten years, but I certainly have a vision of a school which is lively and which will be the leading educational force in the city. We need to look at what we offer, in terms of the timetable and the structure of the day, so that we are competitive. I want to set in motion preparation of a development plan within the first two years of being here, based on consultation and shared effort from all of the staff, and pupils and parents; so that we will have, within eighteen months of my arrival, a clear sense of the future.

Do you expect to see major changes in education in the next few years?

Yes, I do, and I think that teachers have got a lot of catching up to do with the changes that have already been made. I think a major change will be the growth of vocational qualifications, and I think that in future we must have a broader sixth-form education, with less emphasis on the gold standard of A-Level. That's where I've been very impressed in Scotland, with pupils taking six Highers.

What are your main interests outside of teaching?

I'm a very keen sportsman: I was a county swimmer, rowed and played rugby to a high standard — I played for the University Second XV — and did a lot of coaching. I'm also a musician: I play the flute and saxophone, and now I can play the bagpipes, so I'll keep that up. I read: I like to keep up with current publications, and I try to broaden my reading. But the biggest change for me over the last few years has been the family. We have two small children, Eleanor and Jack, and I love being with them, so they are a major interest.

So can we expect a bagpipes recital from the Headmaster?

Yes, absolutely!

How long have you been at St. Peter's?

Ten years.

What did you do before you came here?

I spent a year teaching in a prep school, then I went back to Oxford to do what was called the "DipEd". For four years I was Head of History at Reed's School in Surrey. Then I spent thirteen years at King's School, Canterbury, where I taught History and Politics, and ran the Library for four years. I was a Housemaster for eight years there, before becoming Headmaster of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital in Bristol. I was there for seven years, and then I came to St. Peter's.

What first attracted you to a career in education?

Interesting question. I think it was partly familiarity with teaching, because it's the one thing we all know. We've all been to school, so it's the one professional area we all know something about. I also liked the idea of relating to pupils in a classroom, and explaining things to them. So teaching was something which attracted me.

Was there a point at which you decided you would like to become a Headmaster, or did it just evolve?

That evolved. I had no crystal-clear ambition at the beginning about where I was going to end up. But I'm a reasonably restless person, and once I've done a particular job for a few years, I want to move on to the next stage. When I got to King's, Canterbury, after a few years there I hoped that I'd be made a Housemaster, and I was; and after I'd done the Housemastering for six or

When you came to St. Peter's, did you have a particular philosophy? Did you approach the job with particular objectives?

I'm not very good at philosophy. I think I'm more pragmatic than that. I did feel that the school was somewhat old-fashioned, and mat me full potential of the school and its reputation weren't being realised. So my object was to make it successful, to turn it round.

What changes have you seen in your time as Headmaster?

I sometimes wonder whether that sort of question shouldn't be answered by someone other than me, so I approach the question with a degree of modesty. I hope that me academic standards of the school have risen during my time here. I hope that boys and girls have been happy being at St. Peter's — I think that's a very important part of their education — I hope they've also had loads of opportunities, not only inside the classroom, but also outside it — on the games fields, in concerts, on the stage, and so on. I'm all for young people having a very full life at school.

What does the job of Headmaster involve? What does the Headmaster actually do?

I should think a lot of people wonder how he quietly spends his time in that study. The only thing is the study at St. Peter's is something of a goldfish bowl, so he can't really put his feet up too obviously, with people walking past his window all the time! The job is a very varied one. I think essentially a Head has a managerial job, and he's got to relate to a number of constituencies: to the staff, to the pupils, to the parents, to the governors, and to the former pupils. He's got to keep all those balls in the air at the same time. He's got to be reasonably efficient; otherwise he's going to be borne down by a sea of small problems flooding onto his desk all the time. Each day is one of considerable variety: the diary is full of different sorts of engagement, so there's a lot of talking with individuals in the study. Other aspects include showing prospective parents round the school, getting into the occasional class either to teach or to observe, review chats with individual members of staff, committee meetings, marketing strategies, regular slots with each of the management team. And then, when he goes home at 4.30 or 5.00 p.m., there's quite often a quick turn-around, and he's back into school for concerts, plays or parents' meetings, or else he's entertaining at home or being entertained by other people, perhaps in York.

Looking ahead, how do you see the future at St. Peter's?

That's a difficult question, and I'm quite lorn to comment on how the school will develop in the future. All I would say is this: I think education is at an interesting stage; there is much change, much ferment, much development, and schools such as St. Peter's just can't sit on their laurels and think that the school's future will jog along comfortably. I have absolutely no doubt that the school will face changes in the future, but I'm reluctant to attempt to prophesy what those changes will be. It will be the job of others to guide the school through what will be both interesting and challenging times.

What next for you? How are you planning to spend your retirement?

I'm keeping options open. I may be offered tilings to do, which come the way of ex-Heads. I shall be quite content if nothing comes my way, because I've got a reasonable range of interests, and I suspect that I can fill my time easily, enjoying a somewhat less frenetic life. I've got my church organ playing, and I want to do more of that — I want to get some deputising jobs around the parishes. Both Laura and I enjoy walking, and I'm sure we'll do as much walking and travelling as we can. I also have a yen to take up watercolour painting: I enjoy looking at pictures. I had my last art lesson when I was ten yearsold, and I'm dying to try my hand at painting. I'm going to have a blitz on this in the next year or two, and if I get absolutely nowhere I'll give it up. But I'm going to have a very good try, and see if there's anything artistic in me.

Which aspects of the job have given you personally the most satisfaction?

I enjoy most of the job most of the time, and I like the variety of it. I actually like the desk work, which others don't like. I dictate letters quite fast; I like to get that done. I like the whole business of the school to run smoothly, and I get rather aggravated when there are hiccups in that, even though perhaps nobody is to blame.