From The Headmaster

Dear Strathallian

IN MY FOREWORD TO THE LAST ISSUE OF BLUE AND GOLD, I WROTE OF THE SEISMIC CHANGES

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS WROUGHT ON OUR SOCIETY, OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR SCHOOL. At that time, I pledged to emerge thriving: stronger, fitter and better. Once again, Strathallan has exceeded even my own high expectations, and as I reflect on the time since then, I could not be prouder of what our exceptional school has achieved.

Strathallan’s ambition has always been to provide an educational experience that creates opportunities for all to excel, and I have been genuinely inspired by the many opportunities our staff and community have created as we have responded to challenges and established new ways of operating. I have witnessed staff going above and beyond across the board and been inspired by the innumerable creative ideas and solutions that have emerged from the issues and questions we have faced in this post-COVID “normal”. We really have accelerated forward and emerged stronger than ever.

The theme that comes across for me again and again as I look back is Labor Omnia Vincit — “hard work in adversity wins through”. I have seen pupils and staff this year truly embodying the motto Harry Riley chose for the school over 110 years ago, and we have seen further achievements in all areas — from sport to performing arts to academics and everything inbetween. We have been working harder than ever, and we are winning through in more ways than I hoped.

We began this session with more new pupils than ever before, and we have watched the school roll grow steadily to its highest number in history. I can’t stress enough how impressive this is at a time when the sector as a whole is seeing a downward trend in numbers. Our Prep School has gone from strength to strength since we launched in 2020, and we are now able to welcome pupils as young as seven to our campus for the first time. We launched two new sports academies — for rugby and shooting — and are set to launch our tennis and swimming academies this year, with plans for more to follow. New partnerships bloomed: we opened the Art Café in association with Blend, and our Build-a-Plane project with Aerospace Kinross is now a reality with pupils now engaged in the build itself.

Our centenary celebrations may have been put on hold by the COVID restrictions, but I could not have asked for a better context within which to celebrate everything Strathallan has achieved in its 110+ years. This year, we published “For All to Excel: A Celebration of Strathallan School”, and it has been a real honour to be part of a project that so beautifully captures all the inspiring work that has been done here over the last century. When we finally did celebrate “Forgandenny 100”, the occasion was marked with a calendar of events throughout the year, including the opening of Strathallan’s Centenary Golf Course, a ten-day festival of Performing Arts and of course the Next Century Ball. The Ball saw the launch of our new Bursary campaign — a project close to my heart and the hearts of many of those attending on the night. We were treated to the premiere of our beautiful animation “Dear Younger Me” — an emotive telling of the opportunities Strathallan provides through the generosity of donors for young people who might otherwise be prevented from accessing the school for financial reasons. The animation itself was later awarded bronze at the EVCOM Awards.

And the awards kept coming! Our school and staff were recognised with a slew of them this year. We were named School of the Year in Tennis Scotland’s 2022 Awards. In May, Strathallan Prep School received the Primary Science Quality Mark, and our Senior Master Mr David Barnes was awarded the 2022 Stephen Winkley Award by the BSA, which recognised his 40-year career dedicated to education, boarding, and supporting young people at home and abroad. The judges described him as “a role model for anyone working in the world of boarding”. We are extremely fortunate to have had David’s positive influence in our school for so long, and he continues to be a friendly face our students and staff can turn to in his new role as Senior Master.

Traditional culture has always been important to Strathallan, and the start of the new session in September 2021 saw the launch of our Department of Traditional Music and Scottish Culture, with former Red Hot Chili Piper Craig Muirhead at the helm. Since then, Craig has helped over 5000 budding pipers to discover the instrument, and his contribution to Scottish Culture was further recognised when he was named Music Tutor of the Year at last year’s MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. In the same year, our beloved Mrs Irene McFarlane was named Scots Teacher of the Year at the Scots Language Awards. This follows hot on the heels of Irene’s nomination for Scots Bairns Book of the Year for her Scots language translation of “The Nicht Afore Christmas” last year. Mrs McFarlane is herself a true institution at Strathallan, having taught here since 1989, and her passion for bringing the Scots language to life for younger generations should be an example to teachers everywhere.

To add to all these accolades, I am delighted to announce that we have recently received the LGBT Charter Bronze Level Award for our policy on inclusion and diversity. In a year that has included visits and talks from Strathallan alumnus

Alex Muir on LGBTQ+ Inclusion and Diversity and model and activist Eunice Olumide on The Lack of Diversity in the Fashion Industry, I am pleased to say I am part of a school that is dedicated to discussing the important current issues as well as keeping an eye trained firmly on issues of the future.

And to the future we most certainly have turned. The return to school post-COVID brought with it a newfound focus and momentum for future-proofing our school and preparing our pupils for much they may face in their lifetimes. I have been particularly impressed with the success of our critically important Rewilding Project. Led by our own Mr Leslie Kent, the project has focused on establishing a sustainable ecosystem within our campus and providing opportunities for young people to learn about the practicalities of ecological restoration and its influence on biodiversity and the climate crisis. As the only school subscribed to the “Big Picture” organisation, we take our responsibility for preserving our natural environment seriously, and I have been pleased to see the restoration of the former curling pond into a habitat for native wildlife, the planting of bee-friendly wildflower meadows around the golf course and of hedgerows around the campus boundaries. The jewel in the crown of this impressive project is, for me, the series of signposted and interactive nature walks that have sprung up around the campus, offering a rare and inspiring insight into the rich diversity of wildlife with which Strathallan’s natural environment buzzes.

Strathallan has always aspired to think differently since our founder Harry Riley set out to shake up the education model by starting his own school in his twenties, and I have been privileged to witness this game-changing spirit in so many ways during my tenure so far as Headmaster. When we set out to become one of the only schools in the UK equipped with elite-level eSports equipment, I felt we were fully embracing this ethos and yet again offering our pupils more unique experiences and new ways to take their passions to the next level. But what really made the whole project special for me was the fact that the equipment itself was developed by Strathallian Mr Josh Martin.

I will never cease to be impressed by the things our former pupils go on to achieve. This year, we have heard from activists, inventors, climate scientists and more. We have watched Strathallians lifting trophies on the rugby pitch and Emmys in Hollywood. What really sets Strathallan apart, I hear again and again from former pupils, is the connection and friendships forged here that last a lifetime. It is always a pleasure to meet and mingle with alumni at the many events that happen throughout the year. And there is certainly a new-found appetite for in-person events since coming out of COVID — our Under 25s evening alone saw over 70 former pupils getting together to catch up, swap stories, and reconnect. I would like to personally invite you to attend any that you can this year as we all focus on forming new connections and while enjoying those already made.

It is this theme of connection and aspiration that I would like you to take away from this issue of Blue and Gold. We have achieved more this year than I could have hoped for and reached people all around the world. It’s the “Strath Spirit” that keeps us together and I would like to leave you with something that, I think, encapsulates it perfectly: The Big Sing. If you have not yet seen it, I encourage you to scan the code on page 6 to discover for yourself the experience that has reached half a million people from here to Australia and back again. The Strath Spirit remains strong, and as always, has come back from adversity all the stronger.

DM Lauder Headmaster

20,000 cartridges shot each year

STEPPING, SWIMMING, PLAYING, PIPING, PERFORMING & COMPETING 2000

168 Pipers and Drummers in school