14 minute read
The Headmaster
CHAIRMAN, GUESTS, GOVERNORS, PARENTS, STAFF AND PUPILS,
As we commemorate Speech Day and round this particularly tumultuous academic year off, I particularly want to congratulate last year’s leavers and this year’s L6th for superb public exams results.
In particular, I was delighted to see 79% A*-B at A Level, leading the pack in Scotland and comparing better than some rather famous boarding schools south of the border. Our Dux last year, Mateja, will be presented with his medal next Speech Day, we hope. Still on the exam theme I congratulate pupils this year for the work undertaken and the progress being made in all public exam years this year despite an abrupt end. While I cannot comment on estimated grades, I can say two things: I suspect some of you were perhaps not that upset at exams being cancelled and I have seen further strengthening of academic attainment and the upward trajectory of value added outcomes we have targeted.
On the back of such good exam results in 2019, we approached this academic year with confidence. We continued to build further on excellent results, a great Care Inspection report and outstanding music, drama and sporting achievements from the previous year. An increased school roll last September, after record number of new pupils arrived, confirmed the growing confidence in Strath both inside and outside the school that we had already noted.
We were ready to face a tough year ahead given the issues that were pressing hard on the sector, buoyed by higher enrolments in the ISP and a strong lettings programme. The management team began to develop our sixth form provision with the adoption of new oneyear Highers for 2020 and Advanced Highers in 2021, giving Strathallan a unique and highly advantageous flexibility in routes to university and work for our pupils.
Work on Forgandenny 100 moved on as plans were agreed for marking the centenary of Strath’s move from Bridge of Allan to the Freeland Estate here in Forgandenny in 1920. These plans would see us engaging with the wider Strath community more than ever before. The new School history commissioned for the centenary, the first in nearly 40 years, began too. So we approached this academic year with excitement and big plans for the future. Little did we know the year would end as being one of the most difficult years in the school’s history.
After House music and half term, and as we prepared for Armistice Day and remembrance, Strathallan suffered one of the saddest and most tragic moments of recent years when one of our own passed away suddenly in early November.
Speech Day 2020 THE HEADMASTER
“The death of a pupil is something rare at school and although the grieving experience for many was incredibly difficult and emotional the effect on the whole community was truly transformative. In the midst of such devastating news and in mourning Alistair alongside his family, we came together in a special and unique moment of love and care and kindness which was palpable.”
Alistair Jeynes-Ellis, a lower sixth Ruthven pupil, had been with us throughout his senior school years after first attending Craigclowan as a young boy and then transferring to Riley. A popular and likeable member of Ruthven House he was renowned for being full of fun, full of life and full of good-natured mischief. His death was mourned throughout the school particularly by his close friends in Ruthven but most especially by his mum, dad, and G-Rose along with the wider family. An unforgettable funeral took place in the school Chapel with wonderful memories and thoughts shared by his friends at Ruthven and more widely by his close-knit skiing fraternity. Who will ever forget the powerful and courageous words of Alistair’s mum as she addressed the huge congregation?
As Alistair’s godfather had suggested in the eulogy we needed to create a legacy and I feel that the legacy has been a sense of deeper love and emotional honesty and support for each other – staff and pupils alike. Our thoughts remain with Alistair’s family and we look forward to an ever-deepening friendship and perhaps an appropriate moment in the future for a lasting physical legacy at the school. We must not and will not forget Alistair and his impact and contribution to the life and history of the school. We will remember him.
A new term brought a new challenge when the news came through from the city of Wuhan of a new virus. By half term those who had been home to Asia or who had been skiing in northern Italy had to endure 14 days isolation before returning to school. By the penultimate week of term, national hockey finals and the school musical were being postponed then cancelled as strict social distancing measures were introduced. Lockdown in the UK began the Monday after term ended. Planning was however well underway and continued throughout Easter, adjusting each time the guidance changed.
A new timetable, new training for staff and new guidance booklets for pupils and parents were coordinated and introduced by the SMT. The new term started in earnest after two days of administration and checks with individual pupils. Online learning via Strath Worldwide had begun and the school for the first time in its history operated virtually in over 40 countries around the world delivering a live school.
The progress we have seen in academic terms has been as expected or better, with the exception of practical work for obvious reasons. The loss of exams and study leave for the fifth form has meant more time for teaching and learning not less.
Pastoral work and support ongoing via Houses and tutors throughout the term also confirmed what we anticipated; that these new arrangements and the issues associated with isolation were not perfect nor suited to all and I thank all those who have worked hard to help pupils cope and manage and even flourish in spite of the situation. So, the outcomes of this term overall have been better than our highest expectations and better than some had predicted as we began this journey last term.
Weekly Chapel became a regular oasis too, not just to see the latest outlandish location for a reading. Mine was in the pulpit — call me old fashioned – not a deer, paddleboard, jet fighter or horse in sight! Weekly assemblies announced more distinctions and commendations than in any other term in my time as Head Man and colours, house trophies, DofE certificates and more were awarded.
Speech day is a day to reflect, to acknowledge and to thank – for those who may feel this is perhaps too selfcongratulatory please be reassured. We have learned a great deal this term, there is much to do to get better still and we have tried our best to good effect. But we know we are still on a journey, still learning and still improving.
Each year, I apologise for any shortcomings and each year I commit to working hard to make these good and this year is no exception. That is right, appropriate and speaks to our values. So thank you to those who have worked with us to improve and to put right any wrongs — that is the genuine partnership that all great learning requires.
So to the thanks. I congratulate our pupils who have been quite magnificent in adversity and our parents who have been patient, supportive and loyal – thank you too for your letters and emails of support which have gone so far to help lift spirits and redouble our commitment to our pupils. I thank the support staff, not least all in IT. I thank our determined and committed teaching staff for their real work in the virtual environment. And I thank those staff leaving this term without the send-off we would normally give, much like the Upper Sixth: Sheldon Drover, Rachel Quigley, Olivia Streatfeild-James, Jed Case, Niall Dickens and Scott Jamieson.
All our staff have gone where I have pointed, despite the huge undertaking moving the school online has been. I am deeply grateful, and deeply impressed. The governors to whom I remain indebted and grateful for their unstinting support, advice and guidance must also be thanked, not least our Chairman, Richard Linton. This has been a genuine collaborative team effort by the whole Strath community. Never has the school motto been so well engendered and lived up to, for Hard Work in adversity really does win through.
So although the year has been disrupted and challenging, I will remember it as a successful year overall. Of course we have had to focus a great deal on the negatives from isolation and online learning but by doing so a great deal has been achieved and like last year, there is as a result much to learn from and build upon. New Higher courses have started, Forgandenny 100 planning goes on, the development of the Sixth Form continues, the pupil roll - despite everything - is actually ahead of the same point last year and we are on course to grow again. The new Director of Sport, Jim Thompson, has had an interesting first term but I look forward to his plans to take sport to the next level at Strath in the long term as well as managing the gradual return to sport we expect to see next year. There is further investment in IT planned to ensure we capitalise of the lesson learned for this term and we have a new timetable and a new way of doing things that will inevitably change some things for the better.
The onset of Covid-19 could have slowed us down as we just coped. We could have chosen to manage and to get through and there’s nothing wrong with that per se. But those are not my instincts. To paraphrase a quote, I came across recently: good organisations maintain momentum in a crisis, great ones increase it. So at Strath, Covid-19 is not just a reality to bemoan, worry about and cope with, it has also been a catalyst for change.
New styles of lessons will emerge next term, technology will blend more easily with real class teaching and better learning will follow for more of our pupils. The new timetable has at a stroke introduced generous transition times and effective contact teaching will be higher. Prep issues have been significantly evaluated due to detailed feedback from supervising parents this term, and so the list could go on. But other initiatives too have been accelerated. Black Lives Matter issues so current in the news and in social media in recent weeks have been reflected upon at Strath, not least through Muna’s assembly earlier this term, and we have audited what we do and have plans to improve and adapt our approach to diversity and inclusion going forward — and pupils can expect to be more engaged in these issues as a result. Covid-19 of course means we will need to operate differently for some time. We have begun the process of informing parents through letters and webinars. We are driven first and foremost by health, safety and wellbeing, putting the interest of the whole community into our thinking and planning. As one of the first schools to adopt the BSA Covid-Safe Charter we have contributed to the national debate on schools and boarding during Covid-19 and will continue to do so.
The Strategic Plan for the school for 2018-2023 has already been mostly achieved as this term’s audit for Governors has shown. The transition from house to school for Riley is about ambition and confidence for the future, and I congratulate Mrs Lalani for being our first Head of Prep.
The expansion of the ISP with Strathallan WorldWide to introduce a new educational product of online A Levels for international pupils is Covid-proof. Both those initiatives will guarantee progress continuing for our pupils who will remain the core focus in all we do.
The events from March this year have had the consequence of engendering a new agility and responsiveness in how the school operates and I am grateful to the Board for giving me the tools to do the job in a fast-moving situation.
I see Covid-19 as having accelerated our progress along the path we planned in 2018 — we have not been blown off course, but faster along the right one.
Challenging but exciting times therefore lie ahead. We are planning for and delivering an exciting vision for all-round education in the 2020s. While the immediate future may seem difficult and hard to navigate, there is a light at the end of this particular tunnel, and we remain focused on that in the longer term.
In this time of global crisis, I have more than a few times stopped to wonder — what would Harry Riley have done today; Riley the innovator, the educational disruptor and the founding Head Man who placed key values at the heart of Strath? What is our compass in all this turmoil? How should we meet the challenges we face, as a school and as individuals? My final thoughts today then are on this and while they apply to us all, perhaps today I have particularly in mind our U6th Leavers, who go out into even more uncertain times than their predecessors.
The U6th have been wonderful this year, and we will miss them hugely. I congratulate them and the leadership by School Authority, and to our Captains and Vice Captains of School an especial thanks — certainly it’s the first time I’ve lived with a School Captain! But we thank them and all the Upper Sixth for all they have done and how well they have borne the current issues despite all they have missed out on. As you look forward now, and perhaps only glance back towards us — which is only right — do bear in mind that you are equipped for what is to come by remembering and living those values at Strath that you have been an important part of.
In next year’s new ‘Blue Book’ — the front section of the current Calendar which will be retained when the calendar goes fully online - there will be a new section on ethos and values. It’s worth hearing this before you leave U6th since you will not be here to receive a copy. This is what it says:
Strathallan’s founder Harry Riley emphasised four key things to which the school is true today: that pupils should be known for who they are and as individuals; that education should be enjoyed and not a drudgery; that education should be inclusive, find character, talents and potential that was hitherto unknown; and that hard work is essential if education is to be an improving and transforming force for good. Harry Riley is at our core as a school, at the cornerstone of our identity. It is from his ethos that we derive our values which are equally applicable in the modern world:
RESPECT: Promoting a culture of tolerance and inclusivity KINDNESS: Expecting care, kindness and support from every one of our pupils and staff HUMILITY: Learning to accept your limitations and respecting the equality of all HONESTY: Honouring truth, integrity and authenticity HARD WORK: Inspiring and challenging by expecting commitment and their best effort from every member of our community EXCELLENCE: Raising pupils to be ambitious and to achieve their best potential by preparing them for the demands of an unpredictable future
This is not an exhaustive or exclusive list but taken together these values represent something of the essence of a Strathallan pupil or staff member.
They can be summed up very simply by LOVE which, although not a value in itself, is an attitude or an expression of all values synthesised together and the very best way of describing how we interact with one another in school, with our families and with all guests to the school. In short LOVE is the way we should live our lives, LOVE should be at the heart of everything we say and do, think and act. The spirit of Harry Riley can be summed up very simply by LOVE.
I am grateful for these words now to be put into print for all to see every day.
So to us all, but in particular the U6th, whatever else we go through and endure in the weeks, months and years ahead, hold fast to these values and live them and you won’t go far wrong. Good luck to you all this summer, and good luck to all our leavers. And to end, my favourite blessing for the Upper Sixth, apt at the end of this term especially: May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Speech Day 2020 can be viewed in full on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRohPUsCKlU
