FROM THE CHALKFACE...
KURT SEECHARAN HOUSEMASTER OF SCHOOL HOUSE
“The genuine interest boys display in the classroom is remarkable” Kurt Seecharan joined Tonbridge as a pupil in the 1980s, returning 38 years later as Housemaster of School House and Teacher of Social Sciences. His teaching career has seen him become Head of Politics, Master in Charge of Rugby and Cricket, and a Housemaster at four different schools. Here, he reflects on his first term at Tonbridge and the experience of rejoining his alma mater.
“Is it strange being back?” is the standard question I have had to negotiate, whether with boys, parents or colleagues. The simple answer is “no, not at all.” It is not only the names and faces, but the School itself as an institution that is unrecognisable from the Tonbridge of my experience between 1982 and 1987. At face value, there are some simple demographic changes: ten Houses are now 12. The split between Houses is now seven Boarding and five Day, which seems to suggest a significant shift – even to my limited mathematical prowess. Boarders are as likely to spend the weekend at home as at School, though, as I write, 14 of the 16 boys in the School House Upper Sixth are spending the weekend here as they prepare for the final week of their A-level exams. These boarders come from Kent, Sussex and Surrey as before, but also London and further afield, and from the likes of Bucks and Berkshire too. This means that boys have the opportunity
to relax at home overnight at the weekend, usually after a fixture that their parents have attended. Parents are as likely to be in School during the week now for concerts, plays and Parents’ Arts Society events. Academically, the School flourishes in extraordinary fashion. The simple truth is that boys in Tonbridge are, on the whole, much brighter and work much harder than their OT fathers – or maybe that is just me? OTs spluttering over their coffee in indignation will no doubt point to the academic prowess of individuals in their year – but, whilst these academic giants were few and far between then, we are now constantly regaled with tales and reports of Maths Olympiad and GCSE triumphs placing Tonbridgians amongst the finest brains in the country and, on several occasions, in the world. The range of questions they ask and genuine interest they display, not only in the classroom but at the many seminar lectures, projects and presentations they become involved in, is remarkable.
