FROM THE CHALKFACE...

KURT SEECHARAN HOUSEMASTER OF SCHOOL HOUSE

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.

There might be some concern that this has happened at the expense of the breadth of the co-curriculum. But this is readily and easily put to bed by a glimpse at the School calendar. The absolute confirmation of this, for me, came in the performance of Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, the Eroica, in the School Chapel, which was simply outstanding. The Director of Music had promised playing and musicianship that was “really quite something”, and how correct he was. This was in the week before boys went off to perform impressively at the Rosslyn Park Sevens and Queen’s rackets in the Easter holidays, take their ABRSM music exams, attend House theatre trips and travel to the South Downs for their Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh expeditions.

Oh, and did I mention the English Schools Cross Country, Public School Fencing, Fives, Football, Hockey, Basketball, Bath Cup Swimming at the Olympic pool in Stratford, the astonishing CCF Inspection Day parade, Feva Sailing training for the World Team event, the Sixth Form Bake Off Final and House General Knowledge, all in the final few weeks of the Lent Term? Tonbridge is an astonishing place. The glossy magazines and prospectuses hint at the scale of the “production” but the reality is that we are still a relatively unknown gem hidden in the Weald.

One thing that appears fully consistent with the School I knew is the nature and quality of the relationships within our community. It seems to me that parents are largely willing to trust Tonbridge to do what it does so well, as my parents did, even while variously resident and working in Zambia and the USA while I was a pupil here, only writing to my Housemaster to apologise for my various failings. Boys and staff co-operate and collaborate relentlessly, whether as seen in the co-curricular list above or at the very fundamental level of the day-to-day grind of lessons and activities. So, is it strange to be back? I can honestly say no, it is not strange, it is fantastic to be back.