At last we are moving house this week, and I thought I best post before we lose the internet here and I think there is going to be an online hiatus while I get things sorted.
With all the packing I haven’t had much time or energy to produce something of the quality I would like. So instead I have published my speech day speech from last Friday , my last formal occasion as a Headmaster. So this last week has been about letting go and preparing for the next step. There’s been a lot of letting go these past few months, a lot of letting go. Events move through us.
Once I am ensconced in Dorset and the internet is working I going to wow you with some stunningly beautiful writing; I intend to be the Orpheus of Bridport and I shall make the stones weep. You will be so blown away you will even pay!
So good folks, thanks for the support and keep reading.
Speech Day Speech
It was 1984 when a wise man told me that I would make a good teacher. Usually you imagine you will meet a wise man on the desert or maybe in India at an ashram but I met one at British Telecom in Slough.
At that time I was living at home in the magical village of Hurst in Berkshire, a beautifully place, The Green Man Pub, a pond in the middle and a fantastic cricket club. Paradise on Earth it seemed at the time.
A week later after I have dismissed the wise man’s words as impractical, I went out for a run one evening and was caught in a shower of rain. Sheltering under a tree, a small still voice spoke to me. It told me I was to become a teacher, indeed it said that if I did not do this it would be better to die! So boys, if this voice ever speaks to you then you must follow it.
I had left school after GCSE’s and this new plan meant I needed to go to College for a year, and take my A levels. My parents tried to dissuade me.
The rest is History; 32 years later and five schools I find myself here, upon this bank of time. The best decision I have ever taken, my karma becoming my dharma.
The last 11 years speak for themselves. This is a special place, St James, more magical and profound than people realise, a place that changes people if we are open to it, and we must always remember all of us: Pupils, Staff, parents - we are just passing through.
What remains are the golden memories and I shall never forgot the good people I have worked with here.
The sporting success has been legendary in my time - 23 Major titles - well done our PE Department; that first Rugby trophy win 2017 Tarsh the Tank running away for a try.
In recovering from my operation last year I watched our stunning victory in the PlayStation Cup: Cameron on the wing, Kai’s passing, Ryan, choking back the tears as he walked up to take final penalty and then Liam, Liam the goalie saving that shot and scoring himself - cool as a cucumber. What a victory.
This year the under 15 cricket captain, Yuvraj, promised me a trophy and he duly delivered scoring sumptuous century in the semi final, in the final it was Ethan Human who saved the day hammering fifty runs, suddenly all those balls I fed into the bowling machine for him seemed worth it!
In recent years the stunning music concerts and Drama productions, Coburn and Yadav, the dynamic duo.
Those National Awards for Sports, Parent Engagement and the TES nomination for our pupil Well Being programme in 2019.
I am also proud of the development of the site: the DT centre, the North Field, this Sports Hall I fought for, the Covid times and keeping the school going as the world fell to silence.
Now here at the end, I can only bless and praise.
So I bless the pupils past, present and those who come in the future full of hope and expectation; praise the staff who make the magic each day. Never forget that being a part of these boys journey is a great privilege and a gift. Never forget that these young people expect a cosmos but are often faced with chaos. You as teachers must hold out that golden string so that find their way back home, that they connect with their souls.
St James, with its inside-out eduction, is quite unique in our materialistic age, at its best it makes the heart dance and the gods delight: as that inspection report told us last October:
The Inspectors words not mine:
Pupils display high levels of cooperation, empathy and sympathy
They are reflective and aware of their own strengths
Many pupils start to develop spiritual awareness
Pupils enjoy particular success across the curriculum. This is the result of the high expectations of teachers and the activities which are tailored to the abilities of the pupils.
Truly a unique education.
It is to three remarkable women I owe w debt of gratitude to, my spiritual Grandmother Dr Kathleen Raine, poet, Blake Scholar and Mystic who took me under her wing at the age of 23 and opened up the worlds of spirit and imagination for me; secondly Mrs Laura Hyde, former Head of the SGS and the wisest and kindest person I know, so it is lovely to see here today, she has been a true Mentor and friend. Finally my wife Lizzie, another wise souls who always picked me up when I was down and made me look at people in a more kindly way and who taught me to trust my heart.
So that over the years I have become more of a heart master than a Headmaster.
So like Prospero, from Shakespeare’s the Tempest, I go to Dorset to drown my books and break my staff.
And my final words come from that play, these the last words professionally England’ great dramatist wrote:
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free.
God bless you all.
Ahh thanks Philip. Yes, a lot to leave behind, but the future beckons. Always cricket in my life, some coaching perhaps. I hope your back is better - how are you?
Excellent. All the best for your new life in Dorset!