In spite of the seemingly endless drizzle and the constant, gnawing dread of the next Covid case within School (the patterns across London and in other schools look ominous I am afraid), this really has felt like a joyful week.
It feels as though we have got the School back and the campus is buzzing with activity again. The Year 8 performance of Haroun and the Sea of Stories was extraordinary; the students have enjoyed not one, but two great summer concerts; reports have been flooding in about last Friday’s Field Day and the cheer and courage of the students (and staff) who braved quite epic weather; and cricket has been ubiquitous. As part of Diversity Week, students have heard from Benjamin Cohen, CEO of Pink News, from Old Haberdashers Sam Dowler and Aadarsh Gautam aka Hyphen, and had three major talks from The RAP Project on digital life, social media pressure and pornography. We have even been lucky enough to welcome our incoming Year 7 students and new staff.
Reflecting on the week, what has brought me the most joy have been moments of learning. Yesterday afternoon I attended an outstanding training session on autism, which was as moving as it was illuminating and changed the way I see and understand things. With my long-suffering Year 8 class, having explored some African history in recent weeks, we are now getting stuck into the Mughal Emperors. It is completely new to me and I am loving it. Both experiences have been powerful reminders of the power of learning. Learning is demanding and challenging – it can be frustrating and at times even tedious, but it brings an innate satisfaction and pleasure.
When I interview prospective teachers, I prize one question above all others: ‘What is truly magical about your subject?’ Too many candidates start telling me what is useful or helpful about their subjects, they talk about transferable skills, about helping with careers, as if learning is merely the acquisition of a marketable commodity. Education does, of course, have a market value, as all the data shows, but seeing education as an employment journey misses the point. Whether it be the mysteries of String Theory, the marvels of the Renaissance or the wise counsel of Socrates, there is deeper magic for us to discover and to treasure. Learning is primal, it is intrinsic to humankind, at the very heart of what it is to be a human. When we are very young, there is no distinction between learning and play – we were born to do this – and whatever age we are, learning helps us to see, experience and understand the world and our existence afresh, making us better people. Why else did Gandhi exhort us to ‘Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever’?
My week ended with a meeting with a terrific young man in the Lower Sixth. I asked about his future plans and he explained that he was loving Maths and wanted to pursue it. When asked why, he found it hard to verbalise his feelings, but he said that it brought intrinsic enjoyment, helping him see and appreciate the world differently, and that it somehow underpinned everything. Even if we did not quite get on to the magic of Maths, I think he is on to something…
Mr Gus Lock
Headmaster