Chronicle Spring 2022

29 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

and on North Parade. As I walk up and down the Woodstock Road to pick my children up from their nursery, I love to look at the cyclists streaming past. To the naked eye they are such a varied bunch and I like to imagine what they might be up to that day – whether at school, at one of the colleges, in the labs or in the libraries. Best advice you’ve ever been given? My relatives are not big advice-givers, but we do tend to try to have something to look forward to, which makes the tough tasks a bit easier to tackle. At crucial moments in my life, I have been given the same piece of advice by two of my closest friends: to thine own self be true. It is powerful advice and I think it still runs as true today as it did when Shakespeare or Socrates penned it! Which book would you take to a desert island? My favourite novel is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. I haven’t read it for a few years now, but when I do I know that I will find something that I hadn’t spotted before. Not exactly cheery reading though, so I have assumed that this is a sun-kissed tropical island with plenty of fish to barbecue to keep my spirits up.

when I visit Houses during the evenings and see hard work and support wherever I look. Great things have been achieved over the last decade, but I am certain that there is much more to come. At Teddies we want everyone to aspire to scholarship. Traditionally, the term has been associated with exclusivity. We want to liberate scholarship. Academic excellence looks different for each of us and can be realised at different points in our lives. Some will achieve staggering things with little support, others will accomplish more working in unison with others. The important thing is that at our core, as individuals and as an institution, we believe that there is a scholar in all of us. What do you enjoy about living and working in Oxford? I first came to Oxford as an 18 year old. Quite a lot of time has passed since then, but the magic of the place has never dulled. It combines a youthful vibrancy with an historical heft that is more-or-less unrivalled and I love it. Having moved from a very busy part of London, we also like not needing to queue for the swings at the park and the excellent coffee options in Summertown

‘At Teddies we want everyone to aspire to scholarship. Traditionally, the term has been associated with exclusivity. We want to liberate scholarship.’ DAVID FLOWER

What made you want to work at Teddies? The first time I ever set foot on Teddies’ land, I had my teeth knocked out playing hockey and, yes, I was wearing a gum shield. Ever since then, I felt like the School owed me one! Seriously, though, the School has a reputation as a wonderful place to live and learn. Whenever I am at an event and I say that I am from St Edward’s, people’s faces immediately light up – it really is a privilege to be associated with the School. One other thing stood out: the curriculum. I have always believed that the best school, academically at least, is the one with the best curriculum. With the new Pathways and Perspectives courses running as options alongside the GCSE programme and the unique balance between the IB and A levels, we are already on the road to having the best curriculum and my top priority is to continue that journey. scholarship mean at St Edward’s? We are incredibly academically ambitious for every pupil at the School, but that ambition is never a vaulting one that tramples on the other aspects of life and learning that happen beyond the classroom and the bedroom desk. I feel lucky to work alongside such a motivated Common Room and I feel very excited about the future Can you sum up the Teddies academic ethos? What does

Annabel Bates and Elsa Hall in a Chemistry class