Chronicle Spring 2022

9 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Big in Japan

Sub-Warden Tony Darby leaves at the end of the academic year to become Founding Principal of Rugby School Japan. We asked him to look back at his time at Teddies before he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime: launching a brand new school.

fantastically rewarding seeing the pupils at their very best, performing in a concert in London, or giving their all against local opposition down on the sports pitches, or watching an outstanding production such as Sweeney Todd . But most of all it was those daily interactions with some outstanding, hugely dedicated colleagues, alongside many delightful and engaging pupils that have made me realise just how much of a real privilege it has been to work for five years at Teddies. I will miss it.

I remember well the thrill of being offered the Sub-Warden position and the sense of excitement I had about joining the Teddies community in September 2017. I had visited on lots of occasions prior to joining, and it had always felt such a relaxed, nurturing and thriving boarding environment. Exactly the sort of school that I wish to replicate in Tokyo. Once the fog of the first few months began to lift, I came to realise that the role of the Sub-Warden was that of chief organiser, planner and someone in the background who can smooth out the inevitable bumps in the road, both internal and external, that often appear from nowhere in a busy boarding school. And there have been a decent number of bumps these past few years. The most notable of these issues came in March 2020 when then Warden Stephen Jones and the senior management team took the momentous decision to shut the School with immediate effect due to the unfolding Covid pandemic. I remember the early morning meeting vividly. I had many questions about an unfolding crisis, not least the question as to whether this really was an existential threat to the School. To put it into context we didn’t have any real knowledge or understanding of the virus, certainly no sense of a vaccine, and more immediately we knew that it would take all of us, staff and pupils, some time to get used to online schooling. Thankfully the Easter holiday provided some much-needed time to plan the Summer Term. Five years on from my appointment and there have been huge developments in terms of new buildings and changes in personnel, but I have come to understand that it will be the friendships and working within a fantastic community that I will miss the most about Teddies. In a busy boarding school, each day can feel like a week, and yet a term goes by so quickly, but it will be the little

things that I will look upon with a nostalgic glance backwards. So, I will miss the office on the Quad, which was a very obvious window into the lives of all the pupils, and rest of the community, even if it meant I felt I lived my working life in a goldfish bowl. It was always