The Chronicle 682

11 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

is the place for you,’ he said, ‘Winchester is far too dry for your Celtic passion.’ Despite this unequivocal steer, there were no suitable positions at Teddies at the time, so I went off to Berkhamsted, but when the Wardenship came up in 2010, it instantly appealed to Katie and me. What have you enjoyed about being at Teddies? Above all, being part of a very special community. Watching the pupils grow and develop, and enjoying their performances in all areas – on the sports field, on the stage, in the classroom, on Teddies TV, in the community, in the recital room – has been truly moving, year after year. Our

pupils give me reasons to be proud of them every day, which is a tremendously nourishing experience. There are too many highlights for me to list but I do remember being exceptionally proud of our girls’ hockey team a few years ago. They were playing Oundle, who had in their team an unusually high number of tall, fast young women. Against the odds, the Teddies girls battled on and battled hard – they were phenomenally resilient, never giving up, demonstrating that ‘Teddies spirit’ which sits at the heart of our ethos. The emotional force of some of our bigger productions will stay with Katie and me for a long time. To see the Gaudy Marquee with a capacity crowd of over

800 people crammed in to watch the James Bond Dance Show was wonderful. Performances like this – and West Side Story was another – are vast undertakings, with the whole community coming together to produce something spectacular. For what would you like to be remembered? For having been at the helm of a great school and a great team who together have achieved something remarkable. Teddies is in a very good place. Thanks to the foresight and hard work of Matthew Albrighton and colleagues, we are at the vanguard of the national debate about education and assessment. We are bursting at the seams with more and more families

wanting the kind of education we offer. To meet the needs of our growing community, we’ve built inspiring, world-class facilities. We’ve made a huge success of the dual IB/A level programme, which is to the enormous benefit of our pupils. We’ve firmly embedded co-educational Houses as part of our offering and I have no doubt there is more to come in this important area. Over a decade, many people have worked hard in many areas, and I am truly pleased to be able to hand the School on to Alastair Chirnside in such good shape. What are you most looking forward to? Getting fitter! I’m looking forward to finding a new project, and to having more time for sailing if at all possible – the pipe dream is a 30-foot yacht in Milford Haven… That, above all, I have enjoyed the company of the pupils. They are young and lively and engaging – and funny and entertaining, always. Add to this the camaraderie amongst the staff and the senior team - there are good times and bad, inevitably, but, together, we have come through them all. Being a schoolmaster is a joyous thing and I have loved every minute. What are your final thoughts?