Headmaster's Letter (8 September 2008)

Welcome to the new School Year, and a special welcome to all new St.Edward’s families.

Following the early completion of our new Abbott Building last term, work has continued over the Summer on other projects made possible by the freeing-up of some of our older buildings. My priority has been to improve the facilities for our growing Sixth Form – we have a record 122 Sixth Formers this year. So we have done a major re-structuring (and re-roofing) of the former Drama building to turn it into an expanded Careers Centre and Sixth Form study area, including a ‘Café 6’ run by our caterers Sodexo, together with an A-level tutorial room. Those of you who knew the old Drama studio will be amazed at the transformation.

We have also transformed the old refectory, dividing it into three new Art rooms, including a dedicated Photography room. These rooms will replace the temporary Art Studios which have been opposite the old refectory for the past few years and will be disappearing soon. Art has grown enormously in the school in recent years, and I am very pleased now to be able to give it a more permanent and expanded base. (The photo also shows part of this term’s Still Life construction on the theme ‘Lost in the Jungle’!).

The CCF also now has a new Headquarters which we have created out of the back of the Performance Hall. Since we founded our CCF here in 2002, it has been operating out of its ‘tin hut’. Again, I am very pleased now to be able to provide a proper Headquarters for our flourishing Contingent, especially as this comes just in time for the Biennial Inspection later this term by Brigadier T.E.M. Flint, Signal Officer in Chief (Army). This term also sees the start of an important outreach to the state school sector: a group of students from Christ College, Cheltenham’s Catholic/Anglican comprehensive school, will be joining our CCF Contingent as cadets, with two of their teachers joining our team of CCF Officers. At a time when independent schools are being required to demonstrate ‘public benefit’ as part of our charitable status, we are glad to be able to offer CCF to some young people who would not otherwise have this opportunity.

The Drama Department has now moved into our superb new Drama Studio in the Abbott Building. This term’s Lower School play, Toad of Toad Hall, will be performed there on 20th-22nd November – more details later. The Geography Department have also moved into their new teaching rooms in the Abbot Building. The whole block will be opened on St.Edward’s Day, Friday 10th October, by our former Chairman of Trustees, Mr. Michael Abbott, and blessed by Bishop Declan Lang who will also be celebrating our St.Edward’s Day Mass for us. There have also been other changes within the school as knock-on effects of the extra space given us by the Abbott Building. The Music Department has gained a much-needed additional teaching room and two individual practice rooms; and Fr. Basil now has a more accessible Chaplain’s Office just off the Triangle.

While things have been busy here on the school site, our students have been busy on a number of exciting trips. First off were our senior Football squad to Malta: 28 boys and 4 staff, led by Mr. Ruck. During their week there, the squad played six fixtures in total, with the first team winning two and drawing one, whilst the second team won one and lost two. Mr. Ruck writes: “As well as playing some of the best football they have shown all year, the boys also enjoyed a trip to the capital city Valetta, time at the island’s water park and a full day cruise to Comino Island and the Blue Lagoon. A fantastic tour.”

The CCF were away on Summer Camp at Longmoor in Hampshire, held jointly with another Contingent. Mr. Hayter writes: “The facilities were excellent, and the weather held out for the period. The cadets did Proficiency Training for the first period, had a short break for a day out at Thorpe Park, and then had a Section Competition confirming their new-found skills. The last night was a barbecue in obligatory fancy dress. An excellent camp and beneficial to all cadets and adult staff.”

Most ambitious of all was the expedition to Zambia. Nine L6th students accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Low and an ‘Outlook Expeditions’ leader, spent a month camping (sometimes under the stars), cooking on open fires, shopping in the local markets and meeting lots of children. They had no electricity, toilets or running water. The highlights of the trip included a 5 day trek along the Luangwa river; the Victoria Falls: the Drive Safari in Livingstone, where they saw zebras, giraffes, impala, wildebeest and the only white rhino in Zambia; a four hours Sunday church service; and a week spent at Itala School – ferrying sand, painting the school and teaching.

Some of the group got ‘Zambia tummy’ but all recovered quickly. Mrs. Low writes: “During the whole trip the students had to book all their own accommodation and transport, buy and cook food for everyone, stick to a budget and always make sure that they had enough safe water to drink. The group have returned from their month away having gained valuable communication and leadership skills – appreciating how hard it is to be a leader and organise people. We were all touched by the poverty in Zambia but pleased to see that the children were happy and made the most of their lot.”

We have several new staff joining St.Edward’s this year. Our new Head of Religious Education is Mr. Steven McKenna who comes to us from St.Leonards-Mayfield School in Sussex. Mr. McKenna had an earlier career as an Anglican priest, leaving the ministry to become a Catholic, and also worked in the prison service before becoming a teacher. In addition to his R.E. teaching and working with the Chaplain in the spiritual life of the school, Mr. McKenna will be a Form Tutor in Year 8.

Mr. Domenico Geracitano joins our Modern Languages Department. Born in Italy, Mr. Geracitano came to the U.K. to do his degree in Spanish and French at Swansea University. He has since taught in a number of schools in this country and abroad including in Spain and Kuwait. Mr. Geracitano is married, with two young children; he is a keen sportsman and also lists playing the guitar and Egyptology among his hobbies. He will be a Year 10 Form Tutor.

The growth of our Classics Department sees the addition of Miss Jodie Mallett to teach Latin, Classical Civilisation and Greek. Following her first degree at Warwick and a Master’s at Bristol, Miss Mallett has just completed her post-graduate teaching training year at Cambridge. Her interests include music, drama and dance; and she has already been signed up to accompany the first ever St.Edward’s Classics trip to Greece at Easter 2009. She will be a Form Tutor in Year 8.

Mr. Christopher Bate joins our Science Department to teach Physics. Mr. Bate studied Astrophysics at University College, London, and has been teaching at Tiffin School in Kingston-upon-Thames. A keen sportsman, he has coached rugby and cricket and also helped with Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme expeditions; he is also a musician. He will be another of the Year 8 Form Tutors.

Joining the school part-time to teach ICT and some Geography is Mrs. Andrea Dawson. An experienced teacher, Mrs. Dawson has taught in a variety of schools both in England and abroad during her career, mostly recently at the National Star College. She is a former pupil of St.Edward’s in the days when it was Charlton Park and has happy memories of the School in those days when it was run by the Sisters of the La Sainte Union order. We welcome her and all our new colleagues and wish them many happy years at St.Edward’s.

I’m delighted to tell you that the school achieved its best ever A-level results this year, with 63% A-B grades, and a pass rate of 99.3%. At GCSE, 45.7% of the grades were A* or A, with on overall A*-C rate of 96.2%. I enclose sheets giving the full details of all these results. My congratulations to all our students. As you will know, I don’t believe league tables are the be-all and end-all, but you may have noticed that in this year’s Times and Telegraph tables, St.Edward’s was higher than ever before…

With best wishes,