Here is a copy of the letter that I issued to all parents just before Christmas.
Dear Parents
This note is to follow on from the recent communication from the BWS Chair of Governors informing you that I will be re-joining the school as interim Headmaster. This will be for the remainder of the academic year, pending the recruitment of a successor from 1/9/2025.
Though this is an unanticipated honour, I am of course delighted to have the chance to give stability and security at the very heart of this wonderful school, and thus ensure that our students continue to access the very best in educational quality and opportunity. They, and you, rightly expect the best, and my colleagues will continue to provide exactly that. In short I will do my very best to ensure that it is business as usual at Bishop’s over the next two terms. In doing so I will be leaning heavily on my previous experience of more than two decades in charge; I know all of my colleagues well, and I know and respect our students, your sons and daughters. They will be seeing a lot of me around the site, on gate duty, in the playground, sports hall and dining hall and at events beyond school hours where I can.
My experience tells me what an amazing place Bishop’s is. I will be emphasising to all of the students that they are in a very special place. I will also be prioritising the values of respect and kindness so that our school community continues to be harmonious and supportive throughout, and I would be grateful if you could reinforce the importance of that message at home…
I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can over the next two terms, whether that is in meetings in school, at musical events, on the touchline at sports fixtures or even perhaps in the checkout queue at Waitrose! Do come and say hello – especially for those of you with sons in Year 7 or a son or daughter in Year 12 whom I have not met.
With my very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year in due course.
When I drafted that note on 14 December, just after the end of the autumn term the fact that I was returning to BWS had not fully sunk in. Now, after a week back on the treadmill I can recall the adrenaline, the excitement and the pressure generated by being in school. As I write this I have just finished drafting assemblies for Years 7-11 and for the sixth form tomorrow. I have already held my first whole Staff Meeting and I have lost count of the number of duty slots that I have filled through those first 5 days in harness. Everyone has been absolutely lovely thank goodness – the staff welcoming and friendly, the students generally cheery and co-operative and messages from parents saying welcome back which have been so generous. I have been both touched and moved by all.
What job have I to do? A good question to ask; an interim Head is not the same beast as the permanent version. I am here to reassure (hopefully!), to build confidence and security for the entire school community and to be an essential part of the glue that ensures that the centre holds. Not that there are any real worries about that of course, because Bishop’s is an institution of immense strength and resilience in any case. It is a wonderful feeling to be back to be custodian of such a place for a short time, and I will be doing my absolute best to ensure that the boys and girls continue to get the quality of education and opportunity that they deserve – the very best, of course.
SDS
