Mr Milne's Commemoration 2009 Speech

Dame Jo, Chairman, Governors, Headmaster, Headmistress, Parents, Guests and Friends,

Not only has the recession been at the forefront of everyone's mind but now we have a potential pandemic on our hands. There was a moment a few weeks ago when I though that this day would never arrive. With schools being closed 'left, right and centre' as a consequence of Swine Flu, I was keen to ensure that we had the full permission of Bristol City Council to proceed. I'm still not sure to this day if indeed we do have the 'all-clear' as when I rang up NHS direct line to get the latest advice on swine flu, all I got was 'crackling.'

On a more serious not, an OFSTED Inspector was in an English lesson sitting next to two small boys observing their every move: One of the boys was carefully writing into his exercise book with the sort of focus and level of concentration unseen before in any classroom setting.

Today, today, today / Grief, grief, grief / Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow / Relief, Relief, Relief... the boy wrote.

The Inspector was so bowled over by these profound poetic thoughts that he praised the English lesson in glowing terms to the HOD...."Who was that and what did he want", one of the boys asked? "I've no idea" said the boy, "but he seemed to be particularly interested in my spellings."

There is no doubting the importance of education in our lives... Gordon Brown, The World Bank and the CBI all claim that education and training are the key to a successful future – they are .. but like any key, we can turn it two ways. Turn it the wrong way and you lock up a child’s intellectual resources forever.... turn it the right way and you liberate those resources and give children the best possible platform to succeed. One thing that is certainly clear is that creativity and being creative will continue to be a hugely important transferable skill that we will need to nurture in our children if they are to be successful in this ever changing, rapidly evolving world.

Our challenge in the Pre is to maintain the environment where every person is inspired to grow creatively.

Creativity has been very much in evidence throughout this academic year and I'm sure you will agree that your children have achieved a great deal across many different areas – I will talk about these creative achievements in a few moments but before then I would like to say a few 'thank yous' to various individuals and groups of people.

Staff

There are a number of staff members who I would like to recognise for their contributions to the Pre and who are moving on to pastures new. David Pafford takes on the role of acting Deputy Head next academic year to replace Alex McComas. Apart from working very closely alongside Alex McComas for three years as the Deputy Head, Alex has also been an immense support to me throughout my first year as Head of the Pre... In all the time that I have known Alex he has always been incredibly loyal and he has never shrunk from giving me advice when it has been needed – however difficult that may have been. I will miss Alex's keen sense of humour, his outstanding organisational skills, and his unflappability.

I know that the staff, pupils and parents will join me in wishing him all the very best in the future and in thanking him for the positive contributions he has made to the Pre over the past ten years.

Matthew Wood takes over in Tait's in September and – again – I have every confidence that he will be hugely successful and put his own stamp on the house in due course. It goes without saying that I am also very grateful for the efforts of Meika Byas who moves out of Tait's House at the end of this year for all of her hard work and dedication in ensuring the charges in her care always knew that they were in supremely safe hands.

Helen Bradley takes the over the reins in Poole's in September and I wish her and her family the very best as she embarks on this new adventure.It would also be wrong of me not to observe with thanks the moving out of Poole's of Helen Milne, someone whom has made an immense contribution to the quality of pastoral care for the girls in that house for the past four years.

Girl boarding is flourishing in the Pre and this is in no small part to Helen. I know from personal experience how hard Helen has worked to ensure the girls were well looked after and she will remain involved in the overall pastoral care of Girls in the Pre even after her departure.

Two teachers are leaving... Lucy Turner leaves us at the end of this term to take up a new and exciting challenge and I'm grateful for all that she has done at the Pre. Lucy arrived at the Pre as a newly qualified teacher and has gone from strength to strength in her three years in the classroom and on the games front.

And Victoria Newhouse has also decided to retire from her part-time position in the Coach House and this certainly marks the end of an era. Each teacher has the child at the centre of everything he or she does in the Pre, however, Victoria went beyond that.

There was no ego with Victoria and all that she did was about the child... in her previous role as Head of Learning Support, Victoria fought vigorously for every child's rights and will be remembered as a gatekeeper of very high standards across all areas of the school. She will be sadly missed.

Parents

And so onto the Parents... For many of the Year 8 parents, these final few weeks of the Summer term represents a watershed in the journey through Clifton College from Butcombe – through the Pre – and into the Upper School.

I want to thank all of the Year 8 parents for all the tremendous encouragement and support you have given to your children across their time at the Pre as well as for trusting the school with them through thick and thin. That said, some of you have had your moments.

Aware of the current recession and the financial pressures that prevail at present, a rather insistent parent was recently repeatedly demanding of me – over and over again – what we were going to do with her son and what extra 'value' should she expect from the high fees that we charge. I have to say that she was somewhat surprised when I responded to her – tongue in check, of course – by saying 'Madam, at the Pre, we are so confident in our product that we guarantee satisfaction or your son back!'

This past year alone there has been a rugby tour to South Africa, Trips to Spain, France, Pompeii, The Lake District, Skiing in Vermont, Matches, concerts, plays, Chapel, exhibitions, recitals, Parents Evenings, the Headmaster's Ceileidh, putting up visiting teams from abroad, fund-raising, sewing costumes for the play and all that make-up! – all of which couldn't have happened without the Pre parents. I thank you for your support, and most of all, I thank you for trusting the system.

Pupils

Last but not least – the children – for they are the reason we are all here and they have given us all so much pleasure this year. The Pre continues to be an extremely rich environment for your children and the steady stream of prospective parents I have shown around the school are bowled over by how happy and even-keeled the children appear. Witness a recent set of prospective parents who were extremely inquisitive and not easily fobbed off. When asked by the mother : "What is the worst part of the Prep School?" A year 5 girl responded by saying "having to go home!" I have had the privilege this year of coming into contact in many spheres with your children and they are without question, polite, courteous, friendly, positive, affable and generally a pleasure to be with.

Witness this year the stunning concerts, including the superb Anne Guy Concert, which featured the top musicians in the school. I don't want to single out any individuals in my speech but I think that in Julie Hwang we had an exceptional World Class talent who has also passed her Diploma exam and is now qualified to teach pupils – Sorry, Mr Crabtree!!!

The Informal concerts which were given by a wide range of age and standard – and the School concert – highlighted the thriving pop scene and classical groups that pervade the Pre – many of them you will see performing in the Hall today from 1.30pm onwards.

86% percent of the pupils are learning a musical instrument in the Pre and in the recent Associated Board Exams we had 62 entrants who achieved a 40% pass rate with Merit and 15% who achieved distinction awards; The Choir – once again – also continued to provide outstanding singing for Chapel services and was led by our gifted Praecentor, Mr Pafford. David Crabtree and the Music department have much to be proud of!!!

Sport

There have been some tremendous sporting feats – including regional hockey runners-up in both boys and girls.

For the Girls... Every single girl represented the school in matches in Hockey, Netball and Rounders. The U10 girls' hockey had an excellent season, losing only one match and winning the Tournament at Badminton and the U11 girls recently won the KES Bath tournament winning all their matches.

In Netball: The Under 11s had an excellent season, losing only once in school matches and reaching the IAPS National finals. The Under 10s were unbeaten in school matches!

For the boys, the U13s were County Champions in Hockey and there was representation at England rugby IAPS level and a county tennis champion at Avon U12s. In addition, the 2nd XV rugby managed to go the entire season undefeated – a remarkable feat. The Rugby Sevens team reached the semi-finals of both the Port Regis and Millfield tournaments...And Fourteen cricket teams have represented the school this summer, which is an impressive feature of the school. The icing on the cake came in February when we were able on two separate occasions to field every single child in the school in one team or another which is quite an achievement for any school!!! Thank you to Penny Cook and Ian Turnbull for their tireless efforts for championing Girls and Boys sport at the Pre – it is much appreciated!

Drama/Art

There have also been outstanding performances at the highest level by large numbers on the stage of the Redgrave Theatre, including Smike...and for those of you who have the chance to see the Art and DT today, it is quite exceptional! The Art in particular was recently described by a former Headmaster who now works for the 'Good Schools' Guide' as the best Prep School art in England...please do not miss the chance to view it. John Grice, Steve Webb and the teachers within those departments have achieved great things with the pupils!!

In summary, the Pre pupils commanded the vast majority of awards to the Upper School again this year, including the top awards in the Art and Music Scholarships. Let us not forget the successes on the academic front where we also won the top Academic Scholarship as well as the majority of the remaining awards. The quality of the teaching and learning at the Pre remains very high and I'm grateful to all the teachers for their efforts in demanding excellence throughout.

Looking back at all that has happened over the last academic year, the list of activities and events is quite remarkable: Hockey, Rugby, Football and Netball tournaments, Rounders and Cricket; Informal Concerts; play rehearsals; swimming galas; overseas trips; three visiting authors per term; various guest speakers in assemblies; cross-country matches; History and geography trips to name but a few. We are immensely proud of our pupils for simply being! Being kind, being courteous, being generous, and crucially, being humorous.

This was brought home to me forcefully last year by a conversation between Mrs Milne and a pupil in Poole's which went something like this:

Mrs Milne was walking across the Pre Playground when a young girl saw her with what appeared to be a gift wrapped in some paper. "What's in the wrapping paper?" she asked. "It's a box chocolates", replied Mrs Milne, "I got it for Mr Milne." With a wise nod of the head, the little girl looked around to make sure that no one was listening and quietly whispered to Mrs Milne – "that's a good trade, Miss!"

And since we are talking of children, now would be the appropriate time to ask our Chairman, Mr Andrew Thornhill, to present the Twelves with a small token of thanks for all that they have done this year especially in their respective Houses. Twelves are appointed throughout the academic year for displaying the characteristic traits essential to this position: kindness, consideration, respectfulness and consistent, earnest endeavour. Well done!

If Commemoration is a time for gratitude for past and present, then it is also a time for reflection about where we are and where we ought to be.

The greatest educationist we have ever had, Charles Dickens, wrote in Hard Times of a teacher called Mr McChoakumchild – his job was to throttle children into education. Read the newspapers each day and there are lots of McChoakumchild's in education at the moment... "Throttle children's capacity for play," Dickens argues, "and you kill the child's creativity." Sift through all the latest Government gumpf on the educational initiatives and 'All work and no play certainly makes Jack a dull boy'... No play or creativity actually makes Jack a culturally impoverished boy – robotic: able to speak and write, but not to express himself.

A Year 5 teacher was giving her Primary pupils a lesson in developing logical thinking.

"This is the scene," said the teacher.

"A man is standing up in a boat in the middle of a river, fishing. He loses his balance, falls in, and begins splashing and yelling for help.

His wife hears the commotion, knows he can't swim, and runs down to the bank. Why do you think she ran to the bank?"

A little girl raised her hand and said, "To draw out all his savings!?!"

Dame Jo has already expressed her views on the amazing capacity of the human being and I would wholeheartedly support that. Children are wonderfully confident in their own imaginations but most of us lose this confidence as we grow up. We are all born with an enormous capacity to change and that is one of the key aspects of what we continuously promote at the Pre....to help the children connect with their true talents...to help them know what they are truly capable of achieving.

Nowadays, everyone is waving that piece of paper at the end of the sixth form with their qualifications and three As. Education is more than just about academic learning and exams. It's about life and learning skills, it's about finding one's passion.

We must continue at all costs to ask of ourselves in the Pre: what kind of people do we want our children to be when they leave us? Of course it encapsulates academic performance and skills but it involves other things too. Our aim is to ensure that by the time the pupils leave the Pre that all of them in our care have had the chance to do what they should be doing – and that is, enjoying the opportunity to combine passion with skill, to find their niche in life.

The Pre is a place where the things a child loves to do and the things they are good at come together. All children start their school careers with sparkling imaginations...... our job is to keep them that way. Creativity is not something you either are or you are not – we all have that potential!

Being creative is about the creation of original ideas that better the lives of others and humanity, it's about finding new and interesting ways of doing things, of approaching situations.

Knowing that intelligence is diverse has allowed Clifton College to address that question in many different ways throughout its history and with far-reaching creative results – ask any OC who has gone through all three schools... this is what is unique about a Clifton education!

All humans have an amazing capacity to change, to achieve remarkable things. Dame Jo's message is clear. 'We must value and appreciate differences in other people; Difference is normal!' I am reminded of a sketch from one of the best comedies ever to appear on British Television screens: Morecambe and Wise. Who can forget Eric Morecambe in a tuxedo playing Grieg's piano concerto, with an orchestra conducted by the World Famous, André Previn. You may recall that Eric is playing Grieg extremely badly, and Previn walks over to the piano to confront him.

"What are you playing?" Previn says testily. "I'm playing Grieg's piano concerto," Eric replies, equally testily. "But you're playing all the wrong notes," Previn complains. At which point Eric stands up, grabs the illustrious Previn by the lapels of his dinner jacket, and says menacingly: "I am playing all the right notes ... but not necessarily ... in the right order."

We all have the right notes inside of us ... sometimes it takes longer for some of us to put them in the right order!

The Pre is a vibrant school within a vibrant College, where overall numbers are very strong and girls numbers, in particular, are at our highest level ever.

There's no mystery to making a good school: high expectations of the quality of teaching and learning, combined with a relentless pursuit of quality in everything we do. The largest ever report on the merits of different types of education concluded that a 'good school is a good school because it is a good school'! Our aim is to build on our successes, with creativity, inspiration and perspiration – and it is through adding the value of excellence that we shall, together, make a very good school, even better. Thank you for listening