Concordia
Merchant Taylors’ School
tephen Wright’s first Governors’
meeting at Merchant Taylors was a
quiet event: no opening statement
by the School’s newly appointed
Head Master, no great ‘vision’
unveiled. Instead we embarked,
through Stephen’s leadership, on the
progressive methodical approach to
development that has taken us to the
very top. By the end of the Gabitass
years the School’s performance had
never been better nor had its reputation
been higher. Stephen Wright’s legacy
is to have instilled in the whole School
a belief in the possibility and rewards
of continuous improvement.
That process has taken all parts of the
School to new highs. It has been based on
constant involvement and consultation.
There has been a sharp focus on the
question: what value is the individual boy
getting from his time and effort and could
it be greater?” Answering that question
honestly involves all staff and, of course,
every boy individually. It is very noticeable
how active participation by boys has grown
over these last years – through closer and
more frequent contact between teachers,
tutors and boys, through the growing role
of the student councils and through the part
boys play as ambassadors for the School.
Hearing all this you might suppose
that there has been endless change in the
School. Herein lies a paradox: innovation
has indeed been progressive but it has
not chased passing fashion for its own
sake. Proposals are evaluated and the
timing of changes carefully judged - for
example, changes to fortnightly timetables
and double lessons, which have resulted
in greatly widened choices for older
S
boys in particular. The great national
debates about the future of A levels or
the sudden fashion in some circles for the
International Baccalaureate were worked
through. In both cases the School emerged
with well prepared developments, which
have not lowered standards and are now
resulting in the creation of the School’s
own diploma structure which is attracting
so much interest from other schools.
There has been progressive widening
of access to new opportunities and
possibilities. New subjects such as
psychology and sports science have been
added to the academic choices on offer. To
sports have been added rowing and horse-
riding. The so-called minor sports of tennis
and swimming are booming. All-pervasive
in every classroom and used every day by
every boy and member of staff, the latest
technologies have dramatically added
rich teaching and learning resources. All
this has in no small way contributed to
the building of a real sense in the School
that all boys and staff are members of one
community. Symbolic of this has been
the Head Master’s concern that disabled
people should have, as far as possible,
full access to all parts of the School. Real
improvements have been made.
For the School to be successful it must
maintain and develop its relationships
with parents, other linked educational
institutions, Old Boys and the Merchant
Taylors’ Company. All have made real
progress. The Head Master is accessible
from the earliest moments of a boy’s
candidature for entry to the School.
Parents’ meetings with staff are more
purposeful and professional. Opportunities
for parents to participate in School
activities have multiplied. Parents’
views are regularly sought through
questionnaires, the results carefully
scrutinised by staff, the Head Master
and Governors. Collective or individual
meetings with heads and staff of schools
from which boys progress to Merchant
Taylors’ have increased in frequency.
The opening of the Old Merchant Taylors
Society clubhouse and new sports facilities
at Sandy Lodge was the culmination of a
project that required solid commitment
over the years from the School and the
Society. The Society’s administration is now
increasingly integrated with the School’s
development office. Less visible perhaps
but appreciated by Old Merchant Taylors
all over the country, has been the time
and effort devoted by the Head Master to
attending each year many regional events,
reunion lunches, dinners, receptions to
meet Old Boys and bring them the latest
school news.
The 450th Anniversary of the founding
of the School was the occasion for
announcing one of the most significant
policy decisions made by the Head
Master and Governors in recent years.
Scholarships will in future be primarily
honorific. The money saved is to go to
bursaries to open up the opportunity of
an education at Merchant Taylors’ School
to boys and their families who would not
be able to join without financial support.
No recent new policy by the School has
received wider acclaim.
This decision was a major milestone but
took its place quite naturally in that most
important legacy from Stephen Wright’s
years - that of continuing improvement
in everything at Sandy Lodge. It has been
a process led by the Head Master and
encouraged by his personal style.
A few years ago, as Chairman of
Governors at Speech Day in our Great Hall,
I announced that the Governors had set as
their aim that Merchant Taylors’ should be
among the top ten schools in the country.
As Head Master, Stephen had private
doubts because the competition was so
tough. However, reviewing the School’s
results for 2012 in the recent Winter edition
of the OMT Society News Sheet, Stephen
concludes “Though it is difficult always
to assess, such results … would almost
certainly have placed us as one of the top
ten schools in the country”. They would
indeed. Thank you, Head Master, for all
you have done for and with us. Your years
have been a memorable, enjoyable and a
hugely rewarding period in the School’s
long history.
Sir Geoffrey
Holland
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