Old Sulians' Association

Headmasters Letter – September 2010

Three Peaks, Centurion Challenge, MCC Cricket matches, Cricket tours, World Bog Snorkelling, Man vs Horse, F1 Challenges and Petanque…. What might I have omitted? It seems that the Summer Term leaves too little time for the classroom and the inculcation of knowledge and wisdom. It is possible that I am moving away from the realm of Summer Newsletter and into something a little ‘philosophical’ – so I will return to the task in hand.

The range of activities undertaken over the last eight weeks has been exceptional and more than six hundred boys have been involved in an extra-curricular activity which has seen them on cricket pitches, scaling mountains, trudging along canal towpaths or scuba diving in Egypt. As I write John Young and his team are in Corsica with the boys and girls undertaking their Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions. All of this adds up to the same desired outcome; the ‘well rounded’ child, able, we hope, to take their place confidently in society. I never fail to be impressed by the exceptional talents of our boys and girls, recognising that their skills will be in even greater demand in the future, particularly given the need for our country to be confident in itself and the potential which exists – to see Beechen Cliff boys in a range of different situations reinforces the point that the school has proved very successful in creating an articulate, friendly and positive outlook on life which has a wonderful effect upon all those with whom they come into contact.

The House system has been incredibly successful for our Lower School boys, generating fantastic competition in every area of school life, from Sports day to the desire to be the best in terms of conduct and punctuality. No boy wishes to be the one singled out by his Head of House as one whose conduct has lost points for the rest of his House – peer pressure can have very positive results! Shakespeare emerged as the winning House and the Prefects collected the new Oldham Plate at the end of Year assembly, an event which also celebrated the success of many teams and individuals.

One of our newer sports, shooting, has seen an incredible leap forward. This month we sent a team to Bisley as part of the joint KES/BCS Combined Cadet Force to participate in the annual national competition. We achieve incredible success; winning the .22 rifle competition against sixty teams and coming third in the pistol competition. The other teams, many of whom had become used to lifting the trophies, were somewhat shocked. We are very thankful to Major Yeshim and Sergeant Major Lee for their exceptional efforts in nurturing the talent of our boys and developing the discipline within them to reach such levels.

It was wonderful to have a number of Old Sulians join us for lunch and a tour of the school recently. It was a splendid occasion and one which gave our boys the opportunity to spend a little time with gentlemen who conveyed their sense of pride in having been a part of the school. I very much hope that the boys will take with them into their future lives that sense of having belonged to something very special.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the changes which are about to take place in Bath and its secondary provision. For the boys, staff and parents of Culverhay School this will be a very sad time. I have met many men who were pupils at that fine school and remember with affection the time when it was equal in size to Beechen Cliff, recounting the great rugby and football pitch ‘conflicts’ which characterised th great rivalry between the schools. That time is now over, it seems, and we must look a change in the provision in the city which will see only one boys’ school, meeting the needs of those from within and beyond the city who recognise the very special school on the Bear Flat. I doubt they choose us because our academic results are the best for boys anywhere in the area; it is unlikely that hey choose us because the sporting opportunities are the best of any state provider in the south west, or indeed because the outdoor education is wide ranging and exciting. It could be because of the view from the front of the building or because of the exceptional food provided for boys but again, it seems unlikely. I think it is probably the factor which one of the Old Sulians’ mentioned during the recent visit. “I walked into the building and immediately felt at home. The atmosphere was just as I remembered it and you could sense the good relationships between the masters and the boys”.

I think that says it all.

May I wish you all a good summer.

Andrew Davies.

Headmaster.