About a week ago I told people I didn’t seem to be doing
anything to do with what’s going on at present because there’s always so much
to do at this time of year in order to be ready for the new school year in
September!
I’ve made up for it in the last couple of days. In the last
48 hours I’ve had a meeting of the Bursaries Campaign Committee from which I
went at a run to play hockey against the Junior School parents, the staff
winning narrowly by 4-3 (no thanks to me); from there I went at a run to the
Year 7 Singing Competition and then went home and wrote some reports.
That was Wednesday. Yesterday was spent finishing my speech
for RGS Day; then a technical rehearsal for the Year 8 play-in-a-week
production of The Thwarting of Baron
Bolligrew, followed by the dress rehearsal and a few more reports signed.
Today I went with two colleagues and two members of the CCF
Naval Section to HMS Mersey, moored in North Shields, to witness the
presentation of the Arctic Star for service on the WW2Arctic convoys to ON
Jimmy Newlands on his 90th birthday. His sons and great-nephew are
also ONs, and his great-great-nephew is a current member of the school. What a
marvellous thing to support, impeccably managed by the Royal Navy.
I was back in time to put my hard hat on for a look round
our new sports building - on time, on budget and already looking fantastic. Now
I’m spending the rest of the day making final arrangements for RGS Day – and
tonight will be the first performance of Bolligrew.
I’m not making out that I’m some kind of martyr. Quite the
opposite: being involved in all these things is the best part of the job,
because everything reminds me of what the school is about and therefore what my
job essentially means: students of the past connected with great achievements
of the past; boys and girls doing wonderful things in a host of different
activities; mixing with parents, part of the RGS family; and looking forward to
the future.
It also reminds me of the whole breadth of experience, opportunity
and activity that a school like the RGS is, and of what a privilege it is to be
at the heart of it. That’s not too bad, is it?
Tomorrow we’ll celebrate all of that and more on RGS Day:
that’s what the day’s for, truly a day of celebration of everything that is
great about the school past, present and future. Let’s hope for a good one.
Bernard Trafford