Headmaster's Headlines: Lent Term 2007

26th March

Week 11 has ended and the School is no longer full of the usual hustle and bustle, the sounds and the joys of all the pupils, who have departed for a well-earned holiday.  Yet even in this final week of term there has been a plethora of activities: the Lower Sixth English Theatre trip to The Tempest in London; the National Schools Sevens Competition at Rosslyn Park, the CCF Easter Camp in Inverness, the Sixth Form Spanish trip to Malaga; the ski trip to La Clusaz, France; and a Young Enterprise presentation at Napier University. 

It has also been fascinating having Dr Michael Thompson in the School for two days.  He is a psychologist attached to The Belmont Hill School, Boston, and a prolific writer of books, predominantly on the education and upbringing of boys.  Two of his most famous books are entitled Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys and Speaking of Boys: Answers to the Most-Asked Questions About Raising Sons.  Dr Thompson conducted an in-service training session for the Common Room and it was a pleasure to welcome representatives from Firrhill School to this presentation.  Moreover, he spoke at an evening session for parents and visitors.  The next morning, he spoke to the whole School at Headmaster’s Assembly, and then led a seminar for our Sixth Formers.  You may be interested to download a pdf copy of his workshop notes, which are on our website, by clicking on the link. 

Finally, I wish all members of the Merchiston family and community much joy over the coming Easter season.  The mornings and evenings are already giving us a taste of the light and warmth of summer! 

Andrew Hunter

PS. My end of term newsletter is now available to download!

20th March

My thoughts: Yet again, week 11 has been extremely busy, challenging and fulfilling. It featured the Maths Fun Day, the Lower Sixth UCAS Meeting, followed by drinks and dinner for the parents of Sixth Form pupils, the Third Form Boarding-in Weekend, numerous sporting fixtures, and Fifth and Sixth Forms pupils completing many important coursework assignments in preparation for public examinations next term.

My congratulations: Many young men were congratulated on the platform this week. In the Institute of Biology Olympiad 2007, Alasdair was 'Commended', and Sebastian and Ben won Bronze Medals. James (photo below) was congratulated on being called up to the U18 Scotland Rugby Squad. The Merchiston U16 Sevens Team won the Trophy at the Edinburgh Academy Sevens ; the team consisted of Tom, Lewis, Alexander, Henry, Andrew, Malcolm, Simon, Tomas, Nicholas, and was captained by David (photo left). Fraser won the School Cross Country - he was also a winner last year when in Chalmers West.

Colours were awarded as follows: Squash Half Colours to Hamish; Curling Half Colours to Hamilton; Fives Colours to Sebastian and Ralph; Fives Half Colours to Alastair, James and Russell; Basketball Colours to David, Ka Ram, Andreas and Sergey; Hockey Colours to Alex; Hockey Half Colours to Christian; and Swimming Half Colours to Charles. Moreover, Major Games Ties (3 starts for the 1XV) were awarded to Kit, Dominic, David and Richard.

The Merchiston Solo Piping and Drumming Competition took place on Tuesday 13 March, and my congratulations go to Guy and Oliver on winning The Wighton Cup in Senior Piping, and The Arthur Cup in Senior Drumming respectively. Angus took The Ramyar Cup for Most Improved Piper; Marinus won the Award for Services to the Pipe Band; and Oliver also received The Montgomery Cup for Services to Drumming.

My highlights: Sunday saw the last Whole School Service of the term, the final Lent gathering of the whole School before Easter. So it was very fitting that the Chaplaincy Team, led by Mr Blair and including Mr Anderson and Mrs Gillon, put together an inspiring and thought-provoking Service on the theme, Cry Freedom: Hamish's piping, which accompanied the singing of Amazing Grace , the talk, the pupils' participation in the Service, and the Close Harmony Group's singing of aptly chosen negro spirituals allowed us all time for spiritual reflection. My second highlight was afforded by the therapeutic effect of humming and singing. Yesterday morning, along with the Director of Music, I led the School in hymn singing practice, which included humming, building up a crescendo followed by a diminuendo, and then Charles Wesley's rousing hymn Soldiers of Christ Arise - a fitting end to this term's Headmaster's Assemblies.

13th March

My thoughts: Yet again, the past week has seen Merchiston pupils living such a full life.  However, it is important to remember that they often play a strong role in supporting and helping in the School.  This past week alone has seen some of our boys making music at Cargilfield Prep School, alongside their young musicians.  Equally, the Merchiston Sevens on Sunday saw at least 1200 people in the grounds of Merchiston, playing and watching some excellent sport.  All this would have been quite impossible without the help of staff at all levels as referees, groundsmen, caterers, providing medical cover, and, not least 100 boys, who met teams, acted as their 'mentors' for the afternoon, were runners with score cards, ball boys, and car park attendants etc.

My congratulations:

At this time of year, there are always Colours to be awarded, and today Andrew and James gained their squash colours, while Russell and Hamish gained squash half colours.  Culring colours went to Kerr, Grant and Hamilton, and football colours to James J, James T, Russell and Philip.  I then shook hands with 53 boys from the First, Second, Third and Fourth Forms; each pupil had gained a distinction in the English Speaking Board examination! 
The photo shows winners of squash and football colours.

My highlights: Last week was an extremely big week for the Upper Sixth Formers who received their January module results, and the Academic Management Team is in the process of assessing their performance.  These results, along with the ESB results, pleased me greatly and our academic achievements have been a highlight this week - academic life remains central to the School’s ethos and performance. The 52 boys who gained distinctions in their ESB exams are pictured below:

6th March

My thoughts: Diversity, depth and breadth of experience over the past week alone are epitomised by so many different activities: the English Speaking Board exams, the Fifth Form Parents’ Dinner on Friday, the Seminar on Careers for parents also on Friday, followed by the Parents’ Meeting with members of staff, the Information Morning, the Whole School Evening Chapel Service, our pipers and drummers competing at George Watson’s College, a visit from author Nicola Morgan, and a full fixture list.

My congratulations:

The ESB exams were last week and 53 boys gained ‘Distinction’ Awards which is fantastic!  In sport, I congratulate James who has been chosen for the U17 Scotland Rugby Squad for the Millfield Tournamant, and Cameron and Fraser, who have been selected for the Scotland U18 squad for the Six Nations Tournament in the Easter holidays (all three pictured above).  Hamilton, Grant, Kerr, Andrew and Jason were congratulated for successfully defending  their title as holders of the Miller Drummond Curling Trophy (pictured left).  Finally, I would like to congratulate and thank all the boys who helped at the Information Morning on Saturday.

My highlights: Last night and this morning, we entertained Nick Barton, the former Headmaster of Newlands School, Gosforth, pictured here with three boys who were at Newlands when he was Headmaster. Mr Barton told us about the experience of an undergraduate at the University of Durham (Mr Barton is a pastoral tutor at St Chad’s College), who had suffered very serious injuries, yet despite these he had continued to smile.  Mr Barton’s message was that we will all meet with disappointments in life, but it is how we respond to these that is the key.  A wise and pertinent message. 
Another highlight was the beautiful Whole School Choral Evensong on Sunday evening, and all 140 young men in the Choir sang the Kyrie, Sanctus and Benedictus and Agnus Dei from Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.  Moreover, the sound and harmony of Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens, set to words by Milton, was, according to Philip Rossiter, our Director of Music, one of the strongest and most effective pieces of choral music he had heard at Merchiston for a long time. 
My final highlight of the week is one that we can often overlook: returning to my study after meeting prospective parents, I heard peals of laughter coming from boys as they were moving from one class to another.  I smiled wryly to myself for in its own way, that laughter was such a joy to hear. 

27th February

My thoughts: The busyness of each week never ceases to amaze me! Last week, we had budding young rock musicians, Rory, Jack, Fergus and Guy, members of the Mystic Floorboards winning through to the next round of the Battle of the Bands Competition. There was a Chinese New Year Dinner for Merchiston and St George’s Chinese, Hong Kong, and Far East pupils, as well as expatriate pupils who live in these areas of the world, superbly organised by Qi and James. Archie, Seb, Dominic and Ben gave a polished and detailed presentation, entitled The Merchiston Journey, prior to the Ambassador Drinks Party at Castle Gates for prospective parents. We had a tremendous Staff Charity Fundraising Concert for St Luke’s Leprosarium in India, involving Mr Turner, Mr Anderson, Ms Cohen and Miss McShane. And let us not forget so many tremendous fixtures in rugby, hockey, fives and football. The joys and challenges of the Merchiston way of life continue unabated this week!

My congratulations:

This morning I congratulated Fraser (left), who came 2nd at U15 level in the Scottish National Cross-Country Championships, and 7th in the UK Finals when he represented the East of Scotland. I was also presented with the Scottish Schools Clay Pigeon Shooting Junior Cup by Monty, which he, Jack and Josh won (photo above).

My highlights: We welcomed Mr Anthony Goddard, the Headmaster of Aysgarth School, North Yorkshire, a boarding prep school for boys, which Barbara and I have visited twice. This was Mr Goddard’s first visit to Merchiston. Prior to developing a passion and vocation for education, he worked for ICI plc for 21 years and then for Accenture Management Consultants. He has been headmaster of Aysgarth for 4 years. Mr Goddard’s message to the School was interesting. How much of you is froth, and how much of you is of substance? He talked about three aspects of character: courage (ie the determination to make the most of one’s abilities, and did we know that most of the time we only use 4% of our brain capacity?), integrity (ie honesty, worthiness, and trustworthiness) and thirdly the ability to get on with other people, and he reminded the pupils that they would be working with others in the global and technical economy. Mr Goddard concluded by saying that so much of what we do each day consists of 10% talent, 30% technique and 60% temperament. What a simple yet effective message to set us on our way for a tremendous week at Merchiston!

20th February

My thoughts: We welcomed the boys back for the second half of the Lent Term this morning. There was a huge show of hands from the student body when I asked if they had really enjoyed half term. Paradoxically and predictably, there were fewer hands up in response to the question as to whether they were looking forward to the second half of term!

Before half term, the retiring Headmaster of Craigclowan, Mike Beale and his wife, Angela, attended a dinner in the Old Library, at which some of his former pupils were present, namely Kit, Ben, Callum, Jake, Mark, Jack, Angus, James, Finlay, Christian and James, as well as former Craigclowan parents. In my short thanks to the Beales I said that all the senior ex Craigclowan pupils at Merchiston had been leaders, including Heads of Houses, and indeed a Captain of School. They had also been academics, all-rounders and games players, but, what matters most, they had all been and were decent young people. That fits very neatly with this morning’s Headmaster’s Assembly in which I congratulated Mrs Marion Muetzelfeldt, the Director of Studies, on her 60th birthday yesterday. She looks after the pupils, the teachers, the Heads of Department, the parents of present and prospective pupils, and indeed old boys. It was a pleasure to present Marion with a bouquet of flowers on the stage and to hear the School community singing “Happy Birthday, ma’am”! Marion has made a huge difference in her 28 years at Merchiston and I am delighted that she will be staying on for a further two years.

My highlights: Today we had the great pleasure of welcoming a visiting speaker, Mr Ross Leckie. He is a director of an investment management firm, a novelist, a literary critic and a maker of TV documentaries. His novels include Hannibal, now in production as a Hollywood film starring Vin Diesel, but he is also the author of Bluff Your Way in the Classics – still considered essential reading for an Oxford classics degree. He reviews each week for The Times, and contributes regularly to other periodicals like The Spectator. He scripts and contributes to documentaries for Discovery and The History Channel. Moreover, Mr Leckie’s associations with Merchiston run deep as his late father was at the School, as were almost all his Leckie, Kirk and Donaldson uncles and cousins. In his younger days he also played rugby for the Blues XV at Oxford. It has been said of Hannibal that “Mr Leckie manages to tell a moving and vivid tale in 243 pages. Hannibal is carefully constructed, where the pieces of Hannibal’s background, his ancient world, and historical events are merged to present a picture of the man and his times. Leckie seeks not to analyse Hannibal but to portray him. In doing so, the novel rises above mere historiography. By adopting a first person narrative, Leckie lets Hannibal share his own story and experiences. The reader is therefore able to experience Hannibal’s world of violence, atrocity, joy, pain and honour in a more direct and personal manner. Instead of cold history with echoes of adventure, the reader becomes involved in an adventure with echoes of history.” I am looking forward to reading my copy and indeed seeing the film when it hits the screen!

Mr Leckie’s message at Headmaster’s Assembly was so simple and so pertinent: do something new today and perform random acts of kindness.

6th February

My thoughts: I have two thoughts this week. First, I think all schools must remember that sport is sport, and it is only a game, whatever Bill Shankly once said. My second thought this week is “only connect” – a theme in the tremendous 20th century novel, A Passage to India, by E M Forster – which is a further reminder of this. Last week, I had the great pleasure of showing a prospective parent from Mumbai (formerly Bombay) round Merchiston. I first got to know him at the University of Manchester in 1978, and have only met him once since when Mrs Hunter and I visited a school in Mumbai, at which I was speaking. It is likely that his son will come to Merchiston in September. The photos show the journey of my friend and his son’s potential Headmaster – believe it or not, both at one stage played an extremely high standard of representative and national squash! Surely this little tale serves to remind us that “only connect” remains important.

My congratulations: This week on the stage, I was delighted to congratulate Ralph, Neil, Sebastian, James, Cameron, Hamish and James on being awarded Rugby Full Colours, and Rugby Half Colours were awarded to Peter, Dominic, Robbie, Alastair, Edward, James, Finlay, Charles, Richard and Russell. You may be interested in clicking on the link to two articles the national press about these pupils.

This year’s 1st XV has been an extremely successful side: it has played an expansive style of rugby, yet at the same time it has been rigorous in defence and superbly captained. We also applauded on stage James and Russell for winning the Senior Cup in the Scottish Fives Championship against Fettes; also David and Alex who won the Colts Cup, beating Merchiston’s 2nd pair in the final; and Alastair and Alasdair who defeated Fettes in the final of the Senior Plate.

My highlights: My own highlight this week has been receiving two letters, which say it all. These pieces of correspondence get to the very core of what we believe in. You can read the letters here.

Naturally, I hope that all pupils and staff enjoy a tremendous half term, and that all families spend some excellent time together!

30th January

My thoughts:
My cliché this week is “the world can be your oyster”.  Many of us enjoy the delights of eating oysters and mussels, but it always seems to me that the oyster shell opening up epitomises how a pupil might approach his life at Merchiston.  "I am here to be taught, I am here to be inspired, yet I must also work hard at it, enjoy making the most of my talents, and understand that the oyster shell will not open up without effort."  So, one of our musicians, Alex, played the violin to conclude this week’s Headmaster Assembly – just one of the many talents displayed by so many young men at Merchiston.  Yes, the world can be your oyster, but let us not forget that the private achievement can be worth just as much as the public achievement.  Many of the School this week will have to remember this as they are still sitting examinations, namely the Upper Sixth A2 modules and HAS prelims, the Fifth Form mocks and the Shell internal exams.  As he embarks upon each paper, I am sure that each young man will be thinking, “the world can be my oyster”!

It was also pleasure to welcome two of our Medical Sisters, Mrs Lorna Moussa and Mrs Joanna Bisset onto the stage, and the Captain of School presented them with bouquets of flowers in appreciation of the way in which the largely new Medical Centre team have handled the winter virus at Merchiston. 

My congratulations:
Following on from the British Maths Olympiad winners, this week Mr Nicholls and I congratulated those who gained awards in the British Physics Olympiad.  A Gold Award was given to Qi; Silver Awards to Andrew, Bo, David and Chi Wang; and Bronze to Yujie, Edward, Ka Ram and Derek (pictured below).  The Curling team of Grant, Hamilton, Kerr and Andrew (pictured left) were congratulated on winning the Army Careers Curling Trophy for the first time.  Hamish, Oliver and Alex, who were in exams last week, were thanked for their contribution to the recent Burns Supper.

My highlights:
As ever, life at Merchiston has been busy, one highlight being our Construction Challenge Team coming 3rd in the Final. A highlight last weekend was that, despite sickness, so many reserve players enjoyed representing the School at rugby, and all 8 fixtures were won.  Thankfully, the vast majority of the Senior School pupils have now recovered and are back in the usual Merchiston groove of work hard, ‘develop hard’ and play hard.

23rd January

My thoughts: First, I would like to express my very grateful thanks on behalf of the whole Merchiston community, and indeed the parents, to our Medical Centre staff. Last week, a quarter of the School was ill with a winter virus and this necessitated the creation of a second Medical Centre in Chalmers and asking parents to help by taking their sick children home for a few days where practicable. The virus has affected both staff and pupils, but we continue to soldier on and maintain our daily schedule to the best of our ability. However, this would have been impossible without the calm professionalism of our medical staff.  

My congratulations: Today at assembly I was able to congratulate on stage the boys who won awards in the Maths Challenge, who were in an exam last week. Congratulations are also due to all who helped with The Burns Supper on Saturday night. This was organised by a team of parents with helpers from Chalmers West and the Upper Sixth, in addition to the whole of the Pipe Band, and was a wonderful Merchiston event. Particular mention is due to Hamish (Pipe Major - on right of photo below - and how marvellous to see him playing alongside his father, a Merchistonian (72-77) and also a Pipe Major at School), Oliver (Drum Major), Chris (who gave the Address to the Haggis), Marinus (who played the pipes at Castle Gates and welcomed guests) and Alex (who played the fiddle). Yet again, many present remarked on the moving nature of Highland Cathedral, in the beautiful setting of the Memorial Hall.

My highlights: Perhaps unpredictably, I would say one of last week's highlights was the semi final of the Scottish Schools Rugby Cup at Kirkcaldy. I said to the pupils at this morning's Assembly that in life we experience moments of sweetness and moments of bitterness, illustrated by milk and dark chocolate! What seems to be so important is that when the river of life does not flow the way we wish, we must take stock, and show resilience and bounce-back ability. We must know how to respond, and what to learn from the experience, continuing to work hard to improve. We must also not let go of our self-belief for it leads to a high quality performance. Members of the Cup XV were each presented with both milk and dark chocolate bars to make the point! Mr Michael Spencer, Headmaster of Mowden Hall School, Northumberland, visited us this week and he commented to me on the sense of purpose, performance and quality evident in the School, as two other visiting Headmasters had last week. So, paradoxically, a defeat has provided a highlight of the week; we continue to show self-belief, for that is what leads to this performance and quality. I certainly believe in every single member of the Merchiston community.

16th January

My thoughts: As we begin Week 2, it is impossible not to mention the high winds and gales, and the volume of rain that we have experienced since the beginning of term. Indeed, it is very sad to report that we have lost a further tree, namely a beautiful black Corsican pine. You may remember that last year we had to cut down the Headmaster’s beech tree outside Castle Gates. However, we continue to plant saplings all over the grounds. As I write today, it is wonderful that at last we have a clear day and accordingly a sense of calm and peace pervades the School. Many parents will know that we are combating two viruses at present, one of a gastric nature, and the other like a normal flu. We are doing our very best to look after your sons in a very full Medical Centre, and I know that some boys have returned home for a short period of time. Our Nursing Sisters, Mrs Joanna Bisset, Mrs Sue Collis, and Senior Medical Sister Mrs Lorna Moussa are coping very well, and we have also employed some agency nurses to help us care for the boys and staff.

My congratulations: Last week I congratulated Dr Mike Gill in front of the whole School on the award of his MBE in the New Year Honours in recognition of his running our CCF for 28 years. Dr Gill is such a modest man and says that at least 17 officers have helped him over the years, not least Mr Archie Hambling and Mr Hamish Williamson. It is extremely rare for a member of staff to be awarded an MBE in such circumstances and we all congratulate Dr Gill on this wonderful achievement.

I congratulated Qi and Chi Wang on their success in the British Mathematical Olympiad, and Andrew, David, Haoyang, Bo and Yujie on their senior Mathematical Challenge Gold Certificates. Only Yujie and Andrew are in the photo as the others are sitting a Maths exam! We also congratulated Andrew on the award of Arts Honours for his contribution to Drama, Euan on his selection for the British Children’s Ski Team, Angus on his selection for the Scotland U13 cricket squad, and Fraser for gaining first place in the U15 category of the East of Scotland Cross Country Championships.

I sometimes go jogging, and occasionally I am overtaken by a member of staff, Dr Sean Wilkinson, and indeed by Fraser; they smile wryly and urge me to keep going! I cannot promise to post a picture of myself in the blog in my running kit!

My highlights:

10th January 2007

Welcome to 2007!

I started my first talk to the School this term by welcoming the new members of staff, namely Mr Paul Osborne, Director of Pringle Sport, Assistant Housemaster and Pringle teacher, and his wife, Mrs Mary-Lyn Osborne, who will be arriving at Merchiston in a few weeks’ time; also the new Gap Teaching Assistant, Mr Juan Pedro Badie, and our two new Gap Assistants, Mr Michael Leaver and Miss Megan Laing. Moreover, we have four new pupils in the School: Paul, Matthew, Zhong and Cheng. The update on Dr Stranock is that he continues to receive chemotherapy; Barbara and I visited him at the beginning of the New Year, and we felt humbled by his courage in adversity. He is keeping in very close touch with the School, and is making steady progress. We have recently received the sad news that the Rev’d Allan Macpherson has suffered two minor strokes. Thankfully, there will be no permanent damage, and we are delighted that he is recovering well at home and is in good spirits. Allan’s wife, Mary, is a nurse and he says he is having to take his medicine!

The Autumn Term’s final Assembly on Tuesday 13 December reflected on most of the achievements of the last week of term, but on the final day of term we had:

• the Scottish Schools Cup rugby match against Peebles High School, and congratulations to the Cup Squad on their victory;
• two House functions for parents of pupils in Pringle and Rogerson East, and
• the Whole School Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. Praise can, on occasion, be handed out too easily but I felt the quality of the Choir’s singing was truly outstanding.

And so to the future: many members of the Upper Sixth are sitting AS and A2 modules from today until Wednesday 31 January. During this time they will still continue to lead Houses, and to contribute to culture and sport, but these are, clearly, vital weeks for them.

I reminded the School of my six phrases: “Try your hardest; make the most of your talents; look after each other; work hard; develop hard; play hard”.

I finished my talk by inviting the School to think about the central place of the Memorial Hall in the life of Merchiston and to imagine how we are going to strive to do our best this term in all aspects of School life: the academic, sporting, cultural and how we are, as people, to each other both inside and outside the School. How are we going to recreate in the new term the spirit of success? I urged everyone to seize the term; seize each week of the term; seize each day; seize each moment of each day.

We concluded with ‘Handshaking’: the pupils shake hands with members of staff and wish each other a happy New Year and welcome back to School!

A further highlight was last night’s Drinks Party at Castle Gates for the J4 and J5 parents. Barbara and I felt it was a most convivial evening, and a wonderful start to the Lent Term’s activities.