Interviewing a teaching candidate last week, I was struck by what they said in response to the question about why they wanted to work at Wellington. As well as all the usual stuff – superb results, great reputation, amazing campus, focus on the whole child etc – they concluded with the following line, “But what I am really looking for in my next school is a genuine community, a place where I will belong”. They reflected that the highly selective and successful day school at which they currently work is great in many respects, but that there simply isn’t a sense of togetherness, belonging or community within the staff body. I remember thinking, “How sad!”.
In some regards, we have an unfair head-start at Wellington. Firstly, we are predominantly a boarding school and even our day pupils can stay until 9pm or 10pm if they so wish. Secondly, the majority of our teaching staff live on site and therefore we are able to provide a ready-made community to those who buy into the unique way of life which being a teacher at the College undoubtedly is. Thirdly, we have the advantage of size, which means that most pupils and staff here in Crowthorne are able to find others who have similar interests and proclivities.
In addition, the very structure of our school into 17, soon to be 18 Houses embeds a deep sense of belonging and community at the heart of our day-to-day existence. How many times have I said at various Open Houses Days that there is a best House at Wellington – the one to which each Wellingtonian belongs! I remember speaking with the Combermere Upper Sixth back in 2021 about whether the pandemic and two bouts of online schooling would change our educational landscape in the future. More online lessons? Fewer bricks and mortar schools? Less face-to-face interactions? Their response was a resounding “No way!” and their reasoning was simple. One of the greatest joys of attending school in person, they argued, is that this face-to-face educational experience gives young people all the associated benefits of meaningful human interaction: the ups and downs of friendship; the development of traits such as tolerance, appreciation of difference, and forgiveness; and, arguably, the most important lesson of them all – learning what it means to be human and humane.
Being active and productive members of our communities is also vital to our sense of wellbeing, it can be a key part of our very identity and also has the ability to bring us so much happiness, particularly at times of the year as this, where custom and tradition bind us to those who have gone before us and those who are still to come. Carol services, dance shows and gala concerts are all products of a happy, vibrant and strong community; and none of us would want Wellington to be without them.
But this can be equally true of more solemn and sombre occasions such as November’s Remembrance Week. Communities provide solace, comfort, strength and a place to reflect at times of great sadness. The way in which the Wellington and Raglan communities have rallied round, responded and delivered unconditional support to each other over the past week, in the most tragic of circumstances, has once again brought into sharp relief how privileged and fortunate I am to serve this College as Master. Communities give us the space and time to come together, to grieve with one another, to ask and explore fundamental questions of how we can respond well to great wrongs within the human condition, and all within an environment which is characterised by safety, sympathy and sensitivity.
So as we head back to our other communities in the days ahead; to our families and friends, to our local communities where we will be spending Christmas and New Year, I do hope that you will join me in finding some time to reflect with gratitude upon the various communities which matter so much and make up such an important part of your lives, particularly at this time of joy and thanksgiving. And I look forward to seeing you all again in 2024 when we get to do this all again!