Christmas Carol

Here we are at last - the end of term. For most teachers, it comes as a surprise; a strange thing to say, but as I have remarked before, the principal characteristic of ends of term is the imminence of the deadline, the compulsive need to have the desks cleared, the books marked, the marks entered, the reports written, the meetings held, the emails sent. Much of this frenzy is, needless to say, unnecessary. This is never more in evidence than now, at the approach to Christmas. By the time we arrive at the end of this term, there is very little which can't wait until the New Year.

Equally characteristic, at least for the teaching staff, of the end of term is a feeling of exhaustion. I certainly feel it, but I don't know if it is indeed really exhaustion or merely a kind of subconscious reflex, a state of mind occasioned by the imminent release of tension. In other words, I doubt whether I would feel exhausted now if we had another month to go before the holiday. Still, that sense of ease as I wake up on the first day of the holiday is all the sweeter, simply by way of contrast with what has preceded it.

The approach to Christmas in a School is signposted by events: reports, play, this year - and I think possibly for some years to come - the talent show, the CCF reception; there are two events which may appropriately  be called major, however: the publication of The Gryphon and the carol services.

School magazines are, at one and the same time,both the best read and the least read of magazines. The best read in that anyone who has written an article or who is mentioned in one, will turn to that particular page and read it obsessively; the least read in that this may be all that is read. A pity, because there is much that is worth taking the time to read, among which I would recommend particularly Adam Barr's superb imaginative response to Animal Farm. It's also a journal of record, to which future historians will turn as their first resource, a statement of who we are at any particular time. Robert Stevenson's task as editor every year is herculean and he continues to perform it with unquenchable enthusiasm and eye for detail. For a number of years now, it has been supplemented by the BGS News, sent out to parents at the end of the Christmas and Summer terms. This was designed to replace the possibly unreadable, certainly much unread, Headmaster's letter and it provides a jazzy snapshot of the extraordinary richness of our life
The culmination of the term comes with our carol services. They take place in our sports hall and at those words, the heart of anyone who has never attended one of these glorious events will certainly sink. Never could there be a more drearily functional space than a sports hall, but by some mysterious alchemy, it is transformed into a, if not exactly cosy, certainly seasonal environment with carpet, swags and Christmas tress. If there were an event which, in terms of school life, we might call 'iconic' ( a word whose meaning I find hard to grasp), it is this, in that it points to something deeply representative of the kind of school we are. It is loud, joyous, exciting, emotional and uplifting; much of this derives from the nature of the season itself, but the rest is the purest BGS. The collective affection and sense of community lifts us out of the functionality of the place to somewhere else. Part performance, part spiritual experience, it brings together more elements of the School as an entity than any other: boys, staff, parents, governors, old boys, friends, they're all there and on Monday night last, the Hall was packed to the gunwales, everyone together making a joyful noise.

And what noise! I'll pick out two parts which moved me: the first was Jonathan Rea's arrangement of Joy to the World (Jonathan , although on career break, remained much in evidence through his arrangements) which lifts its listeners, and I mean exactly that; the power of the orchestration had me on tiptoe through the energy of the music and that energy was indeed the energy of joy. Then, in contrast, there was Adam Bradley's solo performance of Graham Kendrick's Candle Song, threading his way delicately through its strangely melancholy chiaroscuro. The contrast in these pieces alone might give you a sense of the occasion and explain why it means so much to so many of us; it explains why twenty or thirty old boys come back every year to sing in the choir or to play in the band. It is performance, yes, but through the perfomance, through the sense of 'together', at its very heart, is the quiet simplicity of the incarnation. It's a simulacrum of Christmas itself: frenzy around a core of stillness, the enormity and the noise of the universe around a stable and a baby. A loud expression of the ultimately inexpressible.

Claire Buchanan, our acting Director of Music, and Andrew Thompson, made it all happen. Thank you.

To all who, by accident or design, stumble upon this blog , I wish a blessed and peaceful Christmas. As for the New Year? Well, we'll just have to wait and see...

New Staff

September is, I think, my favourite time of the school year. We are all at our freshest and most enthusiastic as we meet new pupils, new teachers and sometimes new subjects. It is my eleventh year as Head and the thirty seventh of my career and as I write these numbers, I can scarcely believe them. The ten years I have been in post in BGS have been the fastest of my life and the most fulfilling of my career. I remember vividly my first day as a paid teacher and most particularly that sinking sense as I realised how consistently early I was going to have to get up in the morning. I am no slouch now; it gets easier as I get older, but I cannot match the self-discipline of some colleagues, one in particular, who come in to School well before 7.00am, even in the darkest depths of the winter.
So now is a singularly appropriate time to introduce our new staff. They are formidably gifted and among the most talented intakes I have met, of course in their pedagogic skills, but also, and in some ways more importantly, in their enthusiasm, attitudes, values and generally humane qualities which are what in the end truly define the great, the memorable, the influential  and inspirational teachers. So, in scrupulously alphabetical order, let me present our new colleagues.
David Creighton has been appointed for one year to the PE and Geography departments. An old boy of Campbell College, David comes from a distinguished teaching family and is a graduate of the University of Ulster in Sports Studies. He has wide experience of working in schools as a classroom assistant and as a highly regarded rugby coach. David began his time with us during the summer holiday when he accompanied one of the Scripture Union house parties to Moffat in Scotland.

Rachel Douglas has been appointed for a year to the Modern Languages Department to teach French and Spanish, covering for Schanelle Chapman, who is on a career break. A former pupil of Sullivan, she is a graduate of QUB and has extensive experience having taught in the Royal School, Dungannon, and in Our Lady and St Patrick’s College. Among her many accomplishments is music: she has a grade 7 in piano and a diploma in flute and I suspect she may play an important part in our musical life.

Janet Gray joins the RE department to cover Sarah Crawford’s maternity leave. A former pupil of Grosvenor Grammar School, and another new member of staff with teaching in her DNA, she graduated in Theology and Religious Studies from Glasgow University. After a PGCE at Strathclyde, her probationary year within the Scottish system was spent in Woodfarm High School. Returning home, she taught in Bloomfield and Strathearn. Let us hope that she will not find it too much of a gender culture shock adjusting to the all-boys classroom. She too started her BGS career at Moffat during the summer.

Another graduate of Glasgow University, also trained in Strathclyde, joins the English department in a permanent capacity. Hamish Matheson was educated at  the John the Baptist School, Woking, and taught for two years at the Oasis Academy School in Coulsdon, part of Greater London. There he was the co-ordinator of the Gifted and Talented programme, experience we shall, no doubt, be able to draw on. Apart from his enthusiasm for rugby, Hamish plays the bagpipes, which suggests that his contribution to our extra-curricular life may be wide and varied!

Katy Megaw joins the Modern Languages department for a year to teach French and Spanish in pace of Mary Sheeran, who, when her maternity leave is finished, will be joining the staff of BRA. Like Rachel, Katy is an old girl of Sullivan, a tribute to the quality of languages teaching there, and a graduate of QUB where she also did her PGCE. She has had much experience with young people, having worked with street children in South America, as a boarding mistress in Methody and as a youth fellowship leader. She comes to us with a wide range of interests, including sport, especially hockey, the Scripture Union and community action.

The already extensive Robinson franchise on the staff is extended by one in the person of another Stephen Robinson, who, somewhat confusingly, joins the first, and we thought unique, Stephen Robinson in the Maths department to cover Claire McGilton’s part of the job share with Sally Forbes. Stephen is a Grammarian and the third of our new staff with teaching as their birthright! He graduated from, and did his PGCE in, QUB. He will be able, in his short time with us, to contribute to the work of the Hockey Club.

Claire Taylor has been appointed permanently to the Geography department, replacing Jeff Shields, who has decided to make his home in New Zealand. A former pupil of Wellington College, Claire had a glittering academic career in QUB. With a PGCE from Ulster, she has had wide teaching experience in Sullivan Upper and Bangor Academy. She is a qualified hockey coach and is working towards her hill walking qualifications, which suggests that she may well have a part to play in our outdoor pursuits programme by way of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme or World Challenge.

While Jonathan Rea pursues his extensive musical interests on a career break, his capacious space on the conductor’s podium is filled by Andrew Thompson. Andrew is an Instonian and his first degree was in mathematics. Subsequently graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music, his musical abilities are impressive, with expertise and qualifications in piano, saxophone and clarinet. He has taught in London and in the City of Belfast School of Music and has performed in a wide variety of ensembles and orchestras, not least the New Irish, in which Jonathan has a large interest.
I welcome them on behalf of the School as a whole, colleagues, boys, parents and governors, and wish them success, fulfilment and happiness during their time with us.