N E W S L E T T E R - Radley College

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The Next Genera When asked about Radley’s strengths, parents and boys will overwhelmingly point to the quality of Common Room, the dons’ outstanding teaching and coaching, and the warmth and support by which boys are sustained. So, making appointments which maintain those standards is of central importance to the school. Every few years, as a generation of experienced schoolmasters retires, the task of recruiting a phalanx of new young dons becomes crucial. Over the last two years this has happened at Radley, but we have been exceptionally fortunate in the ten or so young teachers we have appointed. All are academically able and highly qualified, with most being Oxbridge graduates, several with Masters and PhDs, experienced in teaching undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge. Several played for their universities, with a rugby blue, university lightweights and divisional rugby representation among them. Several were choral scholars, several professional actors, and a couple were experienced in banking and intergovernmental organisations. A couple had taught before, or had done PGCE teaching practice in other schools. Most had grown up with boarding, and all seemingly instinctively understood the demands of a seven day week boarding environment. Readers of the national press know how difficult it is to appoint teachers of real academic quality to schools, but it is perhaps because schools like Radley still demand much of their pupils, still believe in learning for its own sake, and still encourage the pursuit of academic enthusiasm as important in its own right, that talented young people want to go back into our schools. Similar things strike these ‘new boys’ about their first few terms at Radley. Tony Jackson, historian and rugby blue loves the ‘total’ curriculum that can only be gained through a boarding education, where you can build and develop relationships through seeing boys in different areas. He is struck forcibly by the quality of Common Room, ‘where everyone is welcoming and a communal ambience is created’. ‘Support is always available’. Above all, ‘you cannot go further than mentioning the boys – to have the chance to work every day in the classroom, on the sports’ field or in the boarding house with young men so keen to learn, who want to do well and yet are ready to have a laugh, is an absolute pleasure’. Ed Tolputt, Cambridge physicist, choral scholar and formerly professional actor also enthuses about the boys; ‘when I have taken guests into the school the polite friendliness of the boys around and about made me glowingly proud’. For Tim Lawson, politics teacher, Loughborough trained rugby and cricket coach, ‘the respect between staff and boys – I simply could not believe how polite the boys are at all times’ – explains the ‘whole atmosphere of Radley’. Gareth Hughes, geographer, Cambridge doctorate, a Welsh rugby player, rower and runner, talked of the ‘incredibly high academic pedigree of Common Room’, and yet of Radley’s encouragement to dons to pursue non-academic interests and hobbies to help them be roundEd He points out the centrality of the department in providing the early support network and 8 THE RADLEIAN RADLEY NEWSLETTER
tion how senior dons (like outgoing Head of Geography John Harris) provide superb mentoring in those first terms. He was also struck by the ‘formidable breadth and depth of musical, academic and sporting talent in the boys’. His only caveat; he worried that so excellent was the academic provision that some boys could avoid developing that necessary self-reliance. For many, the boarding experience is a vital part of their Radley life. Charlie Scott-Malden, English and Learning Support, Cambridge graduate, Hockey and Cricket coach, commented on the pleasure of ‘playing an active part in the new, happy and thriving J Social’. Ed Tolputt, again, mentioned that being associated with F Social, as one of the sub-tutorial team, provides opportunity for non-teaching, Radley-style support. Dan Palmer, physicist, Oxford graduate, a formidable rugby prop, has previously taught in a state boarding school, and has loved the intellectual stimulus, in particular the Oxbridge sessions. Beyond the department he is struck by ‘the fantastic standard of Common Room’; ‘it is refreshing and interesting to be able to talk at lunch about your subject (or listen to another don who is passionate about his or hers)’. His only concern is that the sheer amount on at Radley can ‘eat into boys’ teaching time’. It is a balance a busy school constantly needs to review. It is gratifying that several new young dons were educated at Radley. Oli Langton, Edinburgh historian and cricketer, and Ed Holt, Oxford classicist, have both returned to their alma mater. They know both the expectations, and the form. Ed Holt, for example, says that ‘it has struck me afresh how much each individual don contributes, and the breadth of skills in Common Room’. It is this talented cohort which will provide the next generation of tutors and heads of department; indeed, the process has started with Gareth Hughes’ appointment after his first year to be Head of Geography in September 2010. If Radley’s past is a guide, some will stay on and become senior masters or sub warden; and some will go off to be heads at top schools in the future. But for now, we feel the future at Radley is all the brighter for their being part of it. THE RADLEIAN NEWSLETTER 9 THE RADLEY NEWSLETTER 9
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N E W S L E T T E R - Radley College

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