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10 the association from holidaymaker Nina Goswami learns of a remarkable life taking in Sandhurst, ‘always been a tropical vein running through my life’ “Think of it as a free holiday.” That was how Dr Leslie Fox persuaded his wife, Ivi, to let him look into the possibility of becoming the headmaster of The Assam Valley School. It was the late 1990s and Dr Fox had spent five years as the deputy headmaster of Yarm School, in the northeast of England. He was in the mood for having his own headship. “I’d applied for a copy of the Assam Valley School’s prospectus and the next thing I knew I received a telephone call inviting me to visit the school in Assam,” explains Dr Fox. “I was told that they would fly my wife and me out to Assam – Club Class – and that there was no obligation to take up the job.” Having persuaded Ivi to take up the “free holiday”, the couple headed for The Assam Valley School. “There was no doubt about it, as soon as we saw the place we had a feeling of excitement,” says Dr Fox. “My wife sought assurances from the tea company - Williamson Magor – that ran the school about the kidnap risk in Assam that she’d heard about. And, once she was reassured, she turned to me and said ‘We can go if we can take our two cats’.” Despite starting his working life as an officer in British Army’s Royal Corps of Signals, Dr Fox jokingly says that their move to India was “one of the most difficult things he’d ever faced.” Travelling to their new home in Assam, the couple stopped over at a guesthouse in Kolkata, where the challenges began – partly because of their cats. “You can imagine, after travelling from England, we were exhausted and it was steaming hot,” says Dr Fox. “So trying to communicate to the guesthouse staff that we needed an equivalent of a cat litter tray for our two middle-aged cats became quite a challenge. “Then one of cats managed to get stuck behind a massive mahogany wardrobe that weighed at least two tonnes. We were not best pleased.” But that was not the end of their first day in India. Dr Fox had agreed to test out a new satellite phone for one of his former military colleagues. “Within hours of testing the phone out our guesthouse was surrounded by police,” Dr Fox says. “So all the incidents that had happened in 24 hours meant that we were almost in tears even before reaching Assam!” The pair did, however, make it to Assam and the new school that would become their home for the next four years. The Assam Valley School opened in 1995 - four years before Dr Fox became the headmaster - which meant the father-of-one had the opportunity to build on the foundations of North East India’s most prestigious co-educational boarding school. And for Dr Fox that meant “A School for Adventure”. During his tenure the number of pupils increased from 450 to 680, with children between the ages of nine and 12-years-old. “In addition to increasing the size of the school in terms of both pupil numbers and infrastructure, I derive particular satisfaction from having introduced Craft, Design & Technology as a curriculum subject,” says Dr Fox. His other achievements included introducing music and drama examinations. With the assistance of his wife, Dr Fox also introduced a Western choir and orchestra. Then, in 2001, Dr Fox led a group of 35 students and staff on a tour of UK schools and colleges to give performances of traditional dance and music from northeast India. This headteacher’s main
the association 11 to headteacher Northern Ireland, Cyprus and ‘A School for Adventure’ in Assam passion has always been adventure. Until recently, Dr Fox was involved in marathon canoeing but says that, with increasing age, he changed his focus to become a qualified archery coach, a sport now enjoyed at The Assam Valley School. In the early nineties, while he was a Housemaster at Trent College in Nottingham, he spearheaded a school mountaineering expedition to the Altai Region of the former Soviet Union. This passion for the outdoors brought benefits for the education programme at The Assam Valley School. One initiative was introducing The International Award for Young People India, a programme equivalent to The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, for youngsters to experience new activities, develop skills and interests. Now 64, Dr Fox says his love of adventure and the outdoors must come from his upbringing. “I came from an Army family and six months after being born was on a troopship,” he explains. “For me there has always been a tropical vein running through my life.” Dr Fox knew of Assam before taking up the headship as his father had served in Burma and Kohima during WW2. In fact, his father had spent much of his childhood in India as his own father had served with the British Army in Risulpur and elsewhere. Dr Fox followed his father into the British Army. He says: “At the time I had no other idea than following in the family footsteps and going into the Army.” After passing out from Sandhurst in 1969, Dr Fox moved up the ranks of the British Army before retiring a decade later. During this time he gained a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Royal Military College of Science. “When I got the posting to do an engineering degree, I was reluctant to do it but then discovered a love for learning,” he explains. “Now, with hindsight, I see that it was a turning point for me.” After his degree, Dr Fox was posted to Londonderry in the mid-seventies, when The Troubles in Northern Ireland were at their height. This was to be his last army posting. “I came to a crossroads having become Captain and Adjutant of The King’s Regiment,” says Dr Fox. “If I stayed I could see that ‘four years at The Assam Valley School were amazing’ being it for me until I was 60. So it seemed sensible to go to Cyprus, where my wife and I had roots.” Thanks to his Engineering Degree, he was able to take up a position as Maths teacher at an international school in Cyprus – and therefore start a second career in education. It would be two decades later that Dr Fox became the Headmaster at The Assam Valley School. “The four years at The Assam Valley School were amazing but it was a tough assignment,” says Dr Fox. “I like to think that if you drop me anywhere – Mars even – I would be able to cope; and I did but it was draining. “I was 55 and found myself at the crossroads again,” he explained. “We had great friends in Assam, but despite this we would sometimes feel isolated and miss home. “So for my wife and I, it felt like the right time to return to the UK.” Dr Fox is now retired from full-time teaching, having recently completed an assignment as Headteacher of Moordale Academy in Middlesbrough – his third headship. It would not have been possible without his wife agreeing to go on that “free holiday” to Assam.
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