which were meant to show the stage design, the entrances and exits of this bold, but never-to-be seen production. For those with leftist political sympathies – and I would argue that Harry is certainly one of those – teaching in an independent school can be – how shall I say? – an interesting experience. But it seems to me that Harry has shown us, exclusive though we are in some respects, how we can also be liberal and open; he has demonstrated that more egalitarian instincts can and should be cele- brated. He has handled these political paradoxes, I would argue, with no little panache. He leaves us to move to the south-west, the region where he grew up, and to start a new career as Head of Classics and Cultures and Communications Team Leader at Exeter School, where he will head the English and Modern Languages departments as well as Classics. It should be obvious from some of the remarks above how appropriate this move seems. An attention to literary genre has been an abiding interest of literary critics of (especially) Latin poetry. The Valete is a very peculiar genre, and one in which it is difficult to do justice to someone of such intellectual distinction and personal kindness as Harry. Nevertheless, virum cano. We offer our best wishes to Harry, to his partner, Charley, and to their children, Jim and Zeph. ◉
ly efficient and good fun, Harry was always judicious in his choice of the necessarily limited number of sites that could be seen. Once he became Head of Classics in 2017, Harry took seriously the defence of a subject under threat. One way he did this was to spend a lot of time and give a lot of thought to helping the training of new teachers of Clas- sics: several PGCE students who have spent time at the College owe a lot to Harry. Harry was also able to turn more of his attention to some of his other concerns. Broadly, these were the appropriateness and effective- ness of our teaching materials, especially lower down the school, as well as the possibilities of extending our provi- sion to students in schools with more limited access to the study of the classical world. So, in-house materials have been redesigned and rewritten, and the department has moved to use a text book for the study of beginners’ Latin that is more alert to current cultural and political sensitiv- ities. The Classics seminar, originally aimed at Oxbridge candidates, has been opened up to any student with an eager interest in the Classics, including to students from both Kingsdale and JAGS. And, very much Harry’s initia- tive, this, students from St Thomas the Apostle College in Nunhead have been welcomed to a weekly seminar on a wide variety of classical topics. All of the above seems rather serious and high-brow, but Harry’s support for, and involvement in, the honestly inept but strangely heartwarming Classics cricket match was genuine. And I have a fond nostalgia for our ambi- tious plans to perform Sophocles’ Ajax in the Old Library. Somewhere there exists a diagram of indecipherable but excited swirls, results of lively and enjoyable discussion,
223
VALETE
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker