After 12 years at College, Headmaster Simon Leese is leaving to take up the position as Principal of the Prince of Wales Island International School in Penang. The new co-educational private school has both boarders and day students and the projected roll is around 800.
thought to lack gravitas. Perhaps translation into Latin or Maori would have diverted attention. But ‘Have Fun’ lived to tell the tale (largely, I suspect, because a substantial donation came with it). So it should. If boys do not enjoy their school, nothing will ever be what it could be. If the Headmaster isn’t enjoying himself, there is precious little prospect anyone else will. When I came here, I was promoted from Regimental Sergeant Major and made Commanding Officer; no commission examinations, intermediate promotions and ‘relevant’ experience in between. It meant I went from daily dealing one-to-one with innumerable senior boys, to watching others do it. It wasn’t always a pretty sight. I was somewhat taken aback by the profile of ‘discipline’ – so many sanctions and controls. I heard the word ‘suspension’ more in the first six months than
A reflection on my 12 years at College
It has been estimated for me that I have written about 300,000 words in speeches and sermons, not to mention newsletters, since arriving at College. Then there are the hundreds of other addresses and talks that do not have a recorded ‘script’. What can be left to say? I have been asked to reflect on 12 years at College for this, my last College edition. It might be an opportunity for earnest reflection, for heartfelt sincerity, for stirring recollections and for rousing encouragement for the future. Somewhat predictable. When I first arrived I was told the story of controversy about the Carver family window in the Old Boys’ Theatre; their chosen simple inscription was to be ‘Have Fun’ and by all accounts it was
in my whole career to that point. Where are we now? The place is running amok, as anyone can see. I had just come from the end of a year in England, and my departure after 22 years left a lasting bond with the generation who left with me. Just a term later, another end-of-year with boys I had barely known. I was amazed how emotionally involved I was. That was the College; frustrating, surprising, but so deeply involving. I should have had a dollar for everyone in those early days who asked me how Kiwi boys compared with English. I had a standard reply: ‘better looking and more intelligent’. In some cases it was true. Young men cover a
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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