The Cholmeleian, Summer 2009

Head Master's introduction

One of this Head Master’s favourite tasks is choosing book prizes for those awarded commendations for their academic work; twice a term or more, pupils are invited to see me to take a book of their choosing, but, of course, I (and my secretary) have made a pre-selection: it’s important to be able to recommend a book from one’s own reading. This term, I have been promoting the work of one of my favourite authors, Rose Tremain and her novel The Road Home. In a world where there are so many alternative entertainments, it is important for pupils to know that their families and their School value reading. I hope that the Literature Issue of this magazine will help to serve that aim.

The Editor of The Cholmeleian, himself a wordsmith par excellence, reminds us that some ninety years ago, two very different literary giants met for the fi rst time at Highgate: TS Eliot joined the Junior School staff in 1915 and taught a young John Betjeman, Highgate’s second poet laureate. The first was the seventeenth century poet and translator, Nicholas Rowe. My introduction to the work of Rowe was effected by my immediate predecessor as Head Master, Richard Kennedy, whose keen acquisitive instinct enriched the School’s archive: Richard spotted a first edition of Rowe’s work which we were able to secure for posterity; other significant documents, including an early poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, written while he was a schoolboy, also owe their place in the archive to Richard. In the Lent Term, current pupils took time off from their routine homework to pen (or type!) science fiction stories as part of the School’s annual Science Week; masterminded by Dr Julie Welch, the week’s activities saw fascinating examples of collaboration across academic disciplines and across the Foundation. Mrs Hyam of the English Department argued in her seminar, The Romantic Imagination versus Science, that the eighteenth century did not see a divide between the scientific and literary worlds, a belief which underpins Highgate’s innovative Knowledge Curriculum, which you can read about on page 18 of this issue.

The transformation of Junior Field into an all-weather pitch is almost complete and makes for striking viewing: it will be a fantastic facility for both girls’ and boys’ sport across the Foundation and throughout the year, come rain or sun. The earthworks took some of the 700 or so OCs, who returned to Highgate for Theodore Mallinson’s memorial service, by surprise, as did the re-ordering of classrooms and corridors which has taken place over the years in the Senior School. Pupil guides enjoyed these trips down memory lane as they proudly showed off their School to their predecessors: a happy encounter between Highgate past and present. The immediate future seems secure as record numbers of pupils applied for places at all levels in the school, but no school can take anything for granted and we are extremely grateful to the generous support of The Friends of Highgate School who continue to offer assistance to families in troubled times. Theodore Mallinson would have been delighted that his legacy lives on in this way.

Adam Pettitt

To read the Summer 2009 edition of The Cholmeleian, download a PDF copy.

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