The Cholmeleian, Winter 2010

Head Master's Introduction

Few are the school governors or head masters whose ‘to do’ lists do not feature buildings. Highgate is no exception and its complex site – a series of inter-connecting corridors which take its travellers on a fascinating journey from the mid-Victorian era to (we hope) the second decade of the twenty-first century – has done much to tax the creative ingenuity of architects and the financial acumen of bursars. Good design, be it that of the engineer, the architect or the tailor, sits on the junction of the practical with the aesthetic and I welcome this edition of The Cholmeleian’s celebration of design and architecture.

In his introduction to an essay on England’s schools, History, Architecture and Adaptation (published by English Heritage), Tim Brennan quotes an exchange between Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson as they look out across Clapham Junction:

‘Look at those big, isolated clumps of buildings rising up above the slates, like brick islands in a lead-coloured sea.’

‘The board-schools.’

‘Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules with hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring the wiser, better England of the future.’

Denizens of North London have always known the aesthetic advantages of living to the north, rather than to the south, of the river, but these optimistic words could equally apply to Sir Roger Cholmeley’s school. And what of our own ‘bright little seeds’?

I am glad to say that August brought good news for school and pupils alike: the Class of 2010 secured record results, including 25% of all grades at A*. Inevitably, such success brought brick-bats, too: many in the press took these statistics as further proof that independent (or ‘private’) schools bestow an unfair advantage on their privileged pupils. Schools like Highgate must trumpet the fact that their pupils succeed not because of the inside knowledge of exam systems or because of cramming or because of buildings, but because we believe in selecting by ability, because we don’t fight shy of educating an academic elite, and because we seek to share the best of what we do with our partner schools.

Well over two hundred pupils from more than nineteen local primary and secondary schools participated in our 2010 season of summer schools. The Mathematics Department is leading initiatives in Haringey to develop good teaching of maths and further maths across the borough; the English and Modern Languages Departments are leading a scheme to raise the aspirations and literacy of youngsters from Brent, using pupils as mentors. Highgate is determined to be just one seeded capsule ‘out of which will spring the wiser, better England of the future!’

Adam Pettitt

To read the Winter 2010 issue of The Cholmeleian, download a PDF copy.

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