Old Barnardians Newsletter President: Alan Stevens, Vice Presidents: Kenneth King and Alan Wilkinson.
January 2011
Dear Old Barnardian It is a pleasure to write to you as the President of the Old Barnardians and the Headmaster of this fine School. Twelve years after the foundation of the School, the Old Barnardians’ Club was formed in Newcastle on a chilly November evening in 1895. One of my predecessors and the first Headmaster, Rev.F.L.Brereton, became the founding president and the original “History of Barnard Castle School” in 1933 notes that he did all within his power to further the interests of the club and to give Old Boys a hearty welcome when visiting the School. It is my intention to follow Brereton’s good example and do all that I can to ensure that the OBs of today – Old Girls and Old Boys, of course - can maintain links with each other and the School, wherever they may be. Barney remains a spirited, happy and successful School which punches above its weight in terms of its academic results and its sporting achievements. There is a pervasive sense of good fun that is shared by everyone in our community when we join together at a match, a concert, a play or a Chapel Service. It is important to me and to all current Barnardians that you should know that you remain part of that community and your membership of it has not been diluted since you took off your School uniform for the last time. Barney also steals into your heart and – moreso than in any place I have experienced – those who have a link to the School seem to share a passion for it. To me, of course, this is most noticeable among the current young Barnardians. They know their School, warts and all, but they are proud of it and I in turn am proud of them for their loyalty. Last week when I asked a boy from eastern Europe if he was settling in, he beamed at me and said “this has become my new home.” With email, Skype and the magic of the latest generation of mobile phones, the world seems to have shrunk. Yet, to many Sixth Formers, their years in Barney have been like living in a rarefied Never, Never Land; allowing children to grow up at their own pace remains a strength of the School. However, an important element of the Sixth Form years must be to develop a level of knowledge of the world which will equip our senior boys and girls to embrace it productively and confidently when they leave us. To that end they and I would be most grateful if OBs would volunteer to come back to School to speak to the Sixth Form about their experiences. The Sixth Form Academic Forum eagerly awaits the chance to host OB speakers at lunch and then introduce them to their peers for a brief talk followed by discussions. Such sessions could focus on OB experiences of business, finance, academia, the armed forces, sport, medicine, politics – wherever your field or your passion lies. If you would like to help us with this project, please do contact my secretary, Judith Ridley, at the School. Regardless of the reason for your visit, I look forward to welcoming many more of you back to School in the coming months. Yours aye
Alan Stevens www.barnardcastleschool.org.uk
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