A welcome from the OSA President Welcome to this, the first edition of our bright, colourful new magazine, ‘True Blue,’ and my thanks to Lindsay Lucas and Sam Howells, who have laboured hard to bring the publication into being. It is my hope that, as well as an update on developments at the school here in Harborne, it will contain news of the Blue Coat community, spread far and wide across the world. We are two terms through the academic year 2013-14 and I am pleased to report that our Year 6 pupils have again done themselves great credit in their 11+ exams, that the Blue Coat Boy and Girl above the Viney Building entrance have been given a new lease of life, that plans are in hand for a major renovation of the School Hall and that we are steadily remodelling our curriculum to meet the changing needs of our 21st-century learners. For, although we shall certainly hold on to the Blue Coat legacy bequeathed to us, we shall do well to remember the words of the eminent Ghanaian statesman Kwame Nkrumah: “Forward ever, backward never.” Do join us on the journey! Alan Browning Current Headmaster
A letter from the OSA Vice-President Three people we remember It is with great sadness that I write to you this year, following the deaths of three, former Blue Coat School members of staff. There is space here only to write a little about each of them, but more detail will be added to the website. In June 2013, Reverend John Jenkins, our School Chaplain from 1991 to 2004, died suddenly at his home in Swansea, South Wales. His funeral took place there soon afterwards and, most recently, on Saturday 8th March 2014, a well-attended memorial service was held for him in the School Chapel. One of our former Head Boys and current Committee member, Sam Howells, has now written about John for this publication. Then, in July 2013, our former School Matron, Mrs Mary Horton, passed away in a care home to which she had just been moved from the City Hospital, Birmingham. Those who knew Mrs Horton in the years following her appointment in 1986 will have known her as the most caring of matrons, yet forthright and always working to improve the medical and bedroom facilities. She never lost sight of the fact that the key feature of her job was to care for the School’s children, especially the boarders who were away from home. When they needed sound advice, she gave it to them. When they needed a hug, she gave that too. What is probably less well-known is that she had once been a Blue Coat pupil herself,
coming in to the care of the School after her father had been killed in World War II. She therefore knew the School from the inside, long before she was appointed to office. She knew all about the incendiary bombs that fell in the school grounds and about the air raid shelters – again from the inside! In 1999, almost on the eve of her retirement, Mary suffered a massive stroke which damaged her in many ways.
Subsequent stays and surgery in hospital became a frequent part of her life. Among other things, she was left with limited vision and the inability to close her eyelids, yet there was hardly a hint of self-pity and she never gave in. Mary, we can learn so many things from you, not least your courage and your fortitude, and we thank you for all you gave in the service of The Blue Coat School. Finally, to those who remember our former Deputy Head, Victor Still, I must convey the news of his death on 17th February,
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2014, in the Manor Hospital, Walsall, where he had attended as an inpatient on several occasions. We extend to his widow, Sheila, and to his two sons, Geoff and Michael, our sincere condolences on their sad loss. Mr and Mrs Still came to The Blue Coat School in 1960 when Victor was appointed as Housemaster of St Martin’s, where he remained in charge until Sheila was asked to become Housemistress of St Monica’s. On becoming Deputy Head, he continued to teach Science, coach sport and edit ‘The Blue Cloak,’ the school magazine. He will probably best be remembered for his excellent annual drama productions, as co-producer with Miss Helen Ison and ably assisted by Mrs Still, in charge of costumes. Mr and Mrs Still retired from the school in July 1985 and moved to Shobdon in Herefordshire, from where they cycled thousands of miles and where the local airport enabled Victor to use his pilot’s licence on a regular basis until 2004, aged 80, when medical restraints curtailed his great passion. We owe enormous gratitude to him. These three Blue Coat people have gone from us but their influence we will never forget. They carried the torch bravely and well – and now they have handed it to us.
‘We have so many memories Of those who’ve passed away; Time now for all of us to give OUR influence, day by day.’ Together we go forward into another year as Old Scholars and into the next phase of our lives. Brian Bissell Headmaster 1979-1998