The Cranleigh School Newsletter Issue No 46
Summer 2013
Head’s Up Dear Parents, As I highlighted on Speech Day, these are exciting times at Cranleigh. With the appointment of Martin Reader as my successor and the School’s 150th anniversary approaching, we are focusing on not only where we are now, but the future and what it is that makes Cranleigh so special. With regards to where we are now (and, given recent trends, the future), this term says it all, peppered as it has been throughout with multiple successes. With exams naturally at the forefront of everyone’s mind, the atmosphere around campus has generally been one of studious concentration: the pupils have worked hard, and I very much hope that the exam results will reflect this in August. They have also ‘played’ hard, with extraordinary team and individual successes on the sports pitches, and have complemented their academics with outstanding achievements across the Arts: a wonderful Junior Play that provided a welcome tonic of laughter and cheer; stunning Art and Design exhibitions, including Will Stocks’ Royal Academy A-Level Online Exhibition shortlisting; high-calibre entries in the annual Poetry competition, and the Music School’s diverse delights, including Harry McCagherty’s remarkable solo oboe performance and the delightful Summer Concert. With the Summer Term, of course, also comes some sadness, as we inevitably say goodbye to people: the departing UVIth, who have been such superb role models this year, and departing members of Common Room, who have given so much to make Cranleigh all that it is – including, of course, Tim McConnell-Wood. As you will see from his interview, there can be few who have loved Cranleigh more deeply. Indeed, his words singlehandedly encapsulate what it is that makes Cranleigh so special: its sense of community. And the strength of this community is something that I will cherish all the more as I head into my final year at Cranleigh.
Guy Waller Head
Cranleigh School, Cranleigh, Surrey GU6 8QQ Tel: 01483 273666
ROCK OF AGES
“What Tim doesn’t know about Cranleigh isn’t worth knowing” (Guy Waller, Speech Day 2013). As we bid a sad farewell to Tim McConnell-Wood, Assistant Deputy Head, he reflects on 19 remarkable years at the School Sum up what Cranleigh is to you. Community (I know it’s a cliché, but it really is that). A friendly society where everyone mucks in and helps each other. It’s a place where people of all ages can blossom – pupils in finding themselves and staff in enriching their lives. Cranleigh does demand hard work though....
You are a man of many Cranleigh facets… You first joined Common Room as a teacher in 1999. What is your philosophy on teaching, in a sentence? Make sure your pupils enjoy learning. I never really did at school: I wasn’t particularly engaged by the teachers. I like to think that my classes have enjoyed themselves and learnt something at the same time.
What did you do before you came to Cranleigh? I’m a Northumbrian and very proud of it! I went to University in Edinburgh and then served in the 7th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles, and worked with some extraordinary young men in the Far East, UK and Central America. Do you see any similarities between being a Cranleigh leader and an army leader?! It is pretty much the same. I am who I am and I believe strongly in personal integrity and not asking people to do what I wouldn’t do myself. Clearly there isn’t the danger one can face in the Army, which requires physical courage in leadership, but at Cranleigh there have been many times when my moral courage has been tested – and that in many ways is harder to lead with as there is more time for reflection.
What is it that attracted you to Cranleigh all those years ago? I remember the day I came for my interview. It was a bright, sunny winter’s day with the snowdrops and crocuses out. I remember driving up to Speech Hall and thinking “Wow, I could work here”. While there have been many changes since, there’s always been an underlying warmness and friendliness that seems to ooze from the fabric of the buildings and the people who live and work in them.
Cranleigh takes pride in its ability to not only enable the stronger academic candidates to perform at the top of their game, but also enable less academic pupils to achieve to levels beyond their expectations. Do you think this is a philosophy it should maintain, in the face of close rival schools only taking “the cream of the crop”? Absolutely! Otherwise that would destroy much of what Cranleigh is. I’ve enjoyed working with the top end (I’ve had a set of 11 Economists who all achieved A at A-Level), but there is as much satisfaction working with less able pupils, enthusing them with the subject and helping them achieve C grades, or coaching the U16Cs and seeing them develop as players. Variety is the spice of life and it’s great that a wide variety of people can flourish at Cranleigh. You were first a Tutor in Cubitt and then Housemaster of East for seven years. What do you think is the best aspect of pastoral life at Cranleigh? I would say this, but we have developed an incredible ethos at Cranleigh over the years. My House colleagues have worked tirelessly to develop a system that does genuinely care for the individual. I believe that the size of the Houses and the admissions structure work, such that boys and girls become friends with people they just would not fraternise with in other schools and they learn to respect each other’s differences and indeed take joy from them. Continued over.....
For full details of all School and House news, please visit the website at www.cranleigh.org
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