14
The School Today
Rector’s Reflection
For me teaching is not just a job. It is a profession, and I like to think a highly skilled one. More than that, though, it is a vocation – and not one for clockwatchers! The opportunity to nurture, encourage and challenge young people is immensely rewarding. Hard work yes, but in the time-honoured phrase, the more you put in the more you get out of it. We must never forget that as teachers. I always try to remember that great teachers are able through a single comment, expression, tone of voice, to inspire and enthuse. At the same time, I try not to forget that the opposite is also true! Great teachers, and I have known many over the last 30 years, never stop learning, from each other, from external influences and not least, from the pupils. As Rector, the rewards are double as in addition to encouraging pupils to do their best, my other key role has been developing staff. Appointing a new colleague who you help develop into a dynamic professional or one who then moves into middle or senior management is immensely satisfying. But now after 11½ years as Rector of the High School and 22 years as a Head in three very different schools, I am now having to look Father Time in the face and step back from my role. What on earth will I do on 6 January 2020?! It has been a huge privilege to lead this fine school, one of the oldest in the UK, and one whose influence has been felt across the nation, as well as in Dundee and Tayside, since 1239. There have been many highlights during my time, evolving outwards from
the three ‘pillars’ of our Integrated Curriculum: the Academic, the Co-curricular and the Pastoral. Since I joined the School in August 2008 approximately 2,500 pupils have passed through the School. They have sat a total of 18,888 SQA exams! HSD Pupils have achieved the SQA Star Award for the best exam performance in the whole country on two separate occasions – how many other schools have done something similar? Our rugby teams contested Scottish Schools Rugby Cup Finals at Murrayfield twice. In Debating, six pupils represented the Scotland debating team at the World Schools Debating Championships, a record second to none in that time. The Brown Cup for Scottish Schools Sailing has been won twice in successive years. In that time approximately £380,000 has been raised for local, national and global charities. I will never forget the Red Nose Days, the Whole School Walk up the Law to mark the centenary of the outbreak of WW1, the Party on the Pillars, the visit by Princess Anne in 2009 to mark the 150th anniversary of the Royal Charter, to name but a few of the highlights. Above all, I remember the countless acts of kindness, initiative and good humour from pupils and colleagues. Facilities do not make a school but they help, and they are also a reflection of the priorities. The overdue hockey astro pitches at Dalnacraig have been a godsend. That we have been able to field a 4th Senior XI this year is remarkable testament to the staff and resources in PE. The ambitious and exciting Meadowside Arts Centre project in Dundee’s former Head Post Office Building remains firmly on the agenda as Creativity remains at the heart of the school. The musical and dramatic productions this past year have been as exceptional as ever. The L1-3 Nativity, the Junior show Aladdin, and the senior play Lord of the Flies live in the memory, as do the extraordinary musical evenings – the
