Valete
The Reptonian 2014/2015
JHB Repton. Typically selflessly, he thus gave up the post in July 2011 and threw himself back into Repton, and more especially Garden, life. At the start of 2012, he was asked to teach ICT to A- and B-Block and piloted the ECDL course.
In addition to coping with the huge daily demands of the House, JPM has also pursued her love of languages through her teaching of German and French in the classroom. Whilst French has just been to junior year groups, German has been across the school. No one in her classes can ever be in any doubt as to her passion and enthusiasm for her subjects, an enthusiasm which year on year has led to higher than average numbers continuing with German at GCSE and A Level, and excellent results in public examinations, and has also helped weaker candidates find their way through to a decent final grade that might easily otherwise have been beyond them. Outside the classroom, JPM has coached tennis to U14, U15 and U16 A team squads, but is perhaps particularly known for having been the initial driving force, along with Tim Whiteman, behind the Dreamland Project, setting up the link and organising and leading the first trip out to Ghana. This so typified her ceaseless concern for those less fortunate than us and her determination to awaken a sense of moral and social responsibility in all those under her charge – or, indeed, with whom she works. In the early months and terms at Repton, MM fulfilled the crucial role of House Husband, in the broadest sense of the term,
His easy manner and utterly natural empathy with the young has made him hugely popular with all, both in the classroom and especially the House. Music is a great passion for him and he has performed on numerous occasions with staff bands such as the Safety Sisters and Boss & Co in the JCR or the Red Lion, as well as at the House Cabaret.
not only looking after Joel and Zöe, but also throwing himself into every aspect of House life. Indeed, for two terms he was called on to be Matron, surely the only time in Repton’s history a male has carried out this job?! Then, in 2010, he got a job as a Corporate Accounts Manager for the multinational corporation Regus, based at East Midlands Airport. So successful was he in this role that the company wanted more and more from him, to the point where his existence became wholly incompatible with the life of JPM and the family at
Life at a boarding school, and especially in a boarding house, has its share of highs and lows, as JPM will indubitably confirm. Thanks to her energy and compassion, her deeprooted belief in the importance and power of the concept of kindness, and the calm, unreserved support of MM, The Garden today stands proud and in excellent shape for the next stage in its existence. Meanwhile Jane and Matt depart to run a House at Lord Wandsworth College in the lovely Hampshire countryside. The girls there will be lucky indeed to have them, and the whole family goes with the thanks and very best wishes of the entire Repton community.
NJK
DM David Morris joined the Repton Chemistry Department in September 1987 and was Head of Department from 1997 until 2014. Throughout his Repton career the external exam results in Chemistry have consistently been amongst the very strongest of all of the departments in the school and David can feel justifiably proud of his contribution, as both teacher and HOD, to this outstanding record. In addition to his role in the classroom, David has made substantial contributions to the extra-curricular life of the school as master i/c Rugby, a tutor in Brook House and New House, and an officer in the RAF Section of the CCF. In more recent years he has helped out with hockey with the U14 age group, and has planned and manned the conservation group for the Wednesday afternoon activities programme; since 1997 he has also run the weekend activities programme with the same outstanding efficiency as he displayed in executing the administrative tasks of a Head of Department. Those who worked closely with David grew to love a sense of humour which could – and often did – make them smile and lift the mood of any meeting, whether formal or informal. On one occasion, when discussing external exam prospects in Chemistry, it became clear that ‘Castleton’
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was a nickname for the boy in question rather than his real name: ‘Why Castleton?’ I asked, only to be informed that the boy was ‘a little beyond Hope’. Few new educational initiatives escaped without being given an appropriate acronym – it was David, for example, who quickly christened the Sunday Leisure Options programme as SLOPS. Few who saw his portrayal of the dying swan in the Pedants’ production of ‘Swan Lake’ will forget his deadpan face. He could be very funny and, although one or two individuals occasionally failed to appreciate David’s humour, it was always designed to make people smile and never used to mock anyone in a cruel way. Furthermore, he was always ready to laugh at himself; he would, for example, tell how cricketing legend Frank Tyson once promised to make him into a fast bowler – only to be told after half an hour in the nets at Denstone by an exasperated Tyson to forget it as it just wasn’t going to happen! Colleagues in the Department often turned to David’s sharp mind when struggling with a particularly hard problem – he usually offered a solution, and generally a very good one. In the classroom, few pupils spoke out of turn or answered back, and his exam classes rarely failed to secure or exceed the grades they deserved.
Wilkinson Memorial Lecture, whilst several hundred Reptonians over the years have had reason to thank him for his foresight in creating and patience in running Tableaux Vivants, the Fashion Show and Rockit concerts. These experiences led to Jeremy successfully proposing and masterminding the logistical and magical tour de force that was the Son et Lumière, which was for many the highlight of the School’s 450th Anniversary celebrations, and which involved over 100 students and staff telling the story of Repton from Anglo-Saxon times to the present to packed audiences in the Garth over four nights in September 2007.
Premier League Football managers are not noted for their occupational longevity: they’re either sacrificed on the altar of results or seduced by the prospect of managing another team. As befits a school with a strong sporting ethos, Repton’s academic Heads of Department latterly resemble Premier League managers in collectively not lasting long in post. They, too, tend to be put out to pasture or themselves find pastures new, yielding to the temptations of Senior Management or House-parenting. Thus, out of all the academic Heads of Department in situ when RAH became Headmaster in 2003, only Messrs Bournon, Keep and Clague have kept their academic departmental headships until the Summer of 2015: a tribute alike to their excellent academic records, exemplary sense of vocation and basic survival skills. Indeed, Jeremy’s results are even more outstanding when one remembers that there are always siren voices willing to whisper in the ears of some of the most gifted students that they’d be better off opting for more “academic” subjects. When, in 1987, two years after he had himself made the journey, I followed Jeremy’s footsteps to Repton from King’s College School, Wimbledon, he was already well established as a dynamic and innovative Director of Art. This was no mean feat, given that all three of his predecessors in that post, since its inception in 1909 – Maurice Clarke (1909-22), Arthur Norris (1922-52) and Dennis Hawkins (195285) – had been legendary figures in that role. Whilst mindful of their success in making the Art School a creative refuge at the heart of the Repton School community – a refuge which he has made available for pupils at all hours, seven days a week – Jeremy was also keen to ensure that Art percolated into every corner of the School and village. Indeed, the Art Department under Jeremy’s direction disproves the seemingly ineluctable law of History that empires rise only to fall. Not only did Jeremy’s empire expand academically to embrace Textiles and Photography, but also physically, so that it now includes the Art School, which, with the generous assistance of Robert Beldam, was completely renovated in 1999, the New Court Gallery (home of the Textiles Department, gallery space and studio space for the Artists-in-Residence), and Gallery No.1 on the High Street. Robert Beldam’s help was also instrumental in the purchase of PA gear for use in House and School cabarets, Chapel, JCR, 20-20 cricket and numerous concerts, with Jeremy acting as resident School sound engineer and roadie, whilst he has also frequently stepped in as session player on bass or drums for a variety of bands. As well as countless exhibitions, numerous art trips (to New York and various European centres of culture), Jeremy founded the David
Much of what Jeremy has contributed to the School has been less high profile, but equally valuable in making Repton an aestheticallypleasing and vibrant environment, whether that be through the exhibiting of art outside of the galleries, assisting with stage designs or advising on the commissioning of art, and on the refurbishment of the Old Priory. His scheme for Art on Loan to Business not only created a new revenue stream, but forged useful links between the School and business. However, as all Secretaries of State for Education and many Headmasters routinely fail to recognise, the most important aspects of education do not lend themselves, like examination grades, to easy quantification. First and foremost amongst these is the example that a teacher sets for those with whom he comes into contact. Here, too, Jeremy ranks as a colossus, imparting not merely technical skills, but core values that have influenced several generations and will last lifetimes. Utterly passionate, totally charming and completely inspiring in his desire to open up the worlds of painting, music, fashion, sculpture and photography by sharing his extensive knowledge in these subjects, Jeremy has also demonstrated an unwavering belief in his students’ abilities and a commitment to draw out of them the work of which he knew them to be capable. In so doing, he managed to pull off the difficult trick of challenging students to make them want to do better, whilst also allowing them the freedom to make mistakes and develop their own personalities in their work. In short, Jeremy’s energy, enthusiasm and vision have ensured that the creation and study of Art at Repton has provided a springboard for a successful career for some and a source of joy and of intellectual stimulus for the many, whilst no one, whether conscious of the fact or no, has been untouched by his many services to the school since 1985. Given all the above, Repton is indeed lucky to be retaining his services as Painter-in-Residence next year.
JP
As a Head of Department, he was wellorganised and even-handed in allocating the workload and teaching groups, never giving himself more than his fair share of the best sets. He was therefore liked and respected by his teaching colleagues and technicians; he made us all laugh and we shall miss him enormously. We therefore wish David, Emma and Charlotte every success and happiness as they embark on the next phase of their lives in their home at Birchover.
JCD Photography by Charlie Mead (L6L)
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