ONA PRESIDENT’S WELCOME PAUL HAGGIE

WELCOME

BY PAUL HAGGIE (60-67) ONA PRESIDENT

One of my greatest pleasures, in these recent, uncertain times, was to learn that the School had been recognised in the Sunday Times as North East Independent Secondary School of the Decade.

It is a most signal honour, and as the new President of the ONA, I extend on behalf of all ONs our congratulations to all those who have contributed to achieving it. I would also extend those congratulations to the way in which the School has adapted so swiftly and flexibly to the challenges created by the pandemic. It is a vivid demonstration of how a century’s old tradition of dedication to education in its broadest sense, along with judicious investment in new technology, can power an immediate and effective response to an utterly changed learning environment.

The same combination of traditional strength and adaptability to the present has been demonstrated in the Headmaster’s initiative to create a Race and Diversity Steering Working Group to examine how best the School can respond to the issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement. The Working Group was organised in response to a spontaneous open letter signed by over four hundred students and recent ONs. I am pleased to have been invited to take part in the Working Group, and I am confident that the traditional values that the School has always inculcated of tolerance, respect for the views of others and the value of good humour in debate can all be harnessed to achieve the curriculum and other reforms which better reflect the diverse society the School serves.

The ONA, too, has learned other ways of doing things during the pandemic. Live streaming of School events is just one example of how we can maintain a more intimate sense of contact between ONs and the current School family; another is the live streaming of the ONA AGM which attracted ONs from across many continents. We need to build on this as we strive to make the organisation both more relevant to all individual ONs and of greater value to the School. To that end, we shall be consulting with all our members –representing all ages, genders, ethnicity and background –as we seek to refine a vision of the ONA for the future.

Last but by no means least, all of us in the ONA owe particular thanks to David Goldwater (51-62), who has laboured mightily with the dedicated team in the Development Office to ensure that the quality of this magazine has not only been maintained but enhanced, in spite of all the current difficulties.