HEAD’S WELCOME GEOFFREY STANFORD

WELCOME

BY GEOFFREY STANFORD HEAD

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the latest thematic ONA Magazine, Meet the Medics. We selected this theme long before we had even heard of COVID-19, never mind uttered the word ‘unprecedented’ in every other sentence. Perhaps now more than ever it is important to celebrate Old Novocastrians leading the way in medicine and supporting countless lives around the globe. Simon Barker (Head of English) and David Goldwater have done an outstanding job in these pages, paying tribute to just a few of the overwhelming number of medics the RGS has been privileged to teach.

I am regularly asked to describe school-life in lockdown, and I encourage those who are intrigued to follow our Facebook and LinkedIn pages. We have also posted a large number of communications and virtual assemblies on a dedicated COVID-19 page of our website. It will have been one of the most challenging times in the school’s history: the last time the school was mandated to close was in 1939, when the then only male RGS students were evacuated to Penrith, and Eskdale Terrace became a regional war room. The closure of the school to all but keyworkers’ children (the long tradition of RGS educating children of many of the RVI’s Consultants remains!), and then the gradual reopening of the school at first to Year 6, Year 10, Year 12, and then Years 3-5, has required a similar level of military precision. Immediately after closing the school gates, we moved to remote learning, with live online lessons, following the normal timetable. We held our first virtual RGS Day; our Class of 2020 celebrated joining the ONA with a digital leavers’ ceremony; and our teachers have risen to the challenge to ensure our students have maintained an amazing breadth and depth of education. This experience has helped our pupils develop the ability to learn independently as well as acting as a catalyst for the school to engage with education technology. I am incredibly proud of the positivity, the proactivity and the collaborative approach taken by our students, parents and staff; we really are a family at RGS.

The last Term has also brought into stark relief the specific needs of our small community of Bursary students and their families, who are critical to the ethos of the school. As at the end of Summer Term 2020, we had 76 Bursary Students in the school, each one having won their place based on their ability and potential. Our pastoral team has been extra vigilant in monitoring the welfare of our Bursary students and I am so grateful that Old Novos and current parents have collectively donated over £40,000 in Hardship Funds. This has been used to provide essentials such as food parcels and, where necessary, assistance with Wi-Fi and access to IT. Your support has been invaluable in enabling these young people to continue engaging in education and for this I give my personal heartfelt thanks. As with many charities, our fundraising income has been badly affected by the pandemic, yet we remain committed to supporting the existing Bursary students through their school years and to our long term ambition—to grow the community of brilliant Bursary students. Without the help of a benefactor they simply would not have such an extraordinary opportunity.

I hope that you enjoy leafing through these pages as much as I did and, like me, perhaps you will wonder about the incalculable number of lives across the world that have been touched by Old Novos involved in medicine. What a privilege it is to be a member of this community.