Patrick Tobin

The SMC Community was saddened to hear of the death of ex-Headmaster, Patrick Tobin. Bryan Lewis remembers his former colleague below.

I remember the day I first met Patrick Tobin shortly after his appointment as Principal of Stewart’s Melville College and The Mary Erskine School (not yet ESMS!) in 1989. I had applied for the post of Headmaster of the Junior School and realised that Patrick, who had not yet assumed his new responsibilities, was the person I needed to convince that I should be appointed, despite all my previous experience being as a secondary school Stewart’s Melville teacher. His eyes were piercing, his questions were piercing and I quickly realised that both were reflective of his intellectual depth and rigour which were also piercing. Patrick decided to offer me the post and for the next 10 years I worked closely with him, latterly as Vice Principal as well as Headmaster. The clarity of his vision, his singlemindedness and his ability to analyse problems and come up with solutions were extraordinary. My senior colleagues and I enjoyed the intellectual and mental challenges we faced as we worked hard to keep up with the pace of change as he his realised his vision for the schools, a vision which he had explained very clearly to the Management Teams within weeks of his appointment. Patrick believed the schools lacked intellectual rigour and in retrospect he was correct. He demanded more of the academic staff and he demanded more of the pupils. He also demanded more of himself and he worked tirelessly to ensure that the schools he left were much more demanding of themselves than when he had arrived. The schools owe him a great deal for all that was achieved during his tenure as he strove to strengthen the schools’ reputation for academic rigour, for cultural appreciation and for high behavioural expectations. Patrick had joined the schools in August 1989 from the Prior Park School in Bath where he had transformed the school into a beacon of excellence. Always very courteous with a personally caring and surprisingly shy side to him which did not always come across in public meetings with colleagues and parents, Patrick possessed the steely single-mindedness which marks out leaders who are willing to face up to challenges, and in some cases opposition, in order to fulfil their vision. With an excellent degree from Oxford University and a broad teaching background which included a spell as Head of History at Tonbridge School in addition to his previous experience of Headship at Prior Park, Patrick brought with him wide experience, intellectual curiosity and and an unmatched ability to separate the wood from the trees. Patrick was instrumental in developing many of the structures which remain part of our schools today including staff appraisal, the use of comparative statistics, annual reviews with all senior school Heads Of Department and Heads of Guidance, the structure of the school timetable, an increase in the range and number of subjects taught and the introduction of a joint Sixth Year and shared guidance system. The schools without doubt became more academic in their approach and results improved considerably during his decade in charge. The schools also became much closer to each other and during Patrick’s tenure the foundations of the future integration into today’s ESMS were laid. Patrick was deeply involved in independent schools’ education on a UK wide basis where his views and opinions were widely sought and valued. His appointment as Chairman of HMC in 1998 was a personal highlight. By the time he retired in 2000 he had undoubtedly changed the schools and laid the foundations on which David Gray and latterly Linda Moule built the ESMS we know today.