The train is approaching

Well dear reader, looking outside at the weather you might be forgiven for thinking that we are far removed from the hazy days of Summer and much closer to the storm dashed days of Autumn. 

Regardless of that, the school has moved through a very busy period for the children. Post half-term end of year exams were met with a focus and drive that hushed corridors and silenced classrooms. Heads bowed at desks, the silence disturbed by the scratching of pencils and pens on paper. For those in public exams, the scratching started several weeks ago, but for those too, the end is approaching. This week will see the end for most with a few outliers completing next week. 

It is always a time for some nostalgia. I have written in this space before about the rhythm of the life of the school. Over the past few days, I have had the great pleasure of talking with students who are looking ahead to a relaxing Summer before they head off to university in the Autumn. Pleasure too in welcoming those who are just about to join Embley and launch their next steps. As an aside and, on the subject of universities, some prospective parents were talking to me about their experience in looking for a school for their child. At one school they visited, the Head spoke eloquently, emphasising how the school would ensure their child went to the best universities. While an interesting thing to say, we do things differently…

The vast majority of our students will go to university, and they always go to the best ones: the best one for them that is. Embley doesn’t put institutions before individuals and the best university for any student is the one that meets their needs, course choices and personal disposition. To suggest that we might drill them in a particular direction suggests an interest in building a reputation or profile for the school but less so for them. Embley builds its profile by reflecting the achievements of the children and young adults, not by shoehorning or directing children to what might make the school look good. Newman, in his essay on the idea of the university, developed the notion that a university was a seat of learning the better to fulfil the potential of those who gathered in its halls. Some have particular specialisms, others a more general remit, but the best university is the one that meets the need of the candidate entering those halls.

The Embley way of doing things was the object of our reflections in my conversations with some students standing on the departure platform. Some had been at Embley for a very long time. Time measured in orthodontist appointments and braces, time measured in height over parents and how this grated lovingly with Dads who no longer tower over children but are now being picked up by the very charges they once carried. Time measured in learning to drive and parties to celebrate, time measured in expeditions undertaken, tents torn, tests passed, practicals performed and plays produced, in coursework completed and problems solved. We stood together on that departure platform looking back.

I remember a host of adventures with them and recall faces dotted with stubble that once grinned back at me with gapped tooth fairy teeth. In the reminiscence it was gratifying to listen to their stories. They spoke of what they would miss and what they had taken for granted. The jaw dropping beauty of the thousand-year-old estate, the expanse of grounds and the opportunities they had. They talked of the times when things were tough and the teachers they teased, the lessons learnt, and the short cuts attempted. There is a great truth or a few of them in all of this. While we journey through experience, we are often unaware of how that experience is shaping us. It is only from the edge looking back that we gain perspective, understand what has happened and how we are changed.

None of this is wasted on the young I speak with at Embley. They share their experience with an honesty shaped by time and tradition here. They share their ideas for making things better and they challenge me and us all to grow, to steward the next generation and to keep faith with the principles that make us what we are. 

We are as much shaped by them as they by us. The Embley way is the formation of children to go on to make a difference in the world. Standing on the platform of their future, they left me with a clear understanding of where that starts and what it means. That in all the academics and activities, the thing that shapes them and means the most is the belief their teachers had in them and the relationships they forged. The quality of these connections fostered their curiosity, deepened their understanding and created character. The train is approaching; I know they will go on to make a difference.