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can agree. The details and implementation of strategy need not concern any-
one other than the school’s employed management but the aforementioned
majority needs to agree on the essentials of costs, risks and other conse-
quences entailed.
In considering strategy, the present difficult financial situation must not, fur-
thermore, be the only factor. On the contrary, the school community should
reflect on what it wants to be like in the Cyprus of 2023, 2043. Now is not the
time to articulate detail on these topics but, after a year and a half in post, it
seems to me that some of the questions we might want to consider are the
following (and, in each case, I am not deploying the teaching technique of
posing a question to which a certain answer is assumed!):
For whom is this school? Canon Newham bequeathed the institution he
founded to the Government of Cyprus for “the youth” of this country. Yet
how shall that be interpreted today and in the future? Lest the answer to
that question be considered self-evident, reflect, if you will, on the way in
which Eton College now interprets the original charter of its founder, Henry
VI.
What follows from the above question is this one: if the school continues to
attract more students than it has places to offer (always the desirable posi-
tion for a school to be in), how shall we decide who can come, and who can’t?
Be careful – this is not nearly such an easy question to answer as you might
think!
How shall we continue to maintain the foundation of the school? By this, I
mean, the fine buildings, facilities and grounds on the magnificent hilltop site
in Nicosia. As the only residents of this site (apart from the cats, of course…),
my family and I have a particular affection for it. Hence our consternation at
the dog-walkers, basketball players, graffiti practitioners, through traffic and
others who seem to make the premises their own from time to time. To
whom does it all belong? If the school is truly, entirely, or even just partly in
the public domain, is it reasonable to ask the public purse to support it? If the
public purse cannot or will not support the school, what then?
How shall we continue to attract and retain the very best teachers? Not
merely, dare I say, the best teachers in this country but also the best teach-
ers in the world? And, of course, the best teachers in the world may, in any
case, be found here.
How shall we continue to reconcile the traditions of the past with the de-
mands of the present and the future, all of which seem to demand change at
an exponential rate?
That is probably enough questions for everyone to ponder for the months of
summer. Also, a good time to stop because I have used the word ‘exponen-
tial’ and the thousands of science and maths graduates out there will shortly
tell me I have deployed it incorrectly. Ah, but I have used the word poeti-
cally…
In short, though, this is the perfect time for everyone to enjoy some “slow
thinking” on these topics. I look forward to continuing this discussion and
many others in the new school year. In the meantime, congratulations, Eng-
lish School on another splendid twelvemonth; now here’s to 2013-14!
Non sibi sed scholae!
Graham Gamble, Headmaster
Nicosia, June 2013
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