Dear Old Maidstonians,

As part of the School’s 475th Anniversary, we’ve commissioned Haywood Media, founded by former School Captain Chris Haywood, to produce a 20 minute documentary celebrating the School’s past and present.

We would like OMs to contribute to this video, sharing your memories, thoughts, and reflections about your time at MGS. There are two ways you can contribute:

• If you are in the Maidstone area on Tuesday 16 April, we encourage you to visit the School between 2.30pm to 4.30pm to be recorded on film discussing your experience at MGS. This will also provide you with the opportunity to catch up and network over tea or coffee with other OMs.
• Alternatively, if you cannot be in the Maidstone area on this date, we encourage you to record yourself on a device and upload the recording to the following link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1heHcRH2-8pJ8Eez9uYyQkDMbL8VloXAa?usp=share_link We recommend that your video be approximately 90 seconds long and suggest that you include the following:
  • Who you are and when you attended MGS.
  • A fond memory or memories you have from MGS.
  • How MGS has helped shape who you are today.

These are prompts, not prescriptions, and we welcome whatever you would like to share with us. We also welcome any archive footage you may have. We encourage OMs who use this method to complete their video uploads by Friday 19 April.

Finally, we cannot guarantee that all OMs footage will make it into the 20 minute video. We may create a second video with OMs footage only to complement the documentary. This decision will be made during post-production, and we will keep you updated on the progress.

We plan to release the completed documentary and any other videos created from this production on the School’s YouTube channel in September 2024.

We are excited to share this legacy piece with you and our wider community and celebrate what makes MGS great: you. We hope you will join us in contributing to this exciting anniversary project.

Kind regards,

James Hanratty

Deputy Head

This article by out President in the Summer 2023 Newsletter seemed worthy of a separate post: we hope it inspires Old Maidstonians.

When I was invited to serve as President for the OMS, it didn’t cross my mind to
politely decline, citing workload or the pressure of deadlines. I accepted
gratefully, not because it’s an honour (though it certainly is), but because here, to
my surprise, was an opportunity I didn’t know I had been looking for.

I owe MGS a debt. It’s not hyperbole to say that the trajectory of my career was
significantly determined by the staff who taught me during my time at the school. I
would mention, in particular, John Morgan and Terence Edwards, and also
Graham Walker, now treasurer of the OMS committee and my predecessor as
president (a role for which he deserves praise and thanks). I owe MGS my appreciation, and
I think I’ve felt that way for a long time. I had an unrealised impulse to ‘give back’ to the
school in some way that is, I’m sure, shared by many of you. However, until the invitation
arrived, it had simply never occurred to me to participate in Society events.
I don’t know why that should be the case, but if it’s true of me, then it may be true for you too.
You might feel that impulse, but simply haven’t considered how to express it, yet. Consider
this, then, your invitation.

It’s why the OMS exists. The Society supports the school’s community in many ways, but its
principal work is to maintain connections between the alumni and the school. It does this by
sending communications out (through email, Facebook, Linked In, and this regular
newsletter, for example) to keep alumni informed of events and achievements in the life of
MGS, and by organising events to draw alumni in, or at least together (such as the Annual
Supper, the London Gathering etc).

The most recent Supper was my first, and it gave me the opportunity to speak with ex-
students from different eras, spanning decades. I was struck that Old Maidstonians all said
the same thing, and that it was a reflection of my own feeling. They wanted to know how they
might return the investment made in them during their time at MGS.

There are many ways to pay it on, as I have learned from joining the committee. Firstly,
blunt as it might sound, with donations: the OMS and the School always appreciates support
for its development projects. Second, through the mentoring programme, whereby you share
the wisdom (or otherwise!) of your life experience and professional insight with the current
school cohort. Third, the OMS committee, volunteers all, is always looking for willing help.
More than anything, you can contribute with your presence. We can send out all the news
we like, but having you here, meeting old friends or making new ones, is the true measure of
the Society’s vitality.

Perhaps due to the pandemic, attendance at events has decreased slightly. Add to that the
perennial issue faced by the OMS, which is the widespread nature of the alumni community
(both geographically and in terms of age and interest), and questions arise as to how we
stage an event that will appeal – or simply be accessible or affordable – to as many alumni as
possible? We have recently sent out a survey asking you what types of events would appeal
to you. I urge you to reply with any ideas.

In an ideal world, we would be welcoming back as many of you as possible at every event.
This might mean we have to plan different types of events at different times of the year to
broaden the appeal of returning. The forthcoming MGS 475 celebrations may give us an
opportunity to try some of those ideas out.

So if, like me, you have a persistent impulse to support the school, but don’t really know how,
the single best thing you can do is to attend events. Reach out to your own network of
friends and invite them to join you. 475 would be an ideal time to renew your connection with
the school in person, and we would be delighted to see you.
Dan Abnett
MGS 1979 – 1984
Comic book writer, novelist