A “call to arms” from the President

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

A New Chapter: An address by the Headmaster

The school headmaster, Mark Tomkins, gave the following address at the first Quad assembly of the year. 28th May 2021

 

Good afternoon everyone and a warm welcome to this first Quad assembly
of the year.

I am delighted to be finally speaking to you all as one
school community – it has been a very, very long time indeed.  In fact,
the last time I spoke to the entire school community was 14 months ago
on Friday 20 March last year when I said goodbye to you all, before we
all embarked on the first national lockdown.  At that time, we did not
know what to expect – and we certainly would not have predicted what we
all have experienced over the last 14 months – but what we did know was
that saying goodbye to each other at that point in the school year was
not right – it felt as if we were existing an alternative life, and that
a parallel world was happening alongside our normal one.  But being here
today, looking back on what has happened, we can say for certain that we
have all come a long way and experienced something that many generations
have not.  And although MGS will be changed by this experience, I
believe we can be stronger and better than ever before: more resilient,
more innovative, more dynamic, but also more generous.  And also today,
as we look back on the last 14 months, I would like to extend a huge
thank you to you all for the collective efforts put in from both staff
and students.  We should all be very proud of what we have achieved: to
the staff who have stepped up when the moment required them to; and to
you the students who have all appreciated the situation we have been in
and worked with us to provide you with the best experience possible.
And so, when we look back in years to come, we can look back knowing
when the time came for MGS to respond – we did, and we did it right.

If we can imagine for a moment the life history of Maidstone Grammar
School as a set of 472 books – one book for every year since 1549 when
the school was initially founded; just like the seven books in the Harry
Potter series – one book for each year Harry was at Hogwarts.  Now, each
and every Maidstonian, current and former, would have their own set of
books amongst the 472, and those sets of books for each Maidstonian
would be unique and special to that person.  But, as well as individual
students having their own set, each student would be a character
contributing to the overall story.  Amongst the 472 books there would be
books acknowledging key historical events, such as the 1^st and 2^nd
World War periods; there would be books containing amazing news stories;
and there would be books containing sad ones.

But back on Friday 20 March last year it felt as though someone took the
book that we were reading away from us and gave us a new one; and that
new one has been the one we have been reading for the last 14 months.

Now, this new book that was handed to us back in March last year was one
that was initially unrecognisable – it was full of story lines and
concepts that we were unfamiliar with, and for a long time it was
difficult to read.  In fact, there were moments that made us feel so
overwhelmed we wanted to throw the book against a wall and crave for the
old one back; but it also, at times, forced us to have an open mind and
try new things; and it even sometimes, when things turned out well, made
us feel exhilarated and rewarded.

But today marks a significant point in this book.  We are still reading
the book, because the story has not been concluded, but we have turned
over the page to start a new chapter, and this new chapter is the part
of the story that is building up to the end, and as we see the new
chapter heading, we are hoping for a number of things.  Firstly, we want
to make sure that this /is/ the chapter that is building up to the end,
and that we begin to recognise aspects of the previous book that was
taken away from us all those months ago.  But at the same time, we want
this new chapter to continue to acknowledge aspects of the previous
chapters that we have just finished reading – that we initially found
hard to read.    Because, after these last 14 months reading this book,
we have in some way become familiar with its writing and got used to the
story it has been telling; it has opened our minds and given us
different things to consider.  But even though we have become familiar
with it, we also know that if we don’t return to elements of the old
book, then we may slowly forget what we enjoyed about it; and the love
we had for it will fade and not be carried on by future readers.  We now
want the best parts of both books.

So, what does all this mean to you?  As current Maidstonians we want to
bring back elements of the old MGS.  We want to do simple things like to
be able to move more freely around school; to take part in activities
that we have missed; to return to a place where our learning had an end
point that was totally in our hands; and we want to rekindle the
connections that we have missed with our fellow Maidstonians.  And I am
delighted to say that we have already started seeing this.

But at the same time as doing this we also want to take with us into our
lives ahead the new things that we have enjoyed and come to value.
Things like how we are delivering the curriculum; how we have used
technology in our teaching; how we have all been using our devices to
communicate; and, on a bigger scale, how we have re-evaluated our lives
– identifying what is important.

For me, on a practical level, I will be wanting to use Microsoft OneNote
much more in the delivery of my lessons; I will be wanting to use the
Assignments function in Microsoft Teams for setting homework; I will be
wanting to encourage your parents to buy into the new way of doing
parents’ evenings via our school cloud system; but on a larger scale, I
will be wanting to find as much time as possible for me, which is
something that I have neglected for years.

But, despite learning new ways of doing things and having a different
outlook on my life ahead, there has been one thing I have wanted to see
return at MGS for a long time, and that is what we are doing today: the
opportunity to come together as one community and recognise that we all
belong to something much bigger.  So, to Year 7, and to our newest Year
12 students who joined the School in September, this is what you have
missed: seeing the whole school together as one.  So, after nine months
of already being here I would like to say, welcome to your school;
welcome to Maidstone Grammar School; and welcome to being a
Maidstonian.  What you are seeing today is special and is something that
we are all incredibly proud of.

Now, I have just used the word ‘belong’ to illustrate a point – and
belong to MGS we certainly do – and very soon we are going to see and
hear that word belong much more often.

Over the last four years since 2017 we have been developing the quality
of the experience students get in the classroom; and we have called it
‘Inspire to Learn’.  You are now seeing massive displays around the
school illustrating this very point.  But over the last 14 months we
have come to recognise that now, more than ever before, there is another
strand of Maidstone Grammar School that we wish to see develop – and
that strand starts today in this very assembly – and we are going to be
calling it ‘Inspire to Belong’.

Students of Maidstone Grammar School have always referred to themselves
as Maidstonians, and being a Maidstonian means something very special
indeed.  Being a Maidstonian means that you belong to a community; that
you belong to the traditions of the place; that you feel safe and
supported; that you are nurtured into fine young men and women; and that
you have a connection with other Maidstonians that lasts forever.

Having such a thriving community of Maidstonians means we have common
ground between each other in this generation and also with each other
across different generations.  And what creates that common ground
between different year groups is the of sharing common goals, beliefs,
values and outlook.  These qualities, which are seen all around the
school, are the essence of our community.  And being a community of
Maidstonians with shared values is probably the most wonderful aspect of
this school.  We are all individuals with our own identities, but we are
also all the same with shared values.  We all treasure how important
this school is to us – it provides us with a foundation that we will
carry away with us for a very long time.  But most of all we treasure
the friendships and relationships we build here with others.  And it is
this aspect of Maidstone Grammar School that is a delight to see and be
a part of.

This feeling and culture that has been a part of Maidstone Grammar
School has been somewhat lost during the last 14 months.  It is
certainly strong enough to survive a pandemic, but if not rekindled,
could soon fade as new Maidstonians arrive; and so next term, as well as
the new academic year, is a perfect time to remind ourselves of what we
have missed, and so we are launching our ‘Inspire to Belong’ agenda.  We
want Maidstonians to be reminded of what they belong to; how they thrive
as one community; and how they interconnect with others.  And as I said
a few minutes ago, this has already been seen.  The numerous inter-house
tournaments that have taken place have been such a delight to witness.
Seeing over half a year group stay behind after school to play in one of
them is testament to how those students feel towards their school and
their house.

So, see today as a fresh beginning: an opportunity to regroup and do the
things that we have missed.  For example, with the summer months ahead
we will be having whole school assemblies outside in the Quad; we can
now have house assemblies back in the hall – as you have seen this week
we can spread you out in your individual year groups more safely; we can
begin to introduce more extra-curricular activities that we have been
longing to restart; and we can begin to think about returning to
vertical forms, which is hopefully going to happen in September.  Yes,
verticality will return, and we will return to it as soon as it is safe
to do so.

But the most significant change that we have made, and that you have
already experienced this week, is the moving around the school site for
your lessons.  Now, moving around is not only good because you get to be
taught in subject-specific areas and teachers get to teach in their own
classrooms with their resources to hand; you also get to have a bit of
exercise and fresh air between lessons.

But for me, moving around the school site achieves something much
bigger.  It reminds us that we all belong to something much greater: a
community of Maidstonians far beyond our own friendship or year group
bubbles.  It reminds us that we belong to a community of people that we
have something in common with – allowing us to extend kindness and
respect to everyone.  And it is these aspects, and all of the other
aspects I have mentioned, that make MGS what it is; and so, I look
forward to steering the school over the coming months back to what we
remember, but at the same time embracing the new things we have learnt
and seeing things with a fresh set of eyes.  So, please join me in this
journey.

Transcript provided by Mark Tomkins

Eric Haslam

I recently made a visit to the OM Website and on inspecting the Register of members noticed that there was reference to our oldest recorded member Eric Haslam who left the School in 1935.

I don’t whether you are aware that Eric died aged 96 on 21st April, 2014.

He was a distinguished Police Officer who was the holder of the OBE and the Queen’s Police Medal for outstanding service.

I served with him at Gravesend in the Kent Force and later followed his career when he became Deputy Chief Constable of Kent and later Chief Constable of the British Transport Police

Best wishes
Denys E. Whatmore
1944 – 1949

Jim and Ann Clinch

This from Henry Darley (1957) who advised the following:

“Jim & Ann Clinch are moving to Newcastle to be near their son who is in Holy Orders there.  On Sunday 13th April 2014, Emma Clinch is giving a recital in St Nicholas Church, Otham commencing at 3 p.m.   There is no charge, although attendees will be invited to contribute to a retiring collection in aid of  “Friends of Otham Church.”.  Tea will be served.  The word is that this could be something of a “Swan Song” for Jimmy & Ann.  It would be nice to give them a memorable send off.  His roots are so strongly linked to Maidstone, the school and Otham Church”.

James Clinch was the author of Gaudeamus – An Account of Music at Maidstone Grammar School, and he was  a very prominent member of the OMS, being President in 1994.  He was born in Maidstone in 1927, and was a pupil of MGS from 1936 to 1946.  After National Service in the RAF, he read Natural Sciences (Chemistry) at Jesus College, Cambridge, and was then employed in the chemical industries at Ilford, Essex, at Avonmouth, Bristol and at Maidstone until 1974 when he was appointed to the staff at MGS, where he taught mostly Chemistry until his retirement in 1991.

A keen amateur musician, James started oboe lessons with Leslie Smith in 1938 and was son playing in all the local orchestras, as well as being active in school music.  This led to much music-making at Cambridge and beyond and to a penchant for conducting.  In 1969 he was appointed founder-conductor of Rochester Arts Orchestra, now City of Rochester Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for 26 years.

James married Anne Green in 1952 and they have two daughters and a son who was also educated at MGS.  The book is proof of his affection for, and long-standing knowledge of, his old school.

We wish him all the very best ‘oop North’, and will miss him.  A more erudite and extremely pleasant gentleman it would be difficult to find.

The message has been sent to the entire membership, regardless of location, in case you would like to wish him well.  [email protected]

Visit by Robert Snare

Robert Snare  OM: 1943 – 1952

Distinguished OM, Squadron Leader Robert Snare, visited the school with his wife on December 18th prior to attending the Carol Service that evening in All Saints. Robert is a graduate of the RAF College, Cranwell and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He retired in 1996 after a distinguished career in aviation from the post of Managing Director of Aviation Training Worldwide – a company which provides qualified flight crew and training captains for many leading airlines.

In his retirement, living in Guildford, Robert stood for Parliament in the Aldershot Constituency in 2010 for UKIP and is Chairman of his constituency associatioSnaren.

The Deputy Headmaster, Paul Smith and the Chairman of the Society, Richard Ratcliffe entertained Robert to tea in the Headmaster’s study and provided a tour of the School. We seized the photo opportunity to “snap” him beside the Honours Board bearing his name – the Boards are currently down for the refurbishment of part of the school corridor.

Robert’s website is quite entertaining – especially the story of how he crash landed a training aircraft whilst at Cranwell, without either killing himself or the residents of Boston in Lincolnshire! (www.robertsnare.com)

Richard Ratcliffe: January 2014.