Speech Day 2018

No person working in education today typifies an all round engagement with school life more than our guest speaker, Sir Anthony Seldon, and it is a real pleasure and privilege to welcome him to Ryde. As Master of Wellington College, and before that Brighton College, and now in his role as Vice-Chancellor of Buckingham University, Sir Anthony has been an eloquent and energetic voice for many of the innovations we have been developing at Ryde over the last few years; indeed I realised when preparing for today’s speech that I quoted him last year when he predicted that 30% of teaching jobs would be automated within ten years, a prediction given perhaps wisely after he had ceased to be a Head. At the time we were introducing the PSB and our Skills Passport and embedding the IBCP, all programmes with developing skills, reflective practice and flexible minds at their heart and all unafraid to be explicit about the importance of character education. I am pleased to be able to say that all are now firmly part of a Ryde School education and we can honestly say that we seek to provide every young woman and man who leaves here with not just the qualifications but the skills, character, resilience and values that will serve them well as 21st Century citizens.

I first met Sir Anthony when we found ourselves sharing a taxi in Morocco on the way to an IB Conference back in 2006. I was working for the introduction of the IB Diploma at Sherborne and he was due to speak on ways in which the IB might be improved; it is a journey I remember well for his commitment to IB was clear, but not so unquestioning as to not be asking difficult questions about it.

Since then he was for too long a lone voice in believing schools could teach happiness and have a greater focus on well-being and making healthy choices, causes that are now, finally, moving to the mainstream so he is now a central figure in the  development of  Positive Education, Coaching and mental well-being. These are all areas that we at Ryde care about too and I am delighted to welcome here this morning someone we have been working closely with to achieve this at Ryde, Mackenzie Cerri of Graydin. I am pleased too that we have been able to work closely with the Isle of Wight Youth Trust who share these concerns and do such sterling work for young people on the Island. I am pleased that this year’s Trinity House Quiz will be fundraising for them.

Last week saw the opening of our Health and Well-being centre, the first stage of a project to bring together physical, medical, emotional and mental well-being. From there emerges our coaching staircase and over the course of the coming year we will be constructing a coaching walk around the School; all to help create time, appreciate the many positives in life but also confront and take personal responsibility for finding answers to our own challenges. These developments were made easier because of the conversations and visits we were able to have with colleagues at Wellington College, and had only come about there because Sir Anthony was willing to take risks and speak out against a sceptical and at times dismissive mood. It is, for that reason alone, a real delight to welcome him here today.