Dear Parents,
Sunday sees the 99th anniversary of the founding of the school. The
earliest accurate record we can establish tells us that the first pupils arrived on May 22nd 1912. Next year at that time we will celebrate one hundred years of education. Some of you will know that there is a very active committee of parents, staff, governors and former pupils meeting regularly to make plans for the year. We look forward to reporting back to you at the end of this term.
"Hold fast that which is good," springs to mind as a good motto at this time.
The ethos of the school as a family is alive and well, constantly being guarded and checked up on. The human values continue to enjoy utmost importance through the decades in most good schools, while we adapt to societal and technological change. Inanimate computers may help direct our lives but we do not forget the primacy of the moral and spiritual dimensions in our lives. We move with the times yet keep our feet on the ground.
As an example, this week we worked together in the Senior School to raise money for the Denny Foundation. Two pupils, Alice Denny and Harriet Pankhurst, inspired a charity "mufti" day. They gathered the support of their house and cakes were sold and stalls erected in the Abbot’s Hall at break. Mr Malewicz took to the stage in a pink motorbike helmet and yellow hair, accompanied by a bodyguard of Sixth Formers. The whole family of the school got together, had fun and raised nearly a thousand pounds in one short day.
In all parts of the school we regularly remember and try to help those less fortunate than ourselves – a tradition rooted in the past.
As for the future, let me quote from a Battle Abbey School brochure soon to be
published concerning the Enrichment Curriculum starting in Year 10 in September:
‘According to former US Secretary of Education Richard Riley – the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. We are currently preparing students for jobs that do not even exist yet, using technologies that haven’t been invented in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.’
We have researched long and hard. We have sought and received the approval of six of the top universities in the country, including Oxford and Cambridge. We have adapted our curriculum to suit changing times and will be offering much more than we have done previously. A full version of the new brochure will be available on the website shortly.
So, 99 years on, the school is proud of its traditions and always adapting to provide the very best education for our children for the future.
Best wishes
Roger Clark
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