June 24th - Message from the Headmaster

Dear Parents,

The time is fast approaching where we will have to brush the dust off our buckets

and spades and prepare for the summer holiday. This is the penultimate newsletter

of the year and I write amid a hubbub of stimulating activity and enthusiasm.

There are many exciting things to achieve before the end of term. I have just

come from a wonderful Yr 7 assembly where the children, with the help of the

wonderful Mrs. Hoffmann, looked at their ancestors and traced their roots back

all over the world to some famous, some infamous and some little known but

extraordinary people, were all encouraged to make the most of our lives so that

future generations would look back at us in admiration and wonder.

The Year 12 and 13 Performing Arts Productions yesterday evening also . lled me

with admiration and wonder at the incredible achievements of that department.

Will Cousins and Lewis Bennett, assisted by the extraordinary talented Lily

Lindon, gave one of their last, memorable performances and the Lower Sixth

proved there was talent in abundance coming through for next year.

Parents, your children amaze me and it is a privilege to work with them.

I am looking forward very much to spending Open Day and Sports Day at the

Prep School tomorrow and I will be spectating at the Dads v Lads cricket match at

Crowhurst Park on Sunday. Next week the whole of Years 7 – 9 will be off

curriculum for four whole days and will be steeped in the drama of ‘Les

Miserables’. The following week there are two whole days given over to Sport.

Busy, busy days ahead and I hope something for everyone.

Roger Clark

June 17th - Message from the Headmaster

Dear Parents

"I have never been to such a nice school" - a comment from a visiting, prospective parent today. It was the day when many had sat their last GCSE and all the work was over for a while but to be fair we saw many other people smiling too. I was quick to point out that we have our moments of disappointment and struggle and that a school is a microcosm of life. I was delighted to tour the school and find all of the pupils in such a good mood, but then it is Friday! We saw Battle Abbey at its best but I would be naïve in the extreme to assume that’s how it always is. We have to contend with "triumph and disaster and treat these two imposters just the same."

I am always gratified as a Headmaster to hear good news but of course there are problems and perhaps one mark of a good school is how we change a challenge into an opportunity.

There is an absolute determination at Battle Abbey School to keep improving and I remain very grateful to those parents who work with me so that we can become stronger and stronger. There is so much to be proud of; your children never cease to amaze me with their talent and optimism.

Today I was immensely proud to show off some recent outstanding Art work and to have an Art teacher from another school say how excellent the standard is at Battle, I was proud too that the performing arts department astonished my visitors with its versatility and

talent.

Have a good weekend and I look forward to seeing many of you in the last three weeks of term as so many of your children will be taking part in the plethora of activities that marks the end of the summer.

June 10th - A message from the Headmaster

Dear Parents

The week began for me with an illustration of the rich variety of pupils that we have in the school. I sat talking through a translator to a parent from Samara in the southernmost part of Russia. Samara has a population of two million and is just a bit north of Kazakhstan. Of course, like any other mother the world over, she wanted to know how her son was behaving and whether he was trying hard. What a trust the world has in English boarding schools and what a responsibility this trust lays upon us! We try very hard to live up to the high expectations and are grateful for the privilege of educating young people from so many different backgrounds.

Several times this week I have talked to parents about the perennial problem of choosing options for Year 10 and fitting everything in that the pupils want to do. As a small school we tailor the timetable to the individual, which occasionally gives us huge challenges.

The Lower Sixth spent a day on the important process of personal statement writing in preparation for university application next term and were entertained by the Head of Admissions from Sussex University. This very witty gentleman is becoming a regular and welcome visitor to the school.

It has been a very constructive week, because I have met so many parents both present and prospective and shared their hopes and fears and thoughts about the future of their most precious possessions, their children. I am always delighted to meet parents and I urge you to remember that. All of us here have a deep vested interested in the education of your children and we are constantly seeking to exceed your expectations of us.

Last night at about 8pm there were still about twenty pupils deep in rehearsal for "Oh What a Lovely War." I spent an hour watching their final throes of rehearsal and wondered once again at the enormously diverse talents and opportunities there are at the school. There were still five teachers here after 9pm and two wonderful former pupils, Chris Rogers and Fergus Bruce, back from university and helping in the same way they always did whilst at school. Three other staff are currently in France with Year 7 and will be back at the end of the weekend.

It is a good opportunity for me to thank the teachers who are so committed to the education of your children that they give up so much of their extra time over and above what I can reasonably expect.

At the start of the week, it was very good to receive so much overwhelming support from parents following the publication of the article in the Observer last Friday – you will recall the newspaper had received an anonymous letter, concerned that I had not kept parents informed about changes to the governing body and furthermore, by implication, that the School was in financial difficulty. Several parents have since expressed an interest in becoming a governor and others have asked for further information about the role of our governing body. The Bursar, who is Clerk to the Governors, will be producing an article on the governing body for a forthcoming newsletter, which will provide you with more information. In the meantime, I extend my grateful thanks for the support you have shown over this matter.

I look forward to seeing many of you in the next four weeks. There will be many

opportunities to visit and, of course, if you want to come in for a chat, please do so.

Best wishes, Roger Clark

May 27th - A message from the Headmaster

Dear Parents

Some GCSEs and AS Level examinations have come and gone and left a number of our pupils quietly confident. More lies ahead for most of them.
Half-term and revision will, I am sure, be synonymous for our older ones. Labor vincit omnia. The Roman poet, Virgil, thought so two thousand years ago and so do we today.
It was very good to greet around 90 of the parents of all three sections of our school on the Terrace at the Abbey on Friday evening and we were richly entertained by the fabulous Prep School choir and by Rocky Bullin and later Sam Wills. I am most grateful to Keith Sellens and his wonderful FOBAS team for organising this very enjoyable occasion.

At the start of the new week it was good to see some of the same faces come along to the Year 6 Induction Day at the Abbey. If a measure of the success of the day was the incidences of giggling then it went down extremely well with our transferees.

It was a great privilege for the Battle Abbey School Choir to support the Battle Choral Society on Saturday night accompanied by a professional orchestra of 50 in front of an audience of 500 in Christchurch in St. Leonards. Our pupils were proud to take part in the delivery of Verdi’s Requiem – stirring, dramatic and uplifting.

In the second half of term we have the drama of exams, the drama of “Oh, What a Lovely War!” and “Les Mis”, the Lower 6th off for more university induction and personal statement training, much more sport and athletics, the Summer Ball and Speech Day to look forward to, among much else.

So now we have time to catch our breath and enjoy a short break. If any parents would like to see me, I will be in school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week and happy to meet with you. As Mrs. Jacoby, co-founder of our school, said in the first school magazine of 1928, “The Gateway is ever open to you.”

Yours Sincerely,
Roger Clark

May 20th - A message from the Headmaster

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

May 13th - A message from the Headmaster

Dear Parents,

Battle Abbey School is proud to educate children from 2 years old to 18. This was illustrated in quite magical form on the two evenings of the Dance Show at the Abbey this week. The youngest dancers were 7 years old, the oldest 18 and the support that they gave each other throughout the age groups was obvious for all to see. Kay Heasmer will be going down to the Prep School at the end of term with some senior dancers to run a dance work shop. Dance was to some extent the "missing link" in the Performing Arts portfolio at the Senior School but with the arrival of Miss Heasmer two years ago, this has now been put right.

Over 130 of our senior pupils will be taking public examinations this term and I am delighted that so many of them are working hard. It is a time of considerable pressure for these young adults and the staff are working very hard to support them in every way they can.

Two years ago we started the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award for Sixth Formers and I am delighted that our first pupil has come right through the process; Nick Taylor will be going to St. James’ Palace later in the year to be congratulated by a member of the Royal Family. Several other pupils are due to finish in the next six months and we are already making plans for the third cohort to start the process. I have always believed that the Gold Award is the equivalent of another A level and speaks volumes about the character of the young person who succeeds in reaching this level. I am delighted, therefore, that from September 20 more pupils will be starting on the road to Gold in Year 10 by embarking upon their Bronze Award as part of our new enrichment curriculum.

Best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Headmaster

Roger Clark

April 7th - Message from the Headmaster

Dear Parents,

The Senior School is full for September both boarding and day. Late applications will still be considered but, in the present climate, I am delighted to share this with you and I would like to thank you all for your great support. The good opinions expressed by our parents are such a valuable part of marketing the school. I hope also that you feel your concerns are both welcomed and listened to.

Some of you will know that we have introduced an exciting new change to the curriculum for all those of our pupils going into Year 10 in September 2011. Our students will be studying 9 GCSEs instead of 10 and for the rest of their curriculum they will be studying four core areas: Society (Religion, Politics and Economics); Culture and Sport (Art, Drama and Sports Leadership); Personal Development (languages for non linguists, Careers Education, the Duke of Edinburgh Award and a Service to the Community element).

We believe that this will better prepare our pupils for the rigorous demands of A level and broaden their horizons in preparation for University interviews and later life in general. We have received confirmation from Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick, Nottingham and UCL Universities that this change will in no way prejudice a student’s application to these top universities. The Admissions Office of Oxford University wrote as follows "We can confirm that your students will not be at any disadvantage in the Oxford admissions process because of the number of GCSE qualifications they have obtained. We do not have any fixed requirements at this level and as such do not discriminate between candidates on the basis of the number of GCSEs they have". The other University Admissions Offices replied in a very similar way. I am confident that this development will greatly enhance the learning experience of our KS4 pupils and I look forward to sharing the finer details with you at the beginning of next term.

The achievements of this term are catalogued for all to see in these newsletters. The school has been busy and productive and I am very pleased with how the term has gone. I have met more parents this term than usual; I welcome this very much and hope that you will continue to feel able to contact me at any time. The school is open during the holidays and I will be available should you need me.