challenging turn : when parents want their children to go to Oxbridge or top US colleges with an IB prediction of 38 points ( it is not going to happen !) or when ‘ none of my teachers like me , Sir ’.
I have deployed my basic DIY skills unblocking toilets , stopping leaks in bathrooms , and helping John the Marshal break down a door of a dorm , kung fu style , to release the boarders who had been stuck for more than two hours wanting desperately to relieve themselves .
At one extreme , I have seen parents dropping their boys back to school after the summer keeping a foot in the taxi during a quick goodbye , with the sound of champagne popping reaching us from the back of the taxi before they even clear the end of the drive . At the other , one parent hid in the bushes at the front of the property to have a glimpse of their child before school every morning for weeks . This resulted in the longest homesickness period I have ever experienced : eight weeks of daily crying in my office . Five years later the boy was one of the most successful Johnsonians in my time : school captain and with offers from Cambridge and a top US university .
A housemaster is nothing without a strong team . I was fortunate to inherit and lead a superb house crew . Cleaners , housemen , housekeepers and matrons
are key to the smooth running of such a well-oiled machine – and I am not talking about the Johnsons ancient and costly boiler ! Each day , they made sure that the house was warm , homely and welcoming with a fresh scent floating in the air – quite a feat for a house full of young men .
Being a housemaster is more than a job , it is a lifestyle , almost a vocation . Seeing so many Johnsonians and Old Johnsonians come to mark our departure from the boarding house was a truly uplifting moment which we shall cherish for the rest of our lives . We enjoyed listening to the boys ’ stories and memories , their failures as well as successes , and the way they bounced back .
We all share the same affection for this Victorian house whose walls could tell us many stories and where many transformational moments have taken place .
‘ Be mighty and do the decent thing ,’ I aways tell the departing teary Upper Sixth boys . I hope to follow my own advice .
Sébastien Coquelin and the Coquelin family
Sébastien was Housemaster of Johnsons 2012-2022
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