The President’s View
This year is the 15th anniversary of the 2000 leavers.
A ‘milestone meeting’ is to take place in conjunction
with, what will become, the biennial York Dinner.
Jessica Farmer (93-00) is organising that group so
please contact her or Rachel for further information.
The milestone meetings are one of the most enjoyable
events, as people share many happy memories from
years gone by. Please consider organising one for you
and your peers.
Dear OPs,
Hello and a very warm welcome to the 2015 OPA
magazine.
As the last remnants of the quincentenary
celebrations subside, I find myself in my first year ‘in
the chair’ of the OPA; having taken over from the
redoubtable Tom Nash (68-77). I pass on my thanks
and the thanks of the committee to Tom who, with his
never-ending energy, moved the Association forwards
more quickly than anyone really considered possible.
I have to say, I feel the pressure of following such a
livewire.
I am also very alive to the hangover effect left by
the quincentenary celebrations; a simply astounding
number of people made efforts to attend events and
become more involved with the School and the OPA.
I do not, for one moment, criticise those that have
slipped back from whence they came. All I can do,
having regard to the aforementioned pressure, is to
encourage you all to stay involved and connected
with us.
I left school in 1999. To some, those 16 years will be
a blink of an eye and to others that will make me
only slightly younger than Methuselah. However it is
calculated, I have always felt a very strong connection
with the School; so much so that I don’t really
consider myself an Old Pocklingtonian, more simply a
Pocklingtonian. As the years pass by, and the teachers,
who were once young move ever closer to the
centre of the school photo, my love and appreciation
for the School has not diminished. I do not refer to
the School as just the building, staff and students. For
me the School encompasses all of my experiences as
a pupil, all of the lifelong friends I made whilst there
and also the life that it has allowed me to build for
myself (albeit with a wife from QM).
There are now so many ways to stay connected
with friends, organisations and establishments, most
of which do not require any physical effort. That, in
some ways, is a little sad. Without exception, the
feedback that I personally have received is that people
have greatly enjoyed the little exertion in attending
gatherings. It is my hope that the committee and I are
able to offer frequent and well-attended events. After
all, the life blood of an organisation such as this is the
continued face-to-face contact and the goodwill that
that creates.
As I bed myself in to my time at the helm, I think
more and more about what we can offer to OPs and
how best to offer it. This year we are beginning an
initiative of mentoring for recent leavers. The hope is
that students who are new to university, and probably
the city in which it is based, can be put in touch with
an OP mentor who either shares the same degree
or works in a similar field to the one that the student
strives towards. Perhaps a little specific pastoral
assistance may make the difference in a particular
module or job application? If you are interested in
putting yourself forward to be a mentor, then please
contact Rachel in the office for more details.
The OPA team has had a slight facelift. I welcome
Sarah Gough (96-07), Richard Booth (92-02), Sophie
Guest (03-10) and, in due course, Charlie Lambert
(01-08) to the committee who each, individually,
offer different skill sets, and we say farewell to David
Moore (78-82) who steps down with my thanks and
gratitude. Tom Nash remains on the committee as ex
officio (can’t get rid of him just yet!), which means
that we lose former President Mark East (72-76)
from that role. Mark has been ever present within the
OP community since I left school – he let me off the
leash to organise the first Leeds OP dinner in 2000.
I know that he offered many words of wisdom and
encouragement to Tom during his tenure and I hope
to see Mark at forthcoming events so that he can
offer me even more.
Perhaps more obvious to you will be the absence of
Joan Gough (75-77) and Georgina Booth (96-06)
who have both left the office to further their everexpanding business interests. During their respective
tenures they worked tirelessly for the common good.
I thank them for their efforts which were above and
beyond. Speaking of which, I must thank Rachel Dare:
the OPA guru; the glue that binds us and the fuel that
propels us. Efficiency personified. There really would
be no functioning association without her. A true OP.
OPA Committee
OP Elected
President: Andrew Wilson (89-99)
Vice President: James Sweeting (81-88)
Treasurer: Caroline Dale (93-02)
Richard Booth (92-02)
Duncan Goodyear (80-85)
Joan Gough (75-77)
Sarah Gough (96-07)
Sophie Guest (03-10)
Steven Kyffin (70-77)
Henry Mitchell (91-02)
Co-opted: Charlie Lambert (01-08)
School Appointed
Mark Ronan (Headmaster)
Rachel Dare (OP Liaison Officer, OPA Secretary)
Phil Donaldson (Teaching staff)
Trevor Loten (Teaching staff and OP 70-80)
Ex Officio
Tom Nash (68-77, immediate Past President)
AGM –