No . 131 The Trusty Servant boys . Again , no exams involved . Lastly , on this theme , the arrival of girls will add a new dimension to many of the discussions in Div – new perspectives , new challenges .
The changes which have generated most comment are the admission of girls and bringing back day pupils . Both are designed to increase access to the unique education which Winchester offers . Both , we believe , will strengthen the School and increase diversity of thought ( one of the School ’ s historic strengths ). The return of day pupils will increase both our links to our local community , an important goal in my view , and our ability to attract potential bursary candidates who are not keen on boarding .
This links to our desire both to increase the number of pupils on bursaries ( with an initial target of 150 by 2024 ) and to expand our relationships with local state schools , building on those we already have with Midhurst Rother and Barton Peveril . We hope to develop new forms of mutually beneficial partnerships , perhaps drawing on the lessons learned about remote teaching during the lockdowns .
The Governing Body ’ s aspiration is to make Winchester a genuinely global school ( in terms of its curriculum and mindset , not its pupil body ), with more pupils , greater diversity of intake and an open acknowledgement that we want to prepare our pupils to flourish in and contribute to a rapidly changing world . And we are determined to put an even sharper focus than before on our charitable purpose . This is the right thing to do . But it is also essential if schools such as Winchester are to be seen by the British public as contributing to the wider good – as we do and will do even more in the future .
The Warden and Headmaster in Conversation
The Warden and Headmaster field questions from Edward Haslam-Jones ( H , 17- ) and John Elwes ( D , 17- ) in a lightly edited version of an interview originally published in Quelle , Win Coll ’ s pupilproduced magazine :
Q : Why have you made the decision to let girls and day pupils into Winchester College ?
Warden : I and the Governing Body view the decisions about day pupils and the admission of girls as part of a wider process of modernising and developing the school , so it ’ s not a stand-alone decision ; it ’ s a package of changes which we believe will be good for the school . In terms of the two parts of the question , the day-pupil idea isn ’ t a very revolutionary change . When I was here there were up to 40 day pupils in the school ; when my son was here 20 years ago there were still a quite a few day pupils and two of his closest friends were day pupils who he stills keeps in contact with . The day issue is important : we want to make what we ’ re doing on the day side a bit more orderly and purposeful ; we want to try and make it easier for families in and around Winchester who are not enthused about boarding and obviously it ’ s less expensive to be a day pupil than a boarder . On the question of girls , the Governing Body viewed the issue as being about access , that we should be trying to offer the education that Winchester provides as widely as possible , or with as few exceptions as possible . We felt the goal of the School was to offer a unique education to as many people as possible .
Q : Some might say that one of the things that keep Winchester so unique was its boys-only status . Do you think this shift will change how unique Winchester is ?
HM : I think this quote by Ms Farr sums the issue up nicely : ‘ The strength of independent education is its diversity . Winchester is unique and will remain unique : the right environment for certain kinds of boys and now girls , but not all .’ Basically , the uniqueness of Winchester won ’ t change : the same type of girls with the same type of ambitions will be attracted to Winchester . I don ’ t believe anything about that will change .
Q : In an interview in 2018 with the School House Magazine you said : ‘ I ’ ve been a governor of two highly distinguished all-girls boarding schools and would never have dreamt of changing the status with either .’ You also said : ‘ I don ’ t know a single boy at Winchester who would rather be in a co-educational school .’ What has prompted you to change your view ?
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