No . 136 The Trusty Servant excellent exam results – of course we do – but one of the things we do well , is we make a commitment to an intellectual and cultural life that goes beyond the bounds of any prescribed curricula , and we live up to it . And interestingly , when I ’ ve talked to the new VIBk entrants , it ’ s the first thing they say about Winchester . And they ’ ve come , usually , from very good schools , and they say , my dons are pushing me so much further than that . And that sings to me , because that ’ s what we say we do , and these pupils are coming in from their very good schools , and they ’ re confirming it .
So it goes beyond saying , Oh , that ’ s because we ’ ve got Div , and you think it ’ s actually to do with the style up to books ; that we ’ re all walking into the room with a different idea of what teaching is .
Oh , completely ! And there are so many instances . Last time I was here , Barbara MacKinnon , who was head of MFL , in my first week discovered that I could speak German , and instantly approached me and said , ‘ Would you come and teach my A-level set some poetry ?’ – completely over-estimating , by the way , my grasp of German literature – and the other day we had a function , and there ’ s beautiful jazz piano going on in the background , and it ’ s the head of Biology who ’ s at the piano ! The Common Room are exceptional role models in this , because they ’ re not just great lovers of English literature and fervent enthusiasts for Physics , but they have their own intellectual interests : they ’ re wonderful role models of what it is to be an interested person .
And so you do feel that we ’ re hanging on to that ; that the evidence from these entrants is true ; that even if we feel that we ’ re tipping towards exam domination , the rest of the world has tipped harder ?
Already , in my certain experience , we are .
One of the questions was around traditions , Notions – which do you cherish ? Are there any which , even in the last nine years , you feel have been lost ? Is it ever right to revive a tradition , or is it always a matter of looking forward rather than backward ?
I do think there ’ s a spiritual hunger which is fed by certain forms of ceremonial and that kind of living tradition meets a need . There ’ s some contact with the numinous that you get through it . Then there are the trivial ones about toytime , tasktime , up to books , up town , and they don ’ t have that same symbolic resonance , but we are emphatically a community , and one way of creating a sense of belonging , is by having your family words , and your in-jokes – that ’ s what notions are . It ’ s a little in-joke , an inside story , and if that ’ s used in some awful way to exclude people , then that ’ s not a healthy thing , but on the whole I think they should be very intentionally preserved , for no other reason than it marks you out as a member of the community , and it ’ s these little reminders every day that you belong here .
The crucial word I hear there was ‘ intentionally ’. But you need to know the translation , so you can communicate with the rest of the world .
Correct . And there ’ s a reason that we would say Year 9 on the website , because we want to bring people in , and not make them feel excluded , but once they ’ re in , use Junior Part , because that ’ s what we are , and that ’ s what we do .
So is it ever right to revive a tradition , or are there any traditions which you feel have slipped away , that you ’ d like to resurrect ?
At lunch the other day some of the boys said that they thought there were fewer notions in play now , but I don ’ t know . The only one I haven ’ t heard yet is goive , and that was all they said when I was here last time .
And it ’ s such a useful word . It is a great word !
I haven ’ t noticed too much difference , though I did notice the change in Long Roll . Sen order in Short Roll ? I was laughing because James Fox showed me the Short Roll for 2008 the other day , and mine is the very last name , so I might put Sen order back in just so I can go right up to the top .
Any particular traditions that you want to elevate ?
Certainly not mascots ! I wrote to Ralph after XVs that year , and said ‘ the Australian football league got rid of cheerleaders fifteen years ago . We cannot have the AFL more enlightened than Winchester College .’
I think , if it has meaning , a tradition will revive organically , and if it ’ s no longer fit for purpose , it probably won ’ t .
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