THE WYKEHAM JOURNAL 2021
WINCHESTER ’ S UNIQUE TEACHING ETHOS ALLOWED ME TO DEVELOP IN WAYS THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE .
in the Sixth Form and build two new boarding houses to accommodate them . I ’ ve been able to interview Ali Harber , the new Deputy Head ( Pastoral ), who has come to Winchester from Benenden to oversee this change . I asked her whether Winchester College would be a truly coeducational school , or whether it would remain a boys ’ school with a larger number of girls in it . The distinction is important — Nick Ferguson bravely admitted that decisions on admitting girls to the school were driven at least in part from feedback from OWs who confessed that they left the school at 18 not understanding much about women . No comment ; but in grasping this issue and taking a decision to change course , the school has shown that it is not afraid to make changes of the most significant order . Or as Nick put it , it was decided that what had happened for the previous 600 years mattered less than what would happen in the future . I hope you enjoy what he and Ali had to say .
Elsewhere it ’ s been great to hear about the fabric of daily life in the school , in normal times and in the COVID period . I spoke to ex-Collegeman William Leung , who did much of his distance learning during lockdown from Hong Kong , where his family lives . The resilience of the school in adapting to the requirements of online learning has been inspiring , particularly in a community which in regular times thrives on social interaction . I ’ ve also interviewed the inspirational Clare Talks , who supports so much of the school ’ s social outreach work as Head of Community Service . I remembered my own experiences doing CS fondly — although I recall they mainly consisted of dragging a cart full of recyclables over to the municipal tip . Clare has fostered a far wider range of activities , including studying the unique chalk stream habitat of the Itchen . Finally I was able to learn about the life of AD Gillespie , whose poetry inspired War Cloister and whose
18