It is tempting to point at a building – it really is an incredible building – but schools are ultimately communities of people, united by shared experiences and memories. The things that matter most will endure. Summer Suns are Glowing will continue to be sung. Friendships will continue to be formed. Young people will continue to challenge themselves, discover new talents and create memories that last a lifetime.
A few weeks ago, five boys arrived for one of my lessons after lunch. Four were wearing only one shoe and one was wearing no shoes at all. Their explanation was that a football had become stuck in a tree in the bottom playground and, in an attempt to recover it, they had thrown their shoes into the branches. Unfortunately, the shoes had become stuck too. Looking, I suspect, fairly exasperated, I was reassured by one of the boys: “It is okay, Mr Park. We got the ball back.”
Good job, boys!
In some ways, that exchange captures exactly what I will remember most about Stewart’s Melville College: friendship, good humour and the innocent mischief that fills every school day. Those things are not going anywhere!
This is also a fitting moment to recognise colleagues who will be leaving at the end of the session. Inevitably, that number is higher than usual this year. Between them, our departing teaching staff represent 292 years of service to the school. That remarkable figure speaks volumes about their commitment to generations of young people and to the community they have helped build. We thank them sincerely for all they have contributed and wish them every success and happiness in the future.
Their legacy can be seen in the young people they leave behind. As I said in my Christmas letter, there is a great deal of confident nonsense spoken by the grownups about the young. Yet after nearly forty years in this school, boy and man, I find myself remarkably unconcerned. If these boys are any indication of what lies ahead, then Erskine Stewart Melville has a very bright future indeed.
