SCHOOL NOTES

From the Headmaster

By Robin Silk

Dear Old St Beghians,

I have now been Head of St Bees School for four months and I have quickly grown to love the place - both the school and the village. I know you will all agree that there is something very special about the place indeed and that what happened in 2015 with closure should never be allowed to come to pass a further time.

I have already begun to engage with the OSBs and particularly enjoyed meeting a number of you down in London at a recent gathering. What has struck me thus far is the incredible sense of camaraderie and genuine love of the old place that exist amongst the OSBs and all other people associated with the school. It has made me even more determined to ensure the school thrives into the future. 

In spite of the difficulties caused by closure in 2015 and the subsequent reopening and all the challenges this entailed, alongside the not inconsiderable hurdle of the Covid pandemic that continues to plague us, the school’s renewed green shoots seem to be flourishing once again. We had 74 students start the 2021-22 academic year and with that increasing to 76 for the beginning on the Spring Term, signs are very promising that we will grow to over 100 for September 2022. We are also very happy that the new school’s first set of public exam results were superb, with 80% A*/A and 100% A* to B across IGCSE, AS and A Level. Our first graduate is off to Edinburgh University to read Maths and Statistics. The school is different from what it once was, but it is still aiming to educate local and international students with a high-quality, values-based offering that prepares our young people academically, socially and emotionally to be leaders of the future.

Full Circle and Danny Wang have certainly been critical to the success of this reopening and will continue to be so into the future, but we will also be working with the OSBs and drawing on the largesse of former alumni to help us develop this beautiful campus, which continues to be owned by St Bees School Trust, who will always support the educational side of the school. It is also very exciting that we now have two St Bees Schools in China and a further St Bees international section of a third school; certainly different times, but with the same determination to ensure this great old school has every success going forward.

I look forward to meeting many more of you at future gatherings and will endeavour to attend all that take place, including the North East Dinner and the Cumbria Dinner at Armathwaite Hall in May. We will also be arranging something in conjunction with the OSBs at the school itself, and we have set the weekend of 17-19 June as the most likely time for this. In the meantime, you will always be welcome to pop in and visit us on spec. In which case we will arrange a tour of your alma mater at very short notice. 

Lastly, I would like to encourage you to get more involved with the school again. Pam Rumney has sent a number of communications in the past asking for your agreement to send through marketing and fundraising material on behalf of the School/Trust/OSBs. Thus far, of 2000+ OSBs, just over 700 have consented to this and only 200 others have replied to the communication. It is really important therefore that at the very least everyone makes an effort to reply and obviously we very much hope that is in the affirmative. There is a form that you can fill in enclosed with the postal Bulletin (WORD or PDF) or you can go to the online form here and complete the information on your phone, tablet or computer.

Many thanks for your attention on this issue and I hope to meet many of you in due course.   

Best wishes,

Robin Silk,
Headmaster.

 

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The St Beghian Society    
St Bees School,    St Bees,    Cumbria,    CA27 0DS.

         Tel: (01946) 828093      Email: osb@stbeesschool.co.uk      Web: www.st-beghian-society.co.uk