Mark George, Board Chairman

has submitted a ‘View from the Top’

 

On every fell walk there is a point when the going is tough and your lungs are bursting, where you contemplate turning round. Well there is for me anyway. And the reason I don't turn round is the view from the top is always magnificent and the sense of achievement palpable. I feel a sense of contentment and satisfaction in fell walking.

There has been an analogy in my mind these last four years, since St Bees School announced closure, to the psychology of a long fell walk. Only this one has had multiple points at which it would have been so easy to stop and turn round. However the prize for keeping going, the reopening of the school and a sustainable future, has kept us all focussed on reaching the summit. And we are nearer to that summit than we ever have been as I write this note.

The 6th of September 2018 was a great day when the school reopened its doors. I was in China in October 2019 supporting Full Circle at the launch ceremonies of their first two St Bees Schools in China. Both of those schools are, despite yet another challenge thrown up by the coronavirus, in line to open in September 2020, another key milestone. And the school here in St Bees looks like having 50 pupils, many from overseas, continuing the growth of the school and its reputation.

The children here at St Bees are happy and loving their time at the school. A new generation of Old St Beghians is receiving an education that does justice to that which the readers of this publication look back on. As current Chair of the charitable trust set up in 1583 by Archbishop Grindal, and on behalf of the Trustees, I would like to thank the children, their parents, the staff, the leadership team, Full Circle and the myriad of others who have contributed to bringing us this far up the mountain. Life will continue to throw obstacles in the way - who would have thought a global pandemic would have added to the risk of sustainability - but we can sense the summit and everyone involved I know has the resolve to get there and reap the rich rewards that will flow from achieving our goal.

 

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