Framlinghamian 2022 - Flipbook - Page 11
SPEECH DAY
community. And then we have the teaching
staff. What quality there is here and how
lucky are the boys and girls here to have
staff who so routinely go the extra mile
on their behalf – both in and out of the
classroom. They work very hard and have
been open to a number of new ideas and
emphases during my time here. We have
had a real focus on developing our best
teaching practice in recent years and there
are some very exciting things going on in
the classroom at Framlingham College at
the moment. The classroom here is now an
open, undefensive and collaborative space
and we are all learning from each other.
There should not be anyone on any staff
who believes they are the finished article:
if you feel you have nothing to learn then
it is probably time to stop, and I’m pleased
to say that there is a great and growing
culture of lifelong learning among the staff
here. I’d like to take this opportunity to
thank them publicly – and personally - for
the support they have given me through
these past 10 years: they are a hugely
dedicated, professional and accomplished
bunch and it has been a privilege to work
with them.
I am in particular grateful to my senior
team who have been so, so supportive,
work so, so hard and who have as open a
door policy – to staff and pupils - as I have
known at any school. What a difference
their professionalism and talent will make
to Louise North’s start here in September.
I should not mention individuals, but I
do want to say a special thank you to
Susan Wessels as my Senior Deputy: we
have known each other a long time, have
different – but I hope complementing
- strengths and weaknesses but very
much a shared fundamental educational
philosophy, and it has been a pleasure and
a joy – and great fun to work with her. As
one parent wrote on leaving last year: ‘So
talking of Susan…how long have you got
as I could fill a text book! There’s good...
there’s great...and then there’s Susan
whom everyone adores and respects in
equal measure.’ I can only agree.
And I’d like to finish with the most important
element in any school: the pupils. I know
that in my teaching career I have learnt so
much more from them than they have from
me and it is they who make schools such
exciting, alive and inspiring places to be. I
have always said that the great appeal to
me about Fram pupils is how well-earthed
they are. We cannot escape that this is a
hugely privileged environment in which to
grow and learn, but I have always found
the boys and girls here to be grounded
and unaffected; this is not what I call a
‘flicky-blond hair’ school and there is no
sense of entitlement here (and entitlement
is something I rail against). I have always
loved the easy relationship our students
have with each other and with staff. Many
writers have used the analogy of the ‘road
through life’ and the choices that we all
have to make at so many points along that
road. Whatever our ages in here, we are
all on our own personal journey through
life, and we can have no comprehension
of what triumphs or disasters, what joys
or sorrows lie beyond the next corner. You
boys and girls here are just at the start of
your journeys, but really all that separates
you from me is perhaps the benefit of
experience and being able to get those
triumphs and disasters, joys and sorrows
into some greater sense of perspective.
There have been many decisions that I
have had to make in my life, each one of
course contributing to where – and who - I
am now. I am faced with another major
crossroads now: I don’t know if I have
made the right decision to leave Fram; I
love this place and my family are happy
and settled. Leaving a secure job with no
real idea of ‘what next’ is very scary: but
then again, as many of you will have heard
me say many times, most worthwhile things
in life are a little scary – otherwise we are
probably not stretching ourselves out of
our comfort zone. So… I am certainly not
claiming that I have got all my decisions
right – who does? – but that is not the
point; the point is that, having made those
decisions, to commit to them and to make
the best of them (and, as Sartre said,
‘commitment is an act not a word’).
With each choice you make about
some decision or action you are saying
something about yourself and your values,
and such little decisions will compound
to shape the person you become. There
is no text book for this: of course you can
take advice from family and friends, but
in the end it is down to your judgement.
Judgement cannot easily be taught, but
the values that underpin that judgement
are fostered by places such as schools,
families and friends, and to a degree
this is what – for me – schools are all
about. Once you know the principles that
you want to underpin your life then you
have a framework for decision making,
and you then have to back yourself and,
importantly, shoulder the responsibility of
the consequences of the decisions that
you make. It is never too early to start
taking that responsibility. For all its faults,
this school is not a bad place in which to
form the value-set that will underpin the
decisions you will face in life; it is a very
special school: cherish it, value it, protect it
– and, please, have the confidence always
to be true to who you are.
So thank you boys and girls: you are an
inspiration – and also great fun to be
around and you give me great faith for our
future. Just make sure that you allow hope
to always triumph over fear.
So there we are. 10 years of genuine
pleasure and joy for me and while Amanda
and I leave here today with a heavy heart
it still feels the right thing to do: I’ve always
believed it is best to move on when you
still love your job and – perhaps - when
people might just want a year or two more
out of you, and we do still love it here: but
I sincerely believe that this is the right time
for fresh eyes.
And of course my final thank you is the
most heartfelt. Amanda. If this has been
a successful headship it has been our
success – very much a shared one – and I
would be half the Head I have been without
Amanda (and my family) being behind me.
I simply cannot imagine how it could be
done any other way. And I don’t mean that
in any paternalistic way – quite the opposite
actually, and anyone involved in this school
will know what Amanda has brought to
this community: through her amazing
leadership of FramSoc and the creation of
Soul Food – but mostly simply through who
she is both in the school and, of critical
importance, in the wider community. When
I left my last school the valete message in
the school magazine wrote: ‘although it is
clear that we would lose Paul we feel really
cheated that Amanda has to go too’ – and
I suspect Fram is feeling the same today.
Amanda - I just feel truly blessed that we
have been in this together, and I look
forward to being ‘post important’ with you.
Thank you.
MR PAUL TAYLOR
HEADMASTER
FRAMLINGHAM COLLEGE
THE FRAMLINGHAMIAN 2019
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