Bo r l a s i a n 2 0 1 3
The Borlasian
2013
Head Teacher’s Foreword
The school’s quondam near-neighbour, the poet T. S. Eliot,
once wrote that
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
School magazines are, inevitably, largely concerned
with the immediate past, and as you will read in the
coming pages, our recent past has been memorable,
even set against the achievements of our near 400-year
history. Just a year ago when I wrote the foreword to
the last magazine, we were eagerly anticipating our next
Ofsted inspection. This took place last June, and we are
very proud of the results: outstanding in every aspect of
school activity. The governors shared our pride, but quite
rightly they immediately began to challenge the school’s
leadership and staff to use this not as an end point, but
as a stepping stone to further achievement. Our students
have not disappointed – within weeks our rowers won
the school’s first ever Henley gold medal; we have had
Borlasians in winning boats at Henley in the past, but
never have we won under our own school name. Exam
results, the touchstone of any school’s health, were among
our best ever in August, and during the course of the year
our boys won a national hockey championship. That rates
as a gold star year in anyone’s reckoning. A few weeks ago
we celebrated the long life of service, above all to young
people, as teacher andultimately as Headmaster of SWBGS,
of Roy Smith. It was wonderful to attend his memorial
service in All Saint’s Church, where Roy would have taken
generations of Borlasians for important school events,
and to see so many of his old pupils in attendance. I was
also touched by how many of his colleague headteachers,
who had led schools across the country alongside Roy,
were present. It was a touching tribute to the esteemwith
which he was held by all who knew him.
Our present is also looking positive. Our examination
students have gained offers at outstanding universities;
our staff are, as ever, doing outstanding, and all too-
often largely unheralded work, and our pupils continue
to develop and then exemplify the sorts of values that
the school has always fostered. As you will read, in all
imaginable fields, Borlasians continue to strive for – and
achieve – excellence. I am, as always, immensely proud
of them, and, as ever, it is worth noting that Borlasians
continue to give generously of their time and talents to
support others. Our projects have involved us in working
in many local schools, in supporting countless charities,
in playing our part in the Marlow community, and, we are
delighted to see, preparing to establish a new partnership
with schools in Uganda, where two teams of our young
people will spend several weeks this summer.
As Eliot suggests, the future depends upon, and emerges
from, our past and present, so we can anticipate that we
will move forward with confidence. Our links with our Old
Borlasians appear to have entered a new and ever stronger
phase, andwewere delighted that they decided to support
the improvements to our chapel this year. We are also
delighted to announce that we now have a Development
Office which has been set up to encourage fundraising
within the Borlase community, as well as renewing and
developing alumni relations with our Old Borlasians.
Building relationships will be important in driving forward
our strategic direction plan for the future. An annual
review giving further details will be made available near
the end of 2013. If, then, our future is contained within
our past and present, then I can confidently predict great
things as we move into the final decade of our fourth
century as a school.
Dr Holding
