A day riddled with memories and lore from our own childhoods. Those legends of derring do that seemed like something out of a Nigel Molesworth story (for those of us that remember such things!)… For one, that rumour that Bobby Blenkinsop managed to appear at both ends of the photograph one year by starting at the far left and then running behind the staging, reaching the other end before the camera plate exposure completed, so managing to get in the picture twice. Or the classic where Martin Micklethwaite was mid-screech as the shutter came down after having his ear flicked by Dennis Duckworth behind him. Or the old chestnut where the Jenkins twins made a pact to stick their tongues out behind the Headmaster… 

Fantastic fun as such japes would have been, as Headmaster I am pleased to say that there wasn’t a whisper of shenanigans when yesterday’s school photograph took place! A school photograph is, of course, about putting your best self forward as a school; having everyone look smart, happy and presenting well. The reality is that this end result is often preceded by an hour of stress and semi-chaos as hundreds of people are marshalled into order and onto staging. In other words, what you see at the end isn’t quite the truth of what goes on ‘behind the scenes’: it’s simply a projection of a ‘best self forward’ veneer to the occasion. 

I regularly talk to boys about the true mark of good character being when you put your best self forward even when you don’t ‘have to’, when no one’s ‘watching’, when there isn’t a necessity or obvious benefit to doing so, and so good character is emphatically not a veneer. And I honestly feel that the conduct of every single boy at the photograph yesterday epitomised this…  

Speaking as someone who had to coordinate the school photograph process for several years as a Deputy Head, it has the potential to be one of the most stressful hours of the year! Getting 240 boys coordinated to achieve the whole process as smoothly as possible is no mean feat. However, the boys did it all brilliantly, by following the one request to stay silent unless told otherwise. And they did. Fantastically. Showing super collective spirit to one another.  

From lining up in Years in height order in the yard, smartening up, walking to the south side of the cathedral, following the instructions of the photography company assistants and positioning properly on the raked stands, standing between the heads of the people in front of them, waiting in near silence while 300 other pupils and staff get in position, facing the camera (you’d be surprised…), having 7 or 8 photographs taken, and descending safely and calmly, they were an absolute credit. So much so, that the photographer said to the boys that for all the years he’d been doing school photographs, he'd never had a school do it all so well! It seems small in the grand scheme of all the other things the boys achieve across a year, but we were very proud of them. 

Yes, ok, in the lead up there were staff around and the boys were still in public and ‘on show’, but what you actually see when the photograph comes out IS in fact the reality of the behind-the-scenes lead-up. With all the busyness of late and how tired they no doubt all are, what great character and collective spirit they’d shown. And my thanks too to those staff who were also very much involved in achieving such a smooth outcome.  

Well done, boys! We’re entering the final straight now… 

Tim Butcher
Headmaster