Dear parents
I wanted to write to all families to introduce myself and to say how very fortunate I feel to have been asked to be Headmaster of Whitgift School for the next year. For those who would like to watch a short video where I introduce myself, there is a link to click below. This letter contains everything from the video but also other updates on VAT, exam results and suchlike.
Previously, I was Headmaster of Magdalen College School in Oxford for ten years and then of King’s Wimbledon for 13 years. I have also been Honorary Principal of King’s International in Bangkok since my retirement, run an educational charity and given lectures in America on Charles Dickens.
I was delighted when I was asked to become Whitgift’s interim Headmaster for the year ahead. I have enormous admiration for this school, but I admit that I also had a special reason for being so happy to help out. I was a newly appointed English teacher at Whitgift School in September 1984; it was here I met Mlle Véronique Le Droff, who, as the new French assistante, had started on the same day as me. We got married while I was still teaching here, and exactly 40 years on, here we both are again! I have another Foundation link: I was Deputy Head of Trinity School at one point, too.
I love the way Whitgift commits to every aspect of a boy’s life in those incredible, life-shaping and transformational years between 10 and 18. Sport has always been massive here, and everyone knows what a huge role Whitgift has played in producing international sportsmen over the years. Academically, Whitgift has always aimed high with a wonderful mix of boys, and our results this year across IB, A Level and GCSE demonstrate this. But there are so many other ways in which this school has lit sparks in young lives: music, drama, the armed forces, the Foreign Office, the BBC, medicine, academia; entrepreneurs, entertainers, public servants – Whitgiftians seem determined to get out there, get involved and when asked, to lead from the front.
I believe schools must provide positive role models, positive opportunities, positive beliefs. There is much beauty in the world, in life, and in humanity, even if traditional and social media create the opposite impression. Great schools, like this one, must help young people to carry on the Whitgift tradition of committing to life, committing to a team, a family, a society, and trying to make things a little better every day. We need to teach not only self-belief, but also a love of others, and a recognition that other people matter just as much as we do. Compassion, commitment, love, tolerance – these are not entirely inborn, but taught, developed, coaxed and understood from examples around us.
I loved meeting some of the boys and their parents on GCSE results day and I look forward to getting to know you over the year ahead. Meet-the-Tutor evenings will also be an early opportunity for me to meet many of you.
I know this isn’t an easy year with the imposition of 20% VAT on school fees. One of my jobs is to try to run the school as economically as I can without damaging what makes us the school we are, and trying to ensure fees are kept under control. My successor will be Mr Seth, and he and I meet frequently. We get on very well and tend to see things the same way, so I am sure we will have a smooth transition in September, just as Mr Ramsey so kindly devoted much time to ensuring I was well informed as I took up the reins myself.
Whitgift is a real community – former pupils, current pupils, prospective pupils, all represent a massive cross section of families both in the UK, and thanks to our wonderful boarders, across the world too. What an honour it is to be the servant of this diverse and ambitious school. I hope I get to see you in person soon.
That is where my video introduction ends, but this letter allows me a little more space to expand on some key points.
VAT and costs
First, I will return to the question of VAT. The governors, the Director of Finance and Operations and I have been in many discussions, looking at the figures for our school. The first thing to say is that, even before making any allowances for possible VAT-led fee reductions from January 2025, or the loss of business rates relief next April, our school surplus for the current academic year (24/5) provides us with only limited room for manoeuvre, as we know will be true of many schools.
It is true the school has some reserves, but these are inevitably finite! So: we have to find a balance, without ever forgetting the enormous faith you as parents place in us to do the right thing, and to understand how hard times are for so many people.
Thank you for staying so loyal to Whitgift and trusting us to work together to plan very carefully for the future. As we have said before, we don’t want to lose anything that makes Whitgift so special, so broad, so exciting – so committed to a life of purpose and of giving – but there will surely be savings we can make, and we will focus on these as time goes on.
Fees in January and April, and then for 25/6
There will still be detail we won’t know until the budget in late October, but we understand parents need clarity sooner than that. The Chairman of Governors will write soon with further clarification confirming the figure by which we can reduce the current fee from January for two terms.
I can also say with regard to the fee for 25/6 that the governors’ intention is for the school to ensure that any fee rise should be as affordable as possible. The last few years have been expensive ones for schools like ours, not least given the government’s requirement that we make a substantial additional contribution to the national (and unfunded) teacher pension scheme. This has meant that recent fee rises at Whitgift have been significant and we are bearing that in mind as we plan ahead.
Public examination results this summer
There has been considerable discussion in the press about the resetting of academic standards after the pandemic and comparisons have been drawn with the Public Exam Results of 2019. It is therefore particularly pleasing that Whitgift’s 2024 GCSE results outstrip our results back in 2019 by several percentage points in all key categories: over 40% of all grades this year were at grade 9 (compared to 32.8% in 2019) and the 9-7 rate was 86%. In other words, in broad terms, a little under 90% of all this year’s GCSE grades at Whitgift were equivalent to “old school” A* and A grades.
Results from the Upper Sixth cohort were also very impressive. At A Level, over a quarter of the grades awarded were an A* and the A*-B rate was 92%. In the IB, the students gained an average points score of 37.3 (out of a total of 45); this compares favourably with other UK schools (the Global Average is 30.3). Behind these statistics lies the more interesting human story which is that the vast majority of our 2024 leavers are now set up to proceed to a whole range of university courses, both in this country and further afield. A big thank you to the Sixth Form and Higher Education Teams who have supported this cohort through their studies and the university application process; I am confident that the sound teaching and thorough approach to learning which these pupils have experienced at Whitgift will equip them well for their future study. Congratulations to all pupils who worked hard for these excellent results.
I must thank Mr Munks who has been a great guide to me as I settle in and who has kindly taken on the role of Deputy Head (Academic) for the coming terms while we consider the best way to organise the Senior Leadership Team at Whitgift.
A new Senior Deputy
My successor, Mr Seth, and I were both very impressed by the wide field of candidates for Senior Deputy, including senior colleagues at leading schools across the UK. We both knew there was an exceptional candidate within the school – Mrs Attenborough, appointed as Deputy Head (Academic) by Mr Ramsey last year – and after we had met all sorts of gifted candidates, the selection panel was unanimous that Mrs Attenborough was the best choice for our school. I must say she has been a joy to work with.
Staff, boys, parents – and the spare Headmaster
Although I don’t formally start until 1st September, of course there has been much to do over recent months to ensure I am ready to do this job as well as possible: Mrs Attenborough’s phenomenal work ethos, her focus and support have helped more than I can say. Her predecessor, Mr Cresswell, also provided much thoughtful and generous guidance, as of course did Mr Ramsey. But I must add that every colleague I have met so far at Whitgift, within both the teaching and support staff, has been open, friendly and supportive. Senior staff with whom I have already had meetings have been strikingly impressive in their dedication to making the school as good as it can be for every boy. Everyone has been very welcoming of a new “interim Head” – or, as someone recently said to me, “Oh, so you’re the spare Headmaster!” I did like that description.
It has been lovely to meet former Whitgift pupils of mine over the last few terms – one was the brigadier conducting the CCF Annual General Inspection! It has been very exciting to learn that four recent Whitgift leavers represented their country in the Olympics, and just the other day I was reading of OW Jamie Smith’s 111 against Sri Lanka. I know I am going to keep hearing of other astonishing stories like this.
I now look forward to meeting as many current pupils as I can, and, at the same time, finding out from my colleagues throughout the school what they admire about Whitgift, and areas they think we could improve. With just a year in post, I need to learn a lot very quickly. Even as Headmaster for just a year, I want to ensure Whitgift goes from strength to strength, and that Mr Seth enjoys the best possible start when he joins the school in September 2025.
As I have said, I hope to get to know lots of parents at all the Meet-the-Tutor evenings and many other events during the term ahead. Please always feel very free to approach me if you want to share a concern or, of course, something positive you want to tell me!
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Halls
Headmaster
