A walk from Vince House towards South Terrace with the beautifully manicured South Field pitches to my side, always reminds me of the juxtaposition of the serenity of our school grounds and the busy life that goes on outside our campus in Birmingham, the UK’s second city. This relationship between our school and the city reaffirms our duty to the community which we serve. Service, the S in CAS (Creative, Activity, Service), is as you are well aware a core element of the IB Diploma programme. This is the way the IB seeks to foster and develop those all-important attributes and skills – problem-solving, teamwork and leadership, inventiveness, adaptability, resilience and the capacity to care for and support others.
I know CAS will continue to grow and flourish within the school in all year groups. Our pupils and staff are as active as ever in their efforts to contribute to their communities. The current lockdown has inspired many feats of sporting heroism: George Browning and James Fair’s heroic cycle ride, and the key production of PPE in the Design department as well as other ways of community building, like Mrs Higgins’ pancake cook along. This newsletter will give you more insight into the commitment and creativity of our pupils, staff and parents and alumni body, as all involve themselves in different ways, in contributing to community wellbeing. We’ll be delighted to receive parents’ tales from lockdown. This culture of local and global citizenship is absolutely at the heart of an IB education, and I have been overwhelmed by the warmth of effort and empathy in all those connected with King Edward’s School.
I have tried to lead by at least modest example! My efforts at creativity revolve primarily around the kitchen: cooking new and delicious food. I particularly enjoyed my Keralan fish curry and fusion Asian beef noodle salad. The ice creams you have heard about elsewhere! My activity revolves around mopping the floor and hoovering the house, running rather gently three times round the South Field from time to time and pacing the streets of Selly Park, Edgbaston, Harborne and Hagley Road, admiring Birmingham’s domestic architecture. I seek to serve the school as well as I possibly can in this time, talking to parents, pupils and staff online and at a safe distance where possible, and giving away what I can. A trip to the shoe bank beckons and I hope some of my pillow cases may now have become scrub bags!
The purpose of this newsletter is to celebrate and foster this community spirit, and I hope you will enjoy reading about the boys’ experience and efforts. I think all of us enjoy sharing our efforts with others, and I am impressed and delighted by the approach of our pupils.
Do please keep in touch with us throughout!
