Headmaster’s Weekly Comment: 13/8/12

When I took up the job as Headmaster in 1989, I had a vision for the school which included establishing it squarely in the fine tradition of education in the English speaking world; a tradition that has always had at its heart the rigorous teaching of classical languages.
There is an erroneous idea floating about in education that what the children learn should be relevant .  I have mentioned before that the idea of relevance is a red herring, simply because, in a world where the audio cassette is a museum piece, and the CD and the video store are on their way out as well, no one knows what the world will look like in ten or twenty years.
The things a child needs to learn which will be relevant are things which don t change like the ability to think and attend; honesty, resilience and compassion.  I was recently asked to deliver an after dinner speech at the Classical languages Teachers Association.  In it I listed some reasons for teaching Sanskrit and Latin, which make these subjects very relevant: