On July 12 Alistair Lexden was guest of honour at speech day in Gosfield School in the prosperous north Essex countryside (and not far from Lexden). The school is a very successful member of the ever growing, and now nearly 400-strong, Independent Schools Association (ISA), of which Alistair is President. He was welcomed by the school’s Principal, Dr Sarah Welch, whom he has come to know well: she has been Chair of ISA throughout the 2015-16 academic year.
In her speech day address, Dr Welch summed the essence of the ISA: “While our schools are different, we share a commitment to our pupils’ academic progress, social and physical development, creative expression and sense of moral responsibility. We also forge partnerships that work for us and our communities”.
Gosfield is an excellent example of the things for which the ISA stands. An ‘all-through’ co-educational school of some 230 pupils aged two to eighteen, it had a 98 per cent pass rate at A-level in 2014-15. Pupils participate enthusiastically in ISA regional and national sports events. Awards were won in a recent regional ISA arts competition. Over £3,000 has been raised this year for national and local charities, including amongst the latter the Daisy charity supporting brain cancer research. Sporting facilities have been shared with local state schools.
Alistair Lexden presented a wide range of prizes to pupils of all ages not just for academic achievement, but also for sport, the arts, service to the community, leadership and teamwork—all of them hallmarks of ISA schools. He said: “in a successful school, parents, governors, teachers, and pupils will be united in a common partnership for excellence. They will be looking outwards to their local communities and the wider world. They will be looking forwards with plans for the future that will enhance the school’s achievements. Above all, they will be reinforcing the moral values without which life cannot be lived successfully. All these things are present in great strength at Gosfield”.