Be remembered for the tone you set

Routh Address March 17

Extracts from Tom Brown’s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes
Tom had to clean his master's study, brush his clothes, fetch his breakfast, and do all the other menial offices which fell to the lot of a fag. He was not allowed to sit down in his master's presence, and had to bear all sorts of bullying and bad language without a murmur. [It was normal for a younger boy to have his] play-hours occupied in fagging, in a horrid funk of cricket and footballs, and the violent sport of creatures who, to him, are giants. He goes to his bed in fear and trembling,—worse than the reality of the rough treatment to which he is perhaps subjected.

Last Thursday, some of us (pupils, parents, Old Bromsgrovians and staff) were fortunate to hear Gary Hughes deliver the annual Foundation Lecture. Gary, an Old Bromsgrovian and former member of Lupton House from 1987 to 1992, has built a remarkable career at Sky TV. For the past decade, he has been the Director of Football at Sky, overseeing all football coverage, managing pundits, and developing new opportunities to ensure Sky remains a leader in sports broadcasting.

Gary's talk was excellent. He shared fascinating insights into his work, and it was clear he genuinely enjoys his role – something we hope everyone experiences whatever career paths they choose. He also spoke fondly of his time at School, reminiscing about the many sporting opportunities he had here and the valuable skills and values he gained, which have served him well throughout his working life.

A few moments ago, Ibby shared a reading from Tom Brown's Schooldays. Written by Thomas Hughes and published in 1857, the novel tells the story of Tom Brown who was a pupil at an English boarding school around two hundred years ago. It offers a glimpse into the lives of pupils, mostly from very wealthy families, including their lessons, sport, chapel and experiences of living and working alongside each other – much like we do today. However, the book also depicts what we would consider to be harsh discipline, corporal punishment, bullying, and a hierarchical system whereby younger pupils acted as servants to older ones - known as fagging, and that often lead to bullying.

That practice continued for decades after the book was written. Even though we all would consider it wrong for younger pupils to be forced to serve older ones simply because they were younger, as recently as the 1980s, that practice was taking place at any many schools, Bromsgrove included. Gary Hughes, in his talk last Thursday, shared how "dowls," pupils in the fourth form, were expected to spend their break times cleaning up after sixth formers, running errands, polishing their CCF boots, and so on – all while getting used to life in a new school themselves.

I hope this seems completely unacceptable to us now, but that was how things were 40 or so years ago. Amazingly, it seems new pupils expected to have to do these tasks. When Mr. Hughes asked his allocated sixth former, who happened to be the Head of School, what duties he would be required to carry out, he was told, "To be honest, I think you’ll need some time for yourself; I might occasionally ask you to collect something for me, but otherwise, I have always believed that you should treat others as you would like them to treat you."

In a world where the concept of a "dowl" seems completely alien, I hope the idea of a Sixth Former treating a Fourth Former as an equal is perfectly normal even if that wasn’t the case in Gary Hughes’ time. He remembers this individual particularly fondly because he did just that, even though he was four years younger. Moreover, he explained on Thursday that he remembers the reason the Sixth Former gave for treating him kindly – and he has always tried to take that approach himself with everyone he has worked with.

I am sure that, in the past, I have referred to the American writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. One of her most well-known quotes is, "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Even though he was a new, younger pupil at a time when older pupils were supposed to be treated with deference, Gary Hughes remembers being treated with kindness, and that has stayed with him ever since. I hope all of us will be remembered well: for what we have achieved ourselves and with others, in the classroom and out – but also for the tone we have set, the values we have lived, and the kindness we have shown others around us, regardless of who they are. For those who are new, or a little nervous, or yet to find their tribe, those tiny acts of kindness – a smile, a hello, or a friendly chat – can make a huge difference and although those acts may may be forgotten by the people who made them, others may well remember them forever.