Keep Calm and Carry On

Headmaster’s Routh Assembly Address
Monday 2nd March 2020


Excerpt from “The Bromsgrovian” December 1918
Influenza, Spanish Influenza, Malarial Fever, Trench Fever, Septic Pneumonia, call it what you will, we have had it: practically everyone in the School has had it. At our lowest ebb there were but forty survivors, while six of the staff, 5 nurses, and the School doctor simultaneously succumbed.

The one remaining School Monitor had to read the lesson in Chapel every morning and is now suffering from a sore throat. The remaining senior and junior pupils acted as one form and one day the first and second Maths sets and the CCF were represented by just four persons.

In School House, seventy were down, and the Headmaster and his Deputy discovered a long-dormant talent for bed making. Several of the household staff were laid up, and the Matron’s familiar figure appeared down the passage, expelling monotony from many a weary spirit.

Now, happily, all is over, and the victims have gradually returned to active life, all save three or four of the worst cases, whose convalescence has required a longer holiday, and who will no doubt return next term completely recovered.

Good morning
“HappyBirthdaytoyouHappyBirthdaytoyouHappyBirthdaydearanyoneHappyBirthdaytoyou.”

My brothers and sisters and I got very good at saying that very quickly when we were young. Our mother insisted that we not only washed our hands regularly, but that we did so properly. With soap and water for at least the time it took to sing a verse of “Happy Birthday to you.”

Funny how, in this modern world, that simple household habit from the past is now the single best thing that we can do to protect ourselves from the COVID-19 virus that is sweeping the planet. For all the isolated cruise ships, quarantine centres, doctors in HazMat suits and scientists frantically seeking a vaccine, the best way you can protect yourself is to simply do what we all get taught as little children. Wash your hands. Cough into a tissue. Keep your fingers away from your nose and mouth.

Illness has always been part of the human condition of course. Something we all must endure. Human ingenuity has managed to put a smart phone in each of your pockets, but we still haven’t found a cure for the common cold. Which, as you may or may not know, is a coronavirus. The same family as COVID-19. COVID-19 is just a super-charged version and obviously much worse. It is now in 50 countries and has killed over 3000 people. Which sounds bad, but don’t forget that ordinary influenza kills 85,000 people worldwide every year.

Thankfully, most who will get COVID-19 won’t die. However, it is certainly unpleasant. It begins by infecting the small hair-like cells that line your lungs. When that happens in a normal cold, your body’s immune system sends its own cells to contain them. With COVID-19 though, the virus can replicate very quickly, before your body has a chance to prevent it with an immune response.

The virus then goes berserk, what scientists call a "cytokine storm” and your immune system responds by throwing everything it has into the battle. At which point, it's not just the virus doing damage to the body; your own immune system is wreaking havoc, causing inflammation as well. Then, as the virus gets deeper into your lungs, it starts to damage your alveoli, the air sacs that take in oxygen. Meaning that your heart must work harder to get limited oxygen to the rest of the organs.

Hence, the three symptoms that everyone is on the lookout for. Fever, from the inflammation caused as your body produces masses of immune cells. A dry cough, as your lungs try to expel the dead virus cells. And tiredness, because your lungs are compromised, and your heart can’t get enough oxygen into your blood. Which sounds nasty and it is, but unless you have an existing medical problem with your respiratory system, getting COVID-19 is unlikely to kill you. You will probably be bedridden and in need of care, but you will recover.

Therefore, with the virus spreading so aggressively, the worry is not so much about dying but rather, what happens if large numbers of people all get sick at the same time. What happens to a community when everybody is laid up in bed for a week or two?

The reading this morning was an insight into exactly that. What life was like here at our own School, when the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 reached Bromsgrove. The Spanish Flu, as it was also known, was an unusually deadly pandemic. It infected approximately 500 million people, about a quarter of the world’s population at the time. The death toll was estimated to have been around 50 million people, although it could possibly have been as high as 100 million. Making it one of the deadliest epidemics in human history.


As you heard from Lucia, here at Bromsgrove, many boarders were confined to bed and when the staff looking after them began to fall ill, others stepped in to care for them. Including the Headmaster, the great Mr Routh, doing the rounds, making beds, tending to the sick.

As is the case with the Coronavirus today, how badly the disease affected individual people was a function of how strong their immune system was. In the aftermath of the Spanish Flu epidemic, people became very aware of the importance of being healthy, eating well and getting regular exercise. So much so that here in the School, Headmaster Routh announced a new rule. He gave the Head of School the power to call a holiday each year, on a day of his choosing, to ensure that the pupils all had a chance to go outside and get some fresh air. Before you all start harassing Seb and Phoebe though, the day had to be during the Winter (which is pretty much over now) and it was to be spent outdoors doing physical exercise.  

So, the Spanish Flu laid Bromsgrove low for a while. We are hopeful, of course, that it won’t come to that this time. But if it did, what would we do? In the words of that rather over-used British saying from the Second World War, we would simply “Keep Calm and Carry On.” We have coped with outbreaks of measles, norovirus and the season flu in recent years. We would cope with this. Adjustments would be made, solutions would be found and, to use Miss Scannell’s favourite phrase, people would muck in. It would be a crisis, but it wouldn’t be a disaster.

By way of example of people making the best of a challenging situation, it is a pleasure to welcome the Headmistress of Bromsgrove Mission Hills, Mrs Packman, and a number of her staff to our assembly this morning. They were out of China on holiday in January when the virus struck and have been unable to return to since.

Our school in Shenzhen has now temporarily closed as a precaution, but Mrs Packman and her team continue to teach their pupils, holding lessons using WeChat and videoconferencing. Given the difference in time zone, that means many of them are sitting up teaching late into the night, which is admirable. They are also joining us here this week for a bit of unexpected professional development.

Just like Bromsgrove School 100 years ago, they are pressing on and making the best of the situation. If COVID-19 finds its way to sleepy little Bromsgrove, we will do the same. We will care for you as you will care for each other. Whether that is tending to you if you are sick, getting you home if you need to go, or simply ensuring that your studies aren’t interrupted. We will cope and so will you. Meanwhile, let us continue to keep calm and carry on as normal. And don’t forget to sing “Happy Birthday” when you wash your hands. Slowly.
 
Presentations
House Squash
Junior Boys’ winners - School House
Junior Girls’ winners - Oakley House
Senior Boys’ winners - Elmshurst
Senior Girls’ winners - Thomas Cookes

Boys’ House Hockey results
Junior Cup: 3rd Wendron Gordon 2nd Lupton 1st Lyttelton
Junior Plate: 3rd Lyttelton 2nd Lupton 1st Walters
Senior Cup: 3rd Lyttelton 2nd School 1st Lupton

Junior House football
B competition: 3rd School 2nd Lupton 1st Walters
A Competition: 3rd Lupton 2nd Lyttelton 1st Walters

 
Review
Badminton
Well done to our Senior badminton teams who both won their fixtures against Oundle School.

Basketball
Unfortunately the U16A team’s run in the national cup came to an end last week, but very well done to the squad on reaching the last 16.

Cross Country
Lots of our runners ran in the East Midlands League race at Stowe School with Will Hobbs (7th), Seb Purvis (6th) and Callum Wilkinson (3rd) worthy of special mention.

Squash
The 1st team finished runners up in the national plate competition narrowly losing to Kenilworth on points.

Hockey
Well done to the U15 Boys team who beat Solihull School 3-0 in the national cup. Congratulations also to the U14 Boys team who reached the semi-final of the Midlands competition, but lost 2-0 against Repton School.   

On Saturday there were good wins for many of our teams in the matches played against Oundle.

Netball
Our Netballers also had good success in the Oundle fixture. However, the game of the week was a superb performance from our 1st team, who played extremely well to defeat Kings School, Worcester 62-56 in the semi-final of the Independent Schools Cup. We wish them all the best for this coming Friday when they will be playing either Alleyn’s School or Millfield at Hertfordshire University. Houses have been sent information on how you can support the squad; please reply to Miss Franks by tomorrow 9.00 am.

Preview
The Bursar, Mrs Holden and Mr Vice are leading the Environmental Review and I am pleased to report significant progress is being made with regard to the important key matter of Waste Management. A pilot recycling project has gone very well in Oakley and Page and will now be rolled out next week to all other boarding houses. We will be separating plastic, paper/card and tins for recycling. There are two key messages to remember – please swill items out before placing in the recycling bins and don’t put anything confidential in the paper bins. The aim is to then roll out the recycling to all of the teaching areas and Day Houses after Easter.

The Review Team also exploring a number of new initiatives regarding energy management, food, transport and encouraging wildlife into the School. They will continue to update you but, in the interim, please assist their aims by switching off lights and projectors and turning down your radiators.

Wednesday March 4th Holroyd Howe will be launching their Future Food initiative. Amy Roberts from the Sustainability Team will be presenting at 1.20pm in the LRC. All pupils from the Senior School are invited. The talk will be especially interesting to those studying Geography and Biology as it will outline how the School is meeting the challenges of sustainability.

The motion for this Friday’s lunch time debate will be ‘This house would cap every company’s highest salary at 10 times the lowest salary within that company’. 1:20 in Dr Whitbread’s classroom, please email Scarlett Bond if you would like to take part.

This week is National Careers Week and you have all received emails about different resources available to start or continue your research. Please also remember that Futures has an open-door policy for all students to drop by and ask questions. They are also very happy for you to use the space as a meeting room for extra-curricular and super-curricular activities.

Finally, there will be a “Bromsgrovians in Property” event held on Friday 6th March at 4.15pm in Hospitality. Learn about this exciting sector from four Old Bromsgrovians. A series of short presentations followed by a Q & A session. A great opportunity for fact finding and networking if you are interested in a career in property. Please email Miss Leech for a seat.


Please stand as we say the Grace together.