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The Buchan School Celebrates Founder’s Day

The Buchan School recently celebrated Founder’s Day, an annual prize-giving ceremony held in a marquee in the school grounds in which pupil achievement in both the Pre-Prep and Prep schools is recognised and celebrated. Tribute was also paid to Laura, Lady Buchan, who founded the school 135 years ago. The core values both in life and education were highlighted by the speakers, whose audience included pupils, parents, staff and Governors.

Nigel Wood, Chairman of Governors, opened the ceremony  and thanked all of staff and Head Teacher, Mrs Alison Hedley, for their hard work and dedication to the school over the past year. The guest of honour was President of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), John Owen. As an RFU Council Member and a former rugby player, Mr. Owen congratulated Buchan pupils and expressed his delight in their rugby successes this year, namely Tag Rugby Under 11 Champions, U11 Southern School Champions and  winners in a recent 9-a-side competition in Windsor against other independent Prep Schools.
 
He talked about the Rugby game core values – Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship – and how closely they relate to the values held by the pupils, staff and parents at the Buchan School: “Here you are all part of a team: staff, pupils, parents and that is very apparent. Here at the Buchan School you respect your friends, classmates, team mates and those in authority, whether parents, teachers or rugby referees.” Mr. Owen went on to highlight the importance of enjoyment, both in sport and in part of being a family: “These are the years to have fun, to enjoy your many successes, delight in your friendships and discover so much that you can bring to the world.”  
 
The Head Teacher expressed her thanks to parents, teachers and pupils, who have contributed so much to what has become a close community. Mrs Hedley talked about the focus of the core teaching programme at The Buchan School, the 3 ‘Rs: “reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic” and how these have evolved over the years with time. “As for current thinking you will not be surprised to hear that in education we have moved on from just 3 ‘Rs’ to the possibility of 4 new ‘Rs’: Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflection and Relationships.  
 
“In order to reflect these at Buchan we have been working hard to innovate and develop our curriculum: we have enhanced the Buchan Badge scheme as a means to deliver and recognise those skills and values that we believe are important and the key areas of enterprise, creativity and citizenship will be included with activities to develop teamwork and leadership skills.” She concluded by saying that none of this could have been achieved without individuals and that the teamwork of these individuals is what continues to move the school forward.