Schools Develop a Living Soul

My wife and I were in the Scottish Highlands. We had just left the charming tourist town of Pitlochry and were driving west on a narrow road beside the River Tummel towards Loch Rannoch where Rannoch school had been situated. The school had sadly closed but I wanted to see it again - a little pilgrimage to what was once a wonderful school which had been started by three dedicated idealists.

The journey was spectacular with the Scottish highlands in full bloom. Loch Rannoch has an average width of 1.2kilometers and at the eastern end it reached a depth of 130 meters. The school had significance for us as St Philips had a really good relationship with it. We had a number of successful student exchanges with the school. I had made my first visit to the school in 1992, and it was a buzzing boarding community steeped in Round Square tradition. I later formed a good relationship with the final head. He was a great fiddle player, and I always carried my guitar with me. So, with other sundry singers and musicians we had some wonderful nights. In 1998 my eldest daughter went on exchange to Rannoch and had a terrific and valuable time. She loved the spirit in the school and its spectacular environment.

The school was opened on September 24, 1959, by three teachers from Gordonstoun school.

Gordonstoun had been founded by Kurt Hahn in 1934 and amongst many other accomplishments he founded Outward Bound and the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme as well as a creative style of education based around personal development. The three men were great disciples of Kurt Hahn and wanted to build a school that really reflected faithfully his philosophy.

My son studied Outdoor Ed at Latrobe Bendigo. One of the first assignments was to write an essay on the importance of Place. I had never thought of such a topic. I asked him about it. He explained that the objective was to describe a special place and to analyse why it was special. After all an Outdoor Ed teacher has the bush as their classroom and it was important to understand the value and meaning of a chosen area. 

And Place was vital for the three founders who were passionate idealists. If they were going to make this schoolwork and be true to its philosophy, they had to find the right Place. The three men chose a beautiful site on Loch Rannoch. Yes! Place is so important. Not everyone has the luxury of choosing the site for a school and such a choice can make a real difference to the structure of the school. Rannoch’s priorities included much Outdoor Ed and character-building education. I recall being shown the Chapel, which was indeed an atmospheric building constructed by staff and students. Later on, our staff and students constructed our own Chapel at St Philips. The three founders were purist believers in Kurt Hahn’s philosophies. The main building at Rannoch was a striking historic structure, built in the traditional Scottish Baronial Style. It really was an impressive creation.

The school became successful and grew to accommodate 300 boys and girls aged between 10 and 18.I had never heard of it before 1992 but it had been recommended to me by an old Principal mentor of mine whose son - in - law had been on exchange there. He observed that, whilst overseas, it was important to visit schools which were started by sound educational idealists rather than the classic very old traditional schools. As a member of AISNT I am aware of the contribution made by energetic idealists to starting so many of our member schools. A school won’t materialise well unless it has creative passion behind it.

We wound our way beside the Tummel until we reached Rannoch School. All was quiet and the buildings were clothed in gloom. The school had closed sadly some years before. There was no activity and even the birds didn’t appear to be singing. It was a tragic sight, so different from the buzzing school I remembered. Schools buzz because they have a soul. I have visited heaps of schools around the world and on entering a school you can feel its soul which is positive or sometimes not. I’m not imagining this - to me it is a reality. And here the wonderful soul of Rannoch had gone - how very sad. As I write this, I can still feel my gloom and sadness - something wonderfully created now no longer exists and is lost to the world of education. It shut down permanently in 2002 because of financial difficulties and falling enrolments. Whilst the beautiful campus was so valued the remoteness of the location in the end worked against it. We left, very sad at seeing the school closed with its soul gone.

 m

Years ago, I set out to visit my Grandfather’s old school in Probus in Cornwall. The school was called Probus. It was a boarding school, and he often spoke of it. I was a little dismayed when instead of the school there was a petrol station. I used to joke that If I didn’t get St Philip’s right it could end up as a petrol station. However, after my visit to the closed Rannoch  I ceased the joke and my mantra became: “As Principal, always take good care of the soul of your school”.

One way of doing that is always, as Principal, to be a constructive, creative, idealistic leader. The school should relate well to its students, teachers and parents. The Principal should be always looking to improve it and to ensure it is an exciting place for students and teachers who must be enthusiastic about it. A Principal should be continually “selling it.” As I have just mentioned, Principals should be constructive, creative, idealistic leaders, with plenty of EQ, energy and empathy. Boring Principals focused simply on neat and tidy administration will never make it. Students, must enjoy the school and be really proud of it.

Written by Chris Tudor