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Etcetera 34
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29 April 2021
When I wrote my first introductory letter for Etcetera in Autumn last year I did not expect to write the second from my kitchen table, back in lockdown. Being rather more optimistic by nature I had hoped, as many of us did, that we would be further on in the journey back to normality than we are now, but the speedy roll out of the vaccine and the lengthening days should give us great reason for hope that this upward trajectory will now continue...
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Etcetera 01
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Autumn 2006
‘“Etcetera!” – what kind of name is that?’ I can just hear dozens of you saying right now. If that’s your reaction, let me explain. Naming a new magazine is a bit like naming a new baby: parents don’t usually get a chance to see what it looks like before they have to take the plunge and parents who do wait to see the little one in the flesh often find the naming process even more difficult. ‘But it just doesn’t look like a “Kevin”!’ ... more inside -
Etcetera 02
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Spring 2007
We all leave a mark. Whether we like it or not, whether we mean to or not – it’s part of the human condition. You can’t do so much as pick up a wineglass without making a unique and intricately sculpted fingerprint. And, as devotees of CSI know and some criminals find out too late, we recklessly leave bits of our DNA lying about all over the place… …more inside -
Etcetera 03
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Summer 2007
Rather a slim edition this, I know. If it were a drink, it would be called Etcetera Lite or some such nonsense. But don't be fooled into thinking that we've nothin to report. Apologies, in fact, to all those who have recently sent us articles – they will be appearing in a bumper edition in October. …more inside -
Etcetera 04
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Autumn 2007
Normally, I like meeting people. It’s especially rewarding talking to those whom I taught – often years ago – and catching up on what’s happened in the intervening years. -
Etcetera 05
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Winter/Spring 2008
This morning there’s a sense of excitement in the air, brought on by more than just a touch of spring sunshine. As I write, I can hear the sounds of distant workmen feverishly hammering home a few final touches. People are packing in nearby rooms. In their imaginations, children have already transported themselves into their new home. …more inside -
Etcetera 06
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Summer 2008
There’s an air of excitement in the basement. We stand on the brink of something new. It’s like that memorable moment when Mr Mole sniffs daylight for the first time. For two and half years, the grandly entitled ‘External Relations office’ has actually been a cupboard - admittedly a fairly large cupboard - deep down in the bowels of the main building at Kelvinbridge.... more inside -
Etcetera 07
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Autumn 2008
I never cease to be amazed at former pupils of The Glasgow Academy. There is hardly an area of human endeavour in which they have not made a significant impact. They are an incredible bunch - although ‘bunch’ is probably not the preferred collective noun for Academicals! …more inside -
Etcetera 08
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Winter 2009
In December, I was fortunate to attend the launch of Professor Colin Kidd’s latest book Union and Unionisms - Political Thought in Scotland, 1500-2000 at Glasgow University’s History Department. As one might have expected, it was an occasion that attracted many of the academic historians who have influenced or been influenced in their turn by Professor Kidd’s thinking. …more inside -
Etcetera 09
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Summer 2009
Douglas Anderson (1944) and two second year boys discuss what it was like to be a pupil at Glasgow Academy during the war years. ‘Young people nowadays are only interested in what’s going on now. They have no appreciation of history!’ …more inside -
Etcetera 10
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Autumn 2009
In February of this year a small committee led by the redoubtable Miss Betty Henderson got together to arrange what many assumed would turn out to be a coffee morning. Eight months - and a huge amount of work - later, 420 ‘girls’ met at the Grosvenor Hilton on Saturday 24 October for the Westbourne Grand Reunion. The evening was a great success, as you can tell from letters like the one below: …more inside -
Etcetera 11
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Spring 2010
The External Relations office at Glasgow Academy first saw the light of day four years ago. Actually, to suggest that it ‘saw the light of day’ is something of an exaggeration given that its original location was adjacent to the janitors’ ‘dunny’ in the basement of the Main Building – a place which would be in perpetual gloom were it not for the odd electric light bulb. … more inside -
Etcetera 12
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Summer 2010
One of the most satisfying jobs we do in the External Relations office is reconnecting people. Sometimes we ‘reconnect’ people with their past when they come to visit the school. It’s not unusual for FPs to revisit Glasgow Academy after an absence of 50, 60 or even 70 years - and it’s great to see the memories come flooding back. … more inside -
Etcetera 13
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Autumn 2010
Every year for the last 10 years, the Governors of Glasgow Academy together with the Senior Leadership Team and members of the teaching staff have gone off for 24 hours to consider the direction in which the school is heading. In previous years we’ve debated subjects like the wisdom of building a new Prep School, the desirability of starting an External Relations department and whether Drama should be given a place on the timetable. (The answer was ‘Yes’ in each case, by the way.) … more inside -
Etcetera 14
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Spring 2011
I’m writing this on the Euston train to Glasgow Central on my way back from the London Academicals’ Dinner. For some reason – possibly a dark foreboding – I’ve decided not to risk a trip to Twickenham for the annual Calcutta Cup match on Sunday … more inside -
Etcetera 15
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Summer 2011
It’s five years since I took on the job of Director of External Relations. It’s an enormously diverse role and one that I enjoy thoroughly. It’s never possible to predict what will happen on any given day as no two days are the same. I spend much of my time developing relationships with parents who are thinking of sending their children to The Academy and - with 1300 children on three sites - that’s a good number of relationships! … more inside -
Etcetera 16
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Autumn/Winter 2011
I always enjoy lunching with the Gasbags. It’s a great privilege for one so young. Gasbags? That’s Glasgow Academicals Slightly Biased Against the Governors, for those not in the know. The society was founded in 1947 and has been meeting regularly ever since. … more inside -
Etcetera 17
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Spring 2012
Hard as it is to imagine, it’s now over 20 years since two west end schools - both with proud single-sex traditions - combined to form the new, co-educational Glasgow Academy. … more inside -
Etcetera 18
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Summer 2012
In 2004 Time magazine named Niall Ferguson one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He is pretty much universally acknowledged as one of the world’s most able thinkers and debaters – something I discovered earlier than most when (a brand new teacher at Glasgow Academy) I found him sitting in the front row of my A Level English class! I learned a lot that year … more inside -
Etcetera 19
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Winter 2012
Even on the greyest of November days, Elgol on the west coast of Skye strikes one as a little piece of paradise untouched by the twenty-first century. For a community without mobile reception or Internet access, the ancient red telephone box is no anachronism. Many miles of single-track road deter the casual visitor … more inside -
Etcetera 20
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Spring 2013
Yesterday I had the privilege of joining the people of Stirling in celebrating the life of Scotland’s oldest soldier. Lt Col Francis Saunders – known pretty universally as Frank – served in two world wars. Although only a boy during The Great War, he acted as a bicycle messenger scout in London and vividly recalled dodging bombs dropped from a Zeppelin – believing that every next one had his name on it. As we now know, he dodged not only German bombs but everything else that life had to throw at him and lived to the remarkable age of 106. … more inside -
Etcetera 21
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Summer 2013
Contrary to popular belief, schools are quite interesting places to be during the holidays - at least this one is! No sooner do all the pupils and teachers go home for the holidays than a whole array of others arrive to take their place: painters and decorators, builders, electricians, flooring specialists and kitchen fitters. I suspect you’ll probably find a whole phone directory of trades specialists at The Academy over the course of one holiday. … more inside -
Etcetera 22
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Winter 2013
I’ve never been to a class reunion at my school. The truth is I’ve never been asked. I’m not even sure that my school does reunions – but if they do, no one’s ever mentioned them to me. … more inside -
Etcetera 23
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Spring 2014
Occasional visitors to The Academy at this time of year ask if the school is ‘winding down towards the end of term’. It’s quite likely that such visitors don’t know Glasgow Academy very well! … more inside -
Etcetera 24
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Winter 2014
Once upon a time, when life was much simpler, Glasgow Academy communicated with its entire community - pupils, their parents, former pupils, Governors and staff - by sending them a closely-worded pamphlet called the Chronicle. This was nice and thin and easy to send by post three times a year. Since the Post Office enjoyed a monopoly, postal rates were cheap and everyone was happy. … more inside -
Etcetera 25
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Summer 2015
It was May of 1980 and a rather anxious PGCE student arrived at the school office to await my interview. The Academy has always liked to ensure that the responsibility for interviewing potential new recruits is spread evenly across different departments. I knew that I had to meet the Rector and Deputy Rector, the Head of English and so on but it was the man with the military bearing in the airforce-blue uniform who made me most nervous. … more inside -
Etcetera 26
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Winter 2015
It’s good to celebrate anniversaries. They help us to remember – and they encourage us to put things in perspective. Take the Glasgow Academical Club, for example. It’s 150 years since a group of young men asked permission to use the school gym for sport – and a club that has spurred many on to feats of great sporting success was born. … more inside -
Etcetera 27
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Summer 2016
“It’s been a great year to be an Accie!” Those - or similar - words have been spoken many times over the last few months - and possibly never more so than in the beautiful surroundings of the Glasgow City Chambers on the evening of 21 April at the Civic Reception held in honour of the Glasgow Academical Club. … more inside -
Etcetera 28
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Spring 2017
It’s a great pleasure and privilege to join The Glasgow Academy and be able to introduce myself to you through this highly regarded and well-loved publication. I have been given permission from the Rector and Malcolm to write this column and edit this issue of Etcetera. … more inside -
Etcetera 29
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Autumn 2017
Anyone who has had a look at our website over the past couple of months will have noticed that it doesn’t look the same as it did. But it’s not just the looks that have changed. The website has been completely redesigned and rebuilt to make it much more informative and user-friendly for parents, pupils and, of course, former pupils... more inside -
Etcetera 30
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Spring 2018
I'm sure we aren’t the only school to have blinked to find the second term of the academic year is almost over and I am pleased to report it’s been a busy and encouraging start to 2018... more inside -
Etcetera 31
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Autumn 2018
The Summer term of an academic year can be filled with mixed emotions. For many, it means their time either as a pupil or as a member of staff at The Academy has come to an end... more inside -
Etcetera 32
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Summer 2019
It’s not uncommon for former pupils and friends of The Academy to contact External Relations and ask for a tour of the school. Depending on how long it has been since they left, it can be a case of revisiting familiar territory, but for others the school they remembered has changed dramatically... more inside -
Etcetera 33
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Autumn 2020
This has been a year marked by wildfire, storm and pandemic and we’ve only just reached Autumn. It makes me sincerely hope that 2020 is not planning a grand finale. Few could have anticipated how much we were going to use the word ‘unprecedented’ in the description of these times, yet here at Colebrooke Street we have found a way through with tenacity, pragmatism, hope and humour... more inside
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