Wykeham Journal 2016 | Page 37

On 30 November 2016 Andrew climbed into the pulpit in Chapel to address the usual Wednesday morning congregation . Many of us may remember Chapel as being a ritual sprint at around 08.45 ( minus a few seconds ) in the morning . Notwithstanding its relatively new fixture in the diary – it happens now just before lunch – a few , no doubt , will have remained stranded outside the giant wooden doors , enjoying yet another lesson in timekeeping . Perhaps by this point they will already have caught their breath , their enjoyment of this tempered only by the forthcoming reality of a Sargent ’ s , or its modern equivalent , something of which so many of us have no less fond memories . The shame was truly theirs , as they were to miss out on a talk delivered by not only one of the newest dons in Common Room , but by a don who had had the benefit of serving as the UK ’ s Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia , as Deputy High Commissioner to South Africa , as Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then in two further postings as Ambassador in Kosovo , and finally in Nepal . Perhaps they may have just about heard the words , far removed from the warmth of the huddled benches , and from the sanctuary of central heating on a November ’ s midday in Win Coll : “ Gentlemen , you live and learn !” Mr . Andrew Sparkes CMG had spent his early years learning at King Edward ’ s School in Birmingham , following which he finished his secondary education at Manchester Grammar , before studying English Literature at Trinity Hall , Cambridge . As I am sure many of those who currently have the benefit of sharing the classroom with him would testify , his primary aim in life was to be a teacher . A different pathway , however , was to unfold for him first , as the lure of foreign travel was to see him take on an English Teachers ’ scheme in Japan . In 1983 he returned to England and joined the Foreign Office , where he would spend the next 32 years , until the classroom was finally to call him back . It is the discursive form of education that Win Coll provides , according to Andrew , which makes the school a rejuvenating place to be a teacher . After his various postings around the world , mostly in the wake of deep conflicts and their resultant

The Wykeham Journal 2016 33