Head Master's Welcome - March 2022

These last weeks have felt like a veritable whirligig of dynamism, learning and activity. Leaping to mind are Sustainability Week, countless concerts – starting with the House Music Competition and ending with the Chamber Music concert, innumerable fixtures, the razzle dazzle of Chicago and, in the classroom, everyone firing on all cylinders as we gear up for what we all hope will be the first set of public examinations in two years. Of course, that’s before we get to not one, but two COVID spikes, and the shifts to-and-fro between restrictions and relaxations…

It is fair to say that amidst all our energy the continuing conflict in Ukraine continues to cast a shadow of concern, both for those from the region and the broader community. In this light, I am proud that here in the College charity has meant not just giving to the Disasters Emergency Appeal for Ukraine but also that true sense of caritas: compassion, kindness, sympathy, thoughtfulness. For those of you who wish to support Lancing’s efforts in support of those directly affected, you will find a link HERE to my most recent letter on the topic.

We have all been struck that it is almost exactly two years since the first COVID lockdown began. At that point the last ‘live’ Assembly of the year (the rest and even Founder’s Day were all online) saw a school with fewer than half the pupils present and some were fighting back tears – we were not sure then just when we would be back together. For some people who were in their final year of school that didn’t just mark their last day of term, but their last day at Lancing. We kept the mood light, but there was so much worry in the laughter.

At our last Assembly of this term we heard the glories of the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi. A traditional Lenten meditation on grief and suffering, this is a piece of music which is dolorous to the core. As we listened, we remembered the impacts of the COVID pandemic over the last two years and reflected too on all that is happening in the world today in Ukraine and other sites of conflict. These were sombre moments. But at the same time there was also the light of hopefulness; alongside the solemnity there was the contemplation of Lancing’s creativity and our continuity.

How so? As some of you may remember, it was exactly this piece of music which featured in my first online assembly after we went into lockdown. As we heard it live once more, the music stood for sadness but also, in its ethereal beauty and the incredible skill of those singing, for the wonder of what is achieved here in school each day. At its conclusion the singers received rightfully rapturous applause. That was a sound not just to shake the rafters, but to celebrate the spirit of indomitability, of optimism and – yes – the sheer joy of being here at Lancing.

With my best wishes for a Happy Easter,

Dominic Oliver