Although Mr. McGowan told Skylark that “a headmaster is not an autocrat with total power” a headmaster and his staff often behave as if he is. When an old headmaster leaves and a new head arrives most teachers want to get “in” with the new man. To do so some tell him what they think he wants to hear, others identify their own interests with those of the school, and advise him accordingly. Confused by these courtiers a head, particularly one confident in his own judgement and firm in his principles, can take decisions which make or mar any pupil's education and any teacher's career.
Born in 1924, Mr. McGowan attended King Edward Vl's School, Birmingham, where his zeal as school captain earned him the nickname "Nimrod" (the mighty hunter). Between 1945 and 1946 he was with the Royal Artillery in India and Burma, and in 1947 took his B.A. at Jesus College, Cambridge. From 1949 he taught history and Latin at King's School, Rochester, and in 1953 became head of History at Wallasey Grammar School. In 1957 he was promoted to be headmaster of De Aston School, Market Rasen, and in 1964 moved on to be head of Solihull School. From 1968 to 1970 he was also a member of the Public Schools Commission.
Thus when Mr. McGowan left Solihull and arrived at Haberdashers' in September 1975 he had a wealth of experience at his disposal, but faced a peculiarly complex institution. Most heads of department were younger men who had been appointed by Dr. Taylor and they were slow to accept his successor. Only two left in Mr. McGowan's time, so he found it difficult to exercise his full authority over departments. Most housemasters and the head of lower school were of a slightly older generation, but their position had been eroded by Dai Barling, the forceful Second Master, who had gathered disciplinary and pastoral responsibility into his own hands. Here Mr. McGowan had more success: little by little he appointed younger housemasters, and when Dai Barling retired in 1982 some of the Second Master's many duties were devolved to the new post of Head of Middle School, which was intended to coordinate and support the efforts of hard-pressed form teachers.
Mr. McGowan enjoyed patronage. Clever Solihull old boys were appointed to teach English, history, and religious studies. Able Jesus men were promoted to be head of careers, and of Lower and Middle School. At least three of his other appointees have eventually become headmasters themselves, one at Adams' Grammar School - another Haberdashers' school - against which the Elstree School has competed at rugby since the highly successful annual Fraser Bird Rugby VII Tournament was inaugurated in 1974.
The Haberdashers' staff changed in character and style. Seventeen new teachers arrived at the same time as Mr. McGowan, and neither their ideas nor their personalities were easily absorbed. David Scott, the charismatic new chaplain, alarmed some established teachers but achieved distinction by winning the Sunday Times national poetry competition. The School lost a unique fund of ability and wisdom as men who had fought in the Second World War retired. “TEC" Carrington, Nick Clarke-Lowes, Tommy Sanderson, Frank Smith, and "Auntie" Willatt. The number of women teachers in the main school (one in 1973) slowly rose.
The boys changed too. The cultural upheavals of the late 1960s had run their course by the late 1970s: long hair and loud music had been assimilated into conventional suburban life. As Mrs. Thatcher rallied the Conservative Party and led it to victory in 1979 the few sixth form radicals were overwhelmed by the hard-headed values of Grantham and Finchley. Continuity remained in the form of a deceptively casual attitude to work; and the presence of many boys of outstanding academic ability It is no coincidence that the admissions tutors of at least four Oxford Colleges are Old Haberdashers. School drama; music and sport flourished more strongly than ever before. Under Stephen Wilkins1 direction school plays rivalled West End productions in quality. After the T.W. Taylor Music School was opened in 1976 Alan Taylor rapidly extended his musical repertoire, an achievement acknowledged in 1982 when he was appointed M.B.E.. As head of P.E. David Davies coached the Ist. XV to 65 unbeaten matches from October 1973 to December 1977, a record which will surely never be equalled, let alone overtaken.
Mr. McGowan gave his full support. Teachers recall that he attended almost every play and concert, and afterwards entertained convivially and generously, enthusiastically assisted by his wife Pat, in the seemingly ever-open Headmaster's House. Old boys remember that in Monday assemblies he paid close attention to the games announcements and copied the results into his fixture card. A number of rugby players reminisce about his participation in one of Doug Yeabsley's memorable sports tours to the Far East.
Amidst all this activity, Mr. McGowan knew that the foundation of Haberdashers’ local and national reputation was its academic success. After the Girls' School moved to Elstree in 1974 time-tabled co-operation was confined to sixth form General Studies. When the labour government ended the direct grant system in 1976 Haberdashers reverted to full independence and the two schools organised a joint appeal which raised £420,000 to provide bursaries. In 1981 Mr. McGowan welcomed the Conservative government's Assisted Places Scheme, and in the same year Haberdashers' topped the only schools' league table which existed at that time, the one for exhibitions and scholarships to Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
Mr. McGowan believed that one of the foundations of continued academic success was good administration and organisation. He issued a new prospectus to attract more applicants, ensured that reports were printed on both sides (to allow teachers to give fuller advice), separated the 6B from the 6A Parents' Evening (to the same effect), and put the master in charge of General Studies in charge of Subsidiary Subjects as well - to improve attendance. After appointing John Carleton to succeed Dai Barling as Second Master, Mr. McGowan supported John's policy of clarifying the pattern of assemblies to reduce early morning confusion, and producing a staff handbook to establish basic professional requirements and standards.
Mr. McGowan's years as headmaster coincided with those of the anonymous donor's extraordinary generosity to the School. In 1977 two squash courts were opened, and in 1978 the little-used fives court was replaced by a climbing wall, partly financed by a parent. During 1979 the Sixth form Common Room was equipped with a cafeteria; and in 1980 Princess Margaret opened the Bates Dining Hall (which ended the practice of serving lunch in the House Rooms). The anonymous donor’s generosity continued as he provided the resources for the Sime Preparatory Department, which the Princess opened in 1985, allowing the former Prep. Block to be reconstructed as the Design Centre, which was opened by Sir Monty Finniston in 1984. The anonymous donor also made a major contribution to the Sports Centre, which was opened in 1986 and named after Mr. McGowan. Thus although the boarding house had succumbed to Mrs. Thatcher's recession in 1983, Haberdashers' facilities had been greatly enriched, to the benefit of pupils and teachers alike.
During 1985 Mr. McGowan was Chairman of the Headmasters' Conference, a prestigious position which marked the peak of his career. Then, early in 1986 he announced that he had decided to retire during 1987. There is no doubt that his commitment and hard work had enabled Haberdashers' not only to survive threatening political and economic circumstances, but to emerge stronger and more successful than before. Those of us who remember him know that he deserves our gratitude and thanks for that.
John WIGLEY.
(Abridged from the OHA Magazine 1998-1999)
On the Retirement of the Headmaster
An appreciation by Leo Guidon, Skylark 1987
MR MCGOWAN retires from his post as Headmaster at the end of the summer term, leaving the school deeply indebted to him for fourteen years of dedicated and inspiring leadership.
When he came to Haberdashers' he was already an established Headmaster, and early acquaintance allowed us to glimpse a number of the expected headmasterly qualities. Evident from the first moment were the warmth of his personality and the real enjoyment which he experiences in meeting people. His interest in others and his concern for the well-being of those in his care have proved to be guiding principles in his years in office.
A fuller picture emerged as time went by. A committed Christian, who respects the faiths of others; a man insistent on justice and openness, and determined upon efficiency in administration; a man with an ever-alert sense of humour, and when occasion allows, an endless fund of anecdotes; and, it became increasingly clear, a man with very special gifts in the area of communications and public relations. Parents will know of his prowess on the platform on formal occasions, and members of staff have evidence daily of his ability to express his thoughts in discussion and his skill as a chairman of meetings. Time and again those working with him have admired the sure touch with which a difficult letter has been drafted without hesitation and a potential emergency dispelled.
The tireless dedication and enthusiasm with which the Headmaster has supported school activities have been unparalleled. Sporting teams have come to rely on his presence on the touchline week after week; organisers of concerts and plays know that he expects to be present at rehearsals and at every performance, and to offer hospitality on their behalf afterwards; mountaineering trips, prep camps, naval cadets working in Gibraltar, exchange groups visiting the USA and sporting teams touring the Far East have all seen him looking in to take an interest in their progress. The Old Haberdashers' Association has enjoyed his full support; he has been their guest on innumerable occasions and took office as President for the year in 1978. All these activities, in addition to the relentless pressures of a demanding post, might seem a daunting task to many people. The Headmaster has welcomed these commitments with open arms, revelling in the opportunities presented for meeting people and making new friends.
Mr. McGowan's own schooldays were spent at King Edward's School, Birmingham, where he was School Captain. He went up to Jesus College, Cambridge in 1943, but his studies were inter-rupted for war service in the Royal Artillery until 1946. Returning then to Cambridge, he married Pat, his companion since their schooldays, and took his degree in 1947. His first teaching post was as an assistant master at King's School, Rochester, and then he was for four years Senior History Master at Wallasey Grammar School. In 1957 he was appointed Headmaster of the De Aston School, Market Rasen, Lincs, where he stayed for seven years before becoming Head of Solihull School, a large independent day and boarding school for boys.
When he was appointed to Haberdashers', he spent some time studying the working of the school, and then first turned his attention to the way in which the school recruited its pupils. A new prospectus was commissioned, meetings were held for Headteachers of local preparatory and primary schools, and an Open Day for Prospective Parents was instituted as an annual event in November.
The government's decision to abolish Direct Grant status in 1976 presented a major problem. We were fortunate to have an experienced captain at the helm; the decision to become fully independent was taken, problems were resolved and the transition smoothly accomplished.
Developments continued apace. For better management the school was divided into three sections, each with a Master in Charge. A Steering Committee of the Academic Board was established, induction meetings arranged for new members of staff, and discussion sessions held for other groups. Links between teaching staff and the governing body were strengthened and formalised. Conditions of service for teaching and non-teaching staff were improved. Both categories of staff indeed now feel that their efforts for the school are highly valued, and that in many ways they have become one team. A number of social events have helped in this direction and celebratory moments in the year such as the Christmas Dinner have become family occasions to which everyone working at Elstree is invited.
Simultaneously, an ambitious building programme was maintained. Under the former Headmaster, Dr T W Taylor, the school had made the vitally important move from Hampstead to Elstree, but much remained to be done in the expansion of the facilities on the new site. The Headmaster launched building appeals at intervals and a series of projects was put under way. In 1975 the Music School was completed, named after Dr Taylor to commemorate his support for the arts, and then in 1980 the Bates Dining Hall was constructed. In 1983 the Sime Preparatory School was formally opened by HRH Princess Margaret, and the former accommodation of the Prep was completely restyled as the Design Centre for Art, Craft and Technology. A new Centre for Maths and Computing was created, a specialist area set aside for the work of the English Department, and a School Chapel of fitting size established in Aldenham House. The most recent project was the construction in 1985 of an indoor Sports Centre. As a tribute to the Headmaster's enthusiasm for sport and physical fitness (he was active as a Society rugby referee for many years, and, as well as being a tireless supporter of teams, has found time at Elstree for jogging and latterly swimming) the governors resolved that the new building should be named the Bruce McGowan Sports Centre.
The last few years have been no less busy. New examinations have had to be assessed and absorbed, with the corresponding review of the curriculum. Changes in career structure and salary scales for teaching staff have had to be assimilated, and factors such as professional appraisal have needed much consultation. Links with universities and industry have also engaged the Headmaster's close attention. Oxford and Cambridge have changed their methods of entry, and Mr. McGowan has been prominent in maintaining a dialogue with the colleges and discussing with them their new requirements. With regard to industry, he has been instrumental in promoting the appointment of an Industrial Fellow at Haberdashers', who has already made a major contribution by establishing a programme of work experience for the Sixth Form.
It is not only at Elstree that the Headmaster's expertise in educational matters has been appreciated. The Headmasters' Conference has welcomed his services in many capacities. He was chairman of its Community Service Committee from 1976 to 1980 and of its Political and Public Relations Committee from 1981 to 1984, and then was honoured with the invitation to be chairman of the Headmasters' Conference for 1985, a role which further widened his knowledge of the educational scene. As a champion of independent schools, he has been a keen supporter of the Independent Schools Information Service since its foundation, and he has been an active member of many other professional associations and a popular speaker at conferences. He was a member of the Church Assembly for several years, and of the Public Schools Commission of 1968-70. He is a governor of several schools including St George's School, Harpenden and Bristol Grammar School, his father's old school. Even in retirement he will undertake some work in education for the Church Schools Company.
A principal interest outside school for the Headmaster and his wife has been foreign travel. In the last fourteen years they have visited many countries in Europe, and have made frequent trips to the USA and Canada. Longer journeys have taken them to the Far East twice and to Australia and New Zealand. In the USA, Mr. McGowan has been keen to foster the exchange link between the Haberdashers' Schools at Elstree and the Montclair Kimberley Academy in New Jersey. Parties of pupils make exchange visits every year, and several members of staff have taught for a year in the exchange school. On the Headmaster's trips, rarely is a chance missed to look up old friends, and many former pupils have been delighted to be remembered and visited at a considerable distance from Elstree. Education cruises have been another interest, and Mr. McGowan led parties on these for some years. When the moment arrives for a holiday of complete relaxation, Mr. & Mrs. McGowan often choose to go camping in the country districts of France, a pastime which has long been one of their favourites.
The school has reaped the benefit of a period of wise and settled government under Mr. McGowan, and full advantage has been taken of the possibilities for development. Academic standards, always high, have risen still higher; other activities, pastoral, cultural and sporting have all flourished. The school's reputation stands high nationally; rolls are full and there is keen competition to gain admission. On the personal plane, boys and staff have known that they are in the hands of someone who is genuinely interested in them as individuals, and who values them whatever their talents may be.
To those working with him, the Headmaster's company has lightened many hours. The emphasis on efficiency in administration has never restrained for long his own sense of humour, which has bubbled to the surface regularly, dispelling the tedium of relentless routine or the gloom of apparent disaster. The Headmaster's own hoot of laughter has indeed been a kind of leit-motif to his years at Elstree, a sound instantly recognisable to boys in a darkened auditorium or to colleagues across the room at some hospitable gathering.
His wife, Pat, has been his staunch companion and support during these hardworking years, by his side whenever possible on school and social occasions, and conceding nothing to her husband in her own enthusiasm for meeting people. She has been a marvellous hostess and ambassadress for us on many occasions, and we thank her most sincerely. The McGowans have a family of four children, three of whom are now married, and currently have two grandsons in America.
Mr. and Mrs. McGowan plan to spend a good deal of time travelling in their retirement, but will make their home in the house in Woodstock which they have owned for some time. They hope to see many old friends there.
As they leave us, we offer to them both our congratulations and thanks for what has been achieved and our warmest best wishes for a long and happy retirement
L H Guidon, Skylark 1987
A Farewell Interview with the Headmaster
"The headmaster, first of all, is not an autocrat with total power."
Having exploded the popular myth, he continues: "Like the rest, he's subject to someone else." Yet there isn't one thing that happens in the school for which he isn't ultimately responsible. So much so that he must delegate. "A headmaster must not do any job he can persuade someone else to do." Nevertheless, he works a busy schedule - very much more than merely nine to five, Monday to Friday, more often than not spilling over into the weekend. Much of his time is spent interviewing boys, appointing staff and meeting with parents ("our paying customers"), and supporting a host of school activities. There's a lot of public relations involved, though it's a leadership role in a way that mere PR is not. "Personality is immensely important. It's as much what you are as what you do."
Despite the immense pleasure and excitement he has derived from his role as Headmaster at Haberdashers', Mr. McGowan sees it as vital that a headmaster should not limit himself entirely to his own campus. "He's got to reach out into the world of education. I see education as a unity, a great national enterprise necessary for the benefit of all young people in the country." He particularly values his influence as headmaster of a leading independent school. "Those in positions of responsibility must help to defend independent schools. We have, after all, political enemies who'd like to see us disappear in a puff of smoke."
How, then, does he perceive the relationship between independent and state schools?
"I don't see the two as opposed, but I do feel that both should have the right to exist. I believe in freedom and parental choice." He feels a great sense of sadness that the state sector is currently in such disarray. "But I can't help feeling that their staff have behaved in an unprofessional way. I mean, which do you put first, yourself or your pupils? Teachers have always been underpaid, as I know from my own experience in the state system. But I don't think it's justified to penalise your pupils to fight your own battles, and that's what the big battalions of teachers' unions have been doing."
When the headmaster took over at Haberdashers' fourteen years ago, it was still a Direct Grant school. In fact, it was not the wish of the board of governors that the system should be ended. "That was the work of a Labour government. After the change to a fully independent system, we worked very hard to provide bursaries for those who couldn't otherwise afford the fees.
The introduction of the Assisted Places Scheme in 1981 has helped, and much to my surprise the academic level after we went independent in 1976 did not go down."
Has it, though, affected the social background of the school's intake?
"I think most people would probably take the view that the social mix isn't as broad as it used to be. But then it always has been a fairly middle-class school. We may not have sons of the aristocracy, but we certainly have sons of some extremely wealthy people. And that, I think, can present some problems among boys."
Another significant feature of the school in the headmaster's eyes is its isolated location. "We're unique among the great day schools of Britain in not being attached to a city. That gives us the advantage of not being troubled by local politics or the local movements of fickle opinion. We're neither boosted nor pilloried by the local press. But on the other hand we are rather segregated from the rough and tumble world of a large urban area. I do think there's a tendency for us all to be a bit inward-looking and too single-mindedly concerned with the pursuit of grades. We might be more broad-minded people if we were more concerned with the world outside."
But on the whole, the headmaster envisages a rosy future for the school. "Barring some Act of Parliament totally abolishing public schools, the future of Haberdashers' is secure. How far it will change I can't say, but I think at 62 it's time to make way for someone else."
Toby Robertson and Matthew Brown, Skylark 1987