Richard Fosters life before Windlesham
Richard Fosters' first headship was in Kenya, where he led Pembroke House School for nine years in 1985.
I was born in and brought up in East Africa, but I had decided to go back and begin my teaching career at St. Andrews Turi another well-established IAPS school in Kenya. At that time it was also helpful to be able to speak Swahili, I was almost fluent at the time. I was educated at Kenton College in Nairobi but also attended Clifton College in Bristol so I had a sound knowledge of the English independent system which was vital.
After 9 years at Pembroke House, Rachel I were extremely established at the school and it was flourishing, having opened our doors to girls. It was an extremely hard decision to make, but the three children of our own we have to think of their future education.
Our time at Pembroke allowed us to realise there was another world to explore. I was given some great advice by the then Head Master, he said: “Make sure you move on before you need to or want to, move when things are really going well.” I have taken this advice on board in all sorts of situations but especially in my major career decisions.
When making the decision to move on Rachel and I recognised Windlesham House ticked most, if not all the boxes. It was already well established with an excellent reputation all over the world, a very strong boarding ethos, renowned for being child-centred and forward-thinking with a very welcoming atmosphere.
It had all of the human resources to ensure the children had the opportunity to reach their academic potential, whilst also discovering their individual strengths and talents. It embraced every sphere of the school life with a very broad curriculum as well as all of the team and individual sports.
Windlesham House embraced everything that Rachel and I felt was important and we both felt we could make our mark and enhance all of the qualities further. I was renowned for demanding high standards of good manners and respect for each other. I knew I could embed this into the culture of the school alongside my mantra of Be Kind, Be Kind, Be Kind.
I always did a huge amount of interview practice with children and the ISEB pre-test means this has to be taken into the year & when I ask a boarder what they enjoy most about boarding they invariably say it is like an extended sleepover. When I then say what are the benefits of boarding, they invariably say it gives them more independence and helps them appreciate others’ differences and to recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. This is, in my opinion, the most natural way to develop emotional intelligence and resilience, which are becoming the two most important attributes any young person needs to develop; the earlier the better.
Never before have social skills been more essential than they are today. The ability to understand, support, encourage and appreciate other people are the soft skills necessary for young people to succeed and derive satisfaction both in their work and person lives. The kind of environment Windlesham is, makes it the ideal place to give every child the opportunities to acquire all of these life skills at a young age, which will give them a head start in life.
I boarded at my prep school and at Clifton College. Looking back on the experience I was very lucky because I loved sport and was good at many of them. Quite frankly that was all that mattered at the time. The level of pastoral care was poor to put it mildly and there was little accountability. The reverse is now true and not just because of the incredible impact of safeguarding there are in schools now.
Rachel has played a pivotal role ever since I become a head. She is extremely approachable and has always been on hand for children, staff and parents. Pastoral care is always a key focus. Every child in the school is allocated to a house and one of my crucial appointments is that of the houseparent.
There is no doubt the rigours of a headship have increased year on year and the role has inevitably become considerably more demanding. Interestingly, the online learning provision this year in every school in the country has had to deliver recently.
Sadly, COVID-19 has of course ripped up everything we were planning and this is the case for everyone in the world, so it is quite easy to be philosophical about what should have been/could have been. Being ever the optimist I am confident we will be able to make up for what has been lost or should I say has been denied to us. The greatest challenge for me as a headmaster is the realization that I am such a people person and not being able to see my family and friends and of course, everyone who makes up the Windlesham community is very challenging and upsetting. I long to be able to hug people again and socialize with everyone who knows us.
It will come as no surprise to those that know Rachel and myself that we will spend more time with our family, we will travel a lot and I will make up for all the weeks and months I have not been able to play golf. We are very active people and we will definitely keep ourselves busy. I really intend to utilise my life experience in helping parents and children identify their future schools and the right path for their lives. I am confident I will be involved in various different ways to make this happen.
