Hello and Goodbye

Welcome to the new Methodist Minister

I am very pleased to be able to say a word of welcome to our new Methodist Minister, Revd David Leese, and his wife Sue. They moved into the Methodist Manse at Mountsorrel in August and David's first service at Quorn was on Sunday, September 1Oth. He will be taking services on September 17th at 8.00am, and September 24th at 10.30am.

I am sure you will join me in welcoming David and Sue to this area.

David Bowler (Vicar)

An Introduction to Revd David Leese

David Leese comes to Quorn from Bourne in South Lincolnshire, where he has lived for the past 14 years. For the last five years, he has been the Minister for Bourne Methodist Chapel. After leaving the University of Wales in 1970, he has worked for 30 years in the National Health Service in Leeds, Derby, Birmingham and East Anglia mainly as a general, manager or chief executive of district general hospitals.

Married to Sue; they have three children, Matthew 24, Kate 22, and Mark 18, all of whom now work or study away from home.

David was brought up in an Anglican parish in his native Stoke-on-Trent, but became a member of the Methodist Church in 1976. Whilst working full time for the NHS he completed ministerial training on the East Midlands ministerial training course at Nottingham University. In Bourne he has been actively involved in a number of ecumenical projects.

David says that he has a number of personal interests (too many to be really good at anything). But admits that his main interests include music, including singing tenor, long distance running, at which he must be quite good as he recently came first in a men's veteran run, and rare breeds, for David this means poultry, in particular bantams. He is a member of the poultry club of Great Britain, and breeds and shows Araucana, and Marans bantams.

Welcome to the New Principal at Rawlins

The successor to Mark Hewlett, who retired on 31st August, is David Brindley. A native of Derby, David was educated at Grammar School before reading Russian and Applied Linguistics at Oxford and. Edinburgh Universities.

He met his wife Frances in Laos, where he taught English, during the Vietnam War. After Vietnam they moved to Malaysia, again to teach English. They have one daughter who has just completed a degree in Mathematics.

At the age of 29, he decided to work in England and spent 4 years at the Language Advisory Centre in Croydon, then 3 years as a Department Head at The Sydney Stringer School and Community College in Coventry. Following that he became Deputy Head of Foxford School in Coventry before moving to the Headship of Buxton Community School in Derbyshire, where he has been for the past 8 years.

He has a passion for travel and languages, is a keen Derby County fan, and for relaxation spends many hours walking in the Peak District.

David says that he is immensely looking forward to working at Rawlins where so much has already been achieved but has so much potential. He hopes to capitalise on the experience of his first Headship at Buxton to take the College forward into the 21st Century.

A Leaving Message from Mark Hewlett

In my capacity as Principal of Rawlins I am quite well aware of a whole range of views about the College expressed occasionally in non too flattering language - though not all litter, bad language and related ills can be attributed to our students!!

The College was established in 1969. From then on there arrived in Quorn over 1,000 young people aged 14-18 from across Charnwood - Sileby, Mountsorrel, Barrow, the Wolds villages, Anstey, Glenfield, Queniborough and in recent years South Loughborough.

The village is most aware of Rawlins students at lunchtime when all except Year 10 (14-15 year olds) are able to leave the premises, their trade is welcomed in the village and they constitute a significant proportion of the business of local retailers. From the stage at assembly I have occasionally threatened to stop our students going down to the village if they can't behave properly (though 1 know I'm referring to a very small minority). Such a move would, I know, be unpopular with shopkeepers.

It may be worth noting that there is a small but significant number of local young people who do not attend Rawlins who get us a bad name. Staff, governors and other members of the College bemoan the fact that the College gets judged on the behaviour and attitude of perhaps less than 2% (25 max.) of our students.

Over the next few years, it is the intention of the College's Marketing and Public Relations Committee, now represented on the College Village Liaison Committee, to invite more local people into the College to see what goes on and get a feel of an institution which in many respects is one of the most successful and high achieving in the country.

Every year, over 400 students get GCSE results, over 100 getting 8 (many 10) higher grades, i.e. equivalent to the old 0-level pass. Between 70 and 100 go on to universities including the most prestigious (Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield, Warwick and of course, Loughborough). Rawlins sport is outstanding - one of the best football schools in the country, producing tennis champions, County basketball champions, national go-kart champions, very good cricket teams. Rawlins Arts has an equal if not higher status: national young actors of the year, musicians and dancers proceeding to professional careers.

It has been very pleasing to receive warm tributes paid to our students performing with distinction at local church services and at public concerts helping in the community and to the many who are simply well behaved, courteous, mature, thoughtful young people who make us proud to belong to Rawlins - oh! and I forgot - the overwhelming majority who do not drop litter, who speak nicely and open doors for adults - just like most (though not all) of us did when we were that age!!

I have mentioned the Quorn Village Liaison Group consisting of John Hutchinson, Jo Backus, Kathryn Paterson, Mary Holt, Keith Croysdale, Cynthia Gilliver and Elizabeth Walling. We have produced a list of ways to reduce the adverse effects of having such a huge number of teenagers in the village every weekday during term time. We hope these actions will have a beneficial effect.

• School Council will be asked for their opinions and possible action on college-village liaison; possibly have student membership of Liaison Committee

• Discuss feasibility of a 'Green Team' or groups of students to clear up litter and implemented via a regular rota (issues relate to parental permission and use of lesson time to pick up litter)

• College-community links to be explored in lessons e.g. PSE, Humanities

• Rawlins students (and staff) to be encouraged to take a more active community role in the village, e.g. Church services, concerts for special groups, volunteering etc.

• Maintain supervision before and after school.

• A review is being kept on the number and distribution of litter-bins in key areas around the village.

• Villagers to be encouraged to contact the College at the time when specific incidents are taking place.Although staff cannot always get out immediately, they are often able to act.

• Villagers should not be encouraged to get involved with students but should get descriptions of individuals and clothing to report back to College.

• Encourage village residents to use Rawlins more as a resource and feel more a part of it themselves to reduce any fears or sense of intimidation.

• Principal to write a short report for the Quorndon - a good channel of communication with the village which needs to be built on.

I am retiring from Rawlins to take up another post in education. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all those people in Quorn who have extended the hand of friendship over the 18 years I have been here. I am sure my successor, David Brindley, will enjoy a similar welcome and 1 know he will aim to make sure that the villagers of Quorn are, on balance, pleased to have at its centre a Community College which offers so much.