Heads and their hobbies

The extra-curricular interests of a head can be surprising, as well as beneficial, discovers Tessa Waugh

- Tessa Waugh

LIFE as head of a boarding school doesn’t allow for much spare time. Many live on site and their weekends and evenings merge into the working week. The job is all-encompassing. However, despite these restraints, most recognise the importance of carving out time for themselves. ‘When I became deputy head, I bought a set of golf clubs,’ volunteers Mark Lauder, headmaster of Strathallan School in Perthshire, ‘but when I became head, I bought a cement mixer.’ Mr Lauder grew up in a family that built things, so when he bought a 17thcentury parsonage in Cumbria, he decided to set about the renovations himself, including laying paths and repairing drystone walls. ‘Working on your own house is both an investment and therapeutic,’ he explains.

‘It’s totally different to being a headmaster. It’s more physically demanding and provides a different set of problems to solve and new practical skills to learn. It has its own rhythm and gives time to think away from the tyranny of the diary. I get to experience real learning, which sometimes includes failure,’ he adds, ‘and this reminds me what pupils contend with day to day.’

Unsurprisingly, many hobbies are physical. Ruth Sullivan, headmistress of Sherborne Girls in Dorset, describes herself as ‘the most ungainly runner’ and was once told that, when swimming, she looks like a drowning moth. This has not deterred her from taking on intense fitness challenges in the form of marathons and Iron Man events, however. Her enthusiasm is compelling, citing the atmosphere, sense of achievement and community as her drivers.