Old Farnhamians' Association
2015 Farnham Lecture
25 October 2012
The 2015 Farnham Lecture, presented by the Farnhamian
400 Trust, was attended by an audience which included headmasters,
headmistresses and former members of the teaching profession. They had come to
hear Sir Andrew Carter, Head-teacher of the highly successful
Sir Andrew began by giving some interesting statistics regarding
education in the Farnham area and it was a surprise to many that the cost
amounted to over £40 million per annum. He outlined the structure of education
in this country and likened it some of the largest businesses in the country
based on financial involvement.
He said he was addressing most people in the room who, like him, had
been traditionally educated and explained in detail the many changes during the
past fifty years.
Sir Andrew and the South Farnham Trust have expanded by adding other
schools to their group. Some have been failing schools looking for better
leadership and others are schools looking to join a successful group. His
school currently oversee two local schools and a growing list of schools across
the country.
He explained the introduction of “free schools”, the current situation
regarding grammar schools, and the non-participation of “church schools”. Sir Andrew said he was very proud that South
Farnham had been appointed as a National Teaching School and over the years
many aspiring teachers had been trained at the school, including almost forty
head-teachers and over thirty deputy head-teachers.This
was a wide ranging lecture, given by a truly modern educationalist and clear
for the audience to see why he has a CBE and has been recently knighted.
Cyril Trust, chairman of the Farnhamian 400
Trust, closed the lecture after a lengthy question time and suggested that it
will be difficult to find a speaker for the 2016 Farnham Lecture who can offer
such a compelling talk.