Old school ties reignited

THE former principal of a premier English boarding school which over the years has hosted a number of children from the royal family and those of leading Bahraini business pioneers has enjoyed a holiday in the kingdom ... and he took the chance to catch up with old pupils.

Tony Morris was principal of Concord College in Shrewsbury for 30 years, a learning institution which currently commands an annual fee of almost BD15,000 and boasts a waiting list for places up to 2016.

He dedicated his life to an institution he has been associated with since the beginning of his teaching career. As well as serving as principal for three decades he was a full-time teacher of economics, history and politics for 10 years and is now serving as its ambassador despite suffering four heart attacks.

Mr Morris, 68, who has seven grandchildren and was on his third visit to the island, said: "I loved my job and if it were not for my health I would have gone on till 80.

"I started teaching at 21 and I was lucky that I secured the position of headmaster when I was just 31. The age-gap at the beginning was just two years with some of my senior students and it added warmth to our relationship.

"I came on a private visit to Bahrain to have two weeks of sunshine with my wife, Gaynor. It is always a great pleasure to be here meeting with old students and their families. It is a small world. When I came out of hospital recently I had 2,800 emails to answer. It was amazing - to receive phone calls from all over was very touching.

"However, it is of great sadness to me that the numbers of students from Bahrain starting at the school have dropped in recent years. With good schools here the need to go to the UK is less pronounced and a number of young people also have their eyes set on the US. The children also seem to have more independence and authority and seem to make their own choices nowadays."

Concord College, which is still considered among the top ranking institutions in the world, was once the 'preferred destination' for many Bahrainis. In the swinging sixties scores from the island attended and the roll call included familiar business names such as the Almoayyeds and Fakhros and some members of the Royal Family were often included.

Students were also allowed to own cars when the school moved campuses from Tunbridge Wells to its present facility in Shropshire. During the long holidays the luxury vehicles were parked outside the headmaster's residence for an occasional tune-up.

Mr Morris said: "We thought there would be resistance to the move up north beyond London and one of the incentives that we made was to allow some of the students to own cars. The King's cousin, for example, had a Rolls Royce and we appreciated having a ride in it sometimes!

"When the students went on long summer holidays they would leave their cars with me so I could keep the engines running and take the cars on short rides.

"One summer I had the Rolls, a Lamborghini and a couple of BMWs parked outside my house. An old school friend was visiting and I met him at the station and drove him to my house. When he saw all the cars the expression on his face was amazing. He thought the fancy cars were all mine and I let him think that until the next morning. He genuinely believed that I had won the pools!"

The headmaster also remembers a time when the boys, influenced by the English trend-setters of the 1960s and 1970s, had to be frequently asked to keep their long hair short. "Today, we have to ask them to grow their hair and not have it cropped David Beckham-style," he said.

Receiving complaints about food was common as in any boarding school and Mr Morris said: "I remember a chap from Jordan complaining to the bursar who organised the meals and pleading with him to take more care while cooking. He was explaining to him that his mother spends the whole day making soup, which was why it always tasted so good!

"Many students came from conservative backgrounds. The melting pot of Concord College was a space where the two cultures met without breaking boundaries. We made them go to prep every night for three-hours, whether they liked it or not, you had to go and study.

"Unfortunately, some found freedom intoxicating and did go too far and had to pay the price of being expelled for bad behaviour. Yet some former students, even to this day, maintain the working methods taught at the college."

The independent co-educational public school, which always attracted international students, has a stiff admission criteria. For example, students are required to achieve a minimum of six A stars at GCSE level to enter the sixth form.

The school is extremely proud of its A' level students who achieved more A stars than any other school in England in the last academic year.

Mr Morris said: "We are very selective right now. We never used to be. I used to take great pride in helping moderately weak students through to university. But league tables have become so important, particularly in countries like Singapore that unless we are not ranked very high they don't want to send their children.

"It is a competitive world and we want the best students and, in particular, we want to get students into Oxford and Cambridge and the medical schools. Last year we helped 40 students into medical schools, which is incredible, and in 2005 we got eight students into University College London, which I regarded as a superb achievement.

"We have a programme of interviews, making sure that students have contacts outside the college, work with doctors, observe in hospitals, so when they go for the actual interview they are thoroughly prepared and we test every student every week, in every subject."

The school is ranked among the top co-ed schools in the UK and attracts students from all over the world, including Kazhakhstan, Turkmenistan and Malaysia.

A gala reunion for former Bahraini students was held in 2007 at the Gulf Hotel. Mr Morris believes the popularity of the imaginary Hogwarts in JK Rowling's famous Harry Potter books has now contributed to a revival in students seeking a boarding school education.