New Provost at Eton

[JustAnotherMumOfBoys]

My Ds will start at Eton next year and I have just heard about the new Provost being announced. I am pretty relaxed parent and as long as my DS looks happy I don’t tend to ask many questions (he is not talkative and boards already).

Can existing or future Eton parents comment on this? How important is this appointment? What might change, etc? There is a lot of talk about the current headmaster being too woke, too… will they clash?
Any opinions on where the school is heading are much appreciated.

The Provost is the equivalent of the chair of the governors at another school. Between him and any boy comes layers of remoteness: Provost > Fellows > Headmaster > Lower Master > Deputy heads > Housemasters and then below that, the tutors, dames and masters that your sons will interact with on a day to day basis. It is perfectly possible for a boy to spend 5 years at Eton and never say much more than "good morning sir" to the Provost.

It's important in terms of high and faraway politics with investing in partnership schools, investing in the foundation, heritage preservation, representing the interests of the foundation where relevant etc. He'll offer guidance to the Headmaster if there's a sticky situation eg. a staff member going rogue, VAT added to fees, Labour getting in and attacking the school, etc. His ultimate power is exercised if a new head needs to be appointed, though that is unlikely anytime soon.

So basically - don't worry! Unless something goes badly wrong nothing is likely to change on the ground, at least in your son's time at the school. Far more important for you to think about is building a good relationship with your son's housemaster - that's what will matter to him and result in a good experience for him at school.

What you hope with a provost is that a) they don’t blunder. By that I mainly mean making comments that damage the reputation of the school. And b) when it’s time for a head to leave, making a wise choice about who replaces them.

My DS left in 2017 so had 2 years of 'Trendy Hendy'. Met him a couple of times and was not impressed, still less so by what I heard about his attempts to impose his will on the school and by his treatment of Will Knowland - who had been DS's tutor.

if I were you I would be whooping with joy at the choice of new provost, and be keeping my fingers crossed that Henderson will go soon as a result, and they can appoint a head more suited to the school.

Don't worry about a new Provost appointment, it will mean much less than a new Headmaster appointment. And the provost at Eton is a royal appointment anyway, the current one was a Queen's appointment so I presume it will be King Charles....

If your son is there when the new Provost is installed, it's the most amazing ceremony involving the whole school, an extraordinary chapel service with trumpeters etc. rather like a royal service, and a ceremony which involves banging on the great doors which are shut, a bit like Black Rod in Parliament.

However, I guess that's not what you are asking.

The Provost provides guidance but is more like the Vice Chancellor at a University. As others have said, the current Headmaster is more of a problem and hopefully he will be on his way soon.....

May I ask what is the problem with the current headmaster of the school? It's DS's first choice, am I missing something?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10850641/Paedophile-Eton-college-master-jailed-used-school-photography-club-cover-abuse.html

Perhaps it's has something to do with this. We sent DS to boarding school and now bitterly regret it. He chose Winchester , we were absolutely pro boarding at the time. Do you have a day option for your son OP ? They attract the very worst type of people.

If you think about it who on earth would that lifestyle appeal to ?

Going back to the new Provost, I worked for him for a few years when he was at Conde Nast. He is an incredibly charming, upbeat man, high energy, fair minded and gets things done with the least fuss. I was pretty lowly at the time but he was always very polite. I think the boys will benefit from his cheery presence.

When I read about his appointment my first thought was the royal family might be reassured enough to continue to send their boys there. This is just my little pet theory.

@Lakeshoreddrive there's no problem with the current headmaster, he is a perfectly nice man but some people feel that he isn't really suited to the position as much as another might be and he's made some missteps in the past. He won't make the least difference to your son's experience. And in fact he was the head that dealt with the master mentioned in the link above swiftly and comprehensively as soon as there was any indication of a problem, so safeguarding issues are certainly not something that can be laid at his door.

I could put a litany of links to reports about day school teachers too, including one at my own old (day!) school who was grooming teenage girls and has now gone to jail, on the sex offender's register and banned from teaching. Being super vigilant about safeguarding is essential at all schools, not just boarding schools.

@Lakeshoreddrive also to add when I say "some people" feel he isn't suited, I really do mean just some people. There are some people who really like him as well and like his approach. But in terms of a boy at the school, he will affect their experience very little - the school is big enough that there are about 5 layers of masters between the head and any particular boy. The housemaster will be a far bigger influence on your son's experience.

It has absolutely nothing to do with this story at all.

The strength of the school has always been that the boys and masters have a lot of say and influence in the running of the school and he tried to break that because he couldn’t get his own way and get them to agree to many of his utterly batshit ideas. There were many reports of masters being very unhappy at his bullying regime, the most notable being Will Knowland, who was treated appallingly because he stood up to Henderson.

Not many current parents will remember the tenure of the completely brilliant Tony Little, Henderson was a massive disappointment to the people who do.

I would still send my DS there because Eton is much bigger than one man, it's a fantastic school for the right boy, but I would be fervently hoping that Henderson will be moving on soon.