We belong to a group called HMC, the Heads’ Conference. It acts as a support and advisory body to those heads who are members, and also provides guidance, inspiration and practical advice to our schools. It has been around a long time, since 1869 in fact, and in that time has evolved and grown considerably. This is what you might find if you looked at a large online encyclopaedia…. “The Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters’ Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads’ Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 fee-charging schools (both boarding and day schools) some traditionally described as public schools. Of these, 302 members are based in the UK, Crown dependencies and the Republic of Ireland, and there are 49 international members (mostly from the commonwealth) and also 28 associate or affiliate members who are heads of state schools or other influential individuals in the world of education, who endorse and support the work of HMC”. You can read about it here; https://www.hmc.org.uk/
The first meeting of the HMC was at Uppingham school when Edward Thring, the head, invited sixty of his headmaster colleagues to join him in a conference. Fourteen of them accepted his invitation and the conference was formed. There are many benefits to being part of a large organisation made up of schools with similar characteristics and a shared ethos and values. These benefits are not restricted to the heads of the schools of course; working closely with similar schools gives our pupils a chance to attend events and make the most of opportunities beyond the school on a regular basis – for example sporting events, leadership conferences for the sixth form and shared trips and visits. The staff team also have a direct connection with their ‘opposite number’ in other HMC schools and we meet regularly in regional cluster groups where the topics of the day can be shared and considered together.
HMC has evolved over its century and a half of existence, and I wonder if Edward Thring would recognise the conference room and issues that we considered over our few days in Belfast earlier this week? He would certainly have been shocked to see women leading an ever-larger proportion of our schools. That is a change that has come about in particular in the last ten years, with more girls’ schools choosing to join the organisation, and indeed, with women being appointed to lead many of our leading boys’ schools, for example St Paul’s Boys and Magdalen College School in Oxford, both of whom have a female head. He would probably be shocked, too, to know that the girls have joined their brothers in so many of the schools in the association. There remain only about 10% of the HMC schools educating boys only, and about one seventh are girls only. The vast majority, therefore, are co-educational – about 270 of them in fact.
He would also have been somewhat confused to hear our speakers and to see the topics under discussion – this year included inspirational talks about human flourishing, AI in education, connections between human and synthetic intelligence, and the DNA of a champion leader… all very bemusing for him I imagine. There would also have been lots that felt quite reassuringly familiar; regional meetings, with a focus on the issues in our own schools, curriculum and assessment, the political and economic environment, and plenty of opportunities to network, enjoy good food and to explore our host city. Having been an HMC member for ten years, and with colleagues from my first headship who are now members of HMC too, stretching back to 2010, the opportunity to connect with people who I have worked with, and learned so much from over the years, is a real pleasure. This is especially true if they are not local, and I love to catch up with my international buddies and hear a little of what is gong on in their lives just now.
When you become a head everyone tells you it is a lonely job. I do not agree with that sentiment, not least because I spend my working days in a building which houses hundreds of young people whose energy is infectious and makes it impossible not to be optimistic for the future. But there are some things that only other heads can understand, and picking these thorny issues apart together after an inspiring day of charismatic speakers in such exciting topics, really does make you feel part of something big, and something worth being a part of.
