Douglas Robert Kenneth Robb(born 3 September 1970) is an Englishschoolmasterwho is currently headmaster ofGresham's School.Before that, he was ahousemasteratOundle Schooland then head ofOswestry School.
Early life
editBorn in theWirralin 1970,[1]the son of Dr Derek Robb[2]and the youngest of his parents' three children, Robb was a choirboy atSt Saviour's Church, Oxton,[3]and was educated atBirkenhead School,[4]where he was in the First XV, the school'srugby unionteam, and then at theUniversity of Edinburgh,where he was President of theEdinburgh University Rugby Football Cluband graduatedMAin Politics in 1994.[3]
Career
editRobb began his teaching career inZimbabwe,teaching Economics atPrince Edward School,Harare,from 1994 to 1996. After a severe motorcycling accident in Harare, which led tosepsis,he returned to Britain and was a rugby coach atFettes Collegein Scotland from 1996 to 1997. He then spent a year at theMoray House School of Education,where he gained aPostgraduate Certificate in Educationin Economics, and taught Economics atLoughborough Grammar Schoolfor two years. Following this Robb spent ten years atOundle School,where he taught Government and Politics from 2000 to 2010, and served as Housemaster of Bramston House for eight of those years. While atOundle,he enrolled at theUniversity of Cambridgeand gained the degree ofMaster of Educationin 2009. In 2010 he was appointed as Headmaster of Oswestry School inShropshire,[5]and in September 2014 transferred as head to Gresham's School,Holt, Norfolk.[3][4][6]
In his present role, Robb has said that "This job is a vocation... in term time, successful teachers must be prepared to involve themselves far beyond the classroom itself, including meetings at odd times".[7]
In February 2018, Robb came to national attention with a blog in which he was critical of millennials, their sense of entitlement, and their lack of grit.[8]He added later "We try as a school not to molly-coddle our students".[9][10]The Timesmade a headline out of his comment "If your child is a lazy toerag then I’m going to tell them". It also noted that while he was in charge of a town-centre house at Oundle, which suffered from drunks in the street, Robb had been in the habit of "brandishing a cricket bat at rowdies... sometimes dressed only in his boxer shorts. He is 6ft 5in with a rugby player’s build. One assumes this did the trick."[11]One former pupil responded: "Negative stereotypes of millennials are two a penny and you don’t have to look far to find them", while another claimed "As Gresham’s does cost £34,000-a-year, the headmaster of the boarding school may simply be in a privileged bubble".[8]
At the event marking the end of the Gresham's School academic year 2017–2018, Robb welcomed two old boys of the school as special guests,England rugby starsTomandBen Youngs,and the widow of mountaineerTom Bourdillon,who opened a new outdoor activity centre, with a standard armed forcesassault course,azip wire,abseilingfacilities, and a climbing tower.[12]
Robb made positive remarks aboutGreta Thunbergin April 2019, but was critical of "the trendy hypocrisy that emanates from some politicians and high profile role-models". He supported young people’s right to demonstrate and to involve themselves in debates about world issues, while noting "the irony of airline tycoonRichard Branson's proposed strategy to tackle climate change ".[13]In the same month, he gave a cautious welcome to the newOfstedinspection framework, suggesting that schoolteachers could feel liberated by it.[14]
In January 2020, Robb announced progress with a STEAM Centre for Science, technology, engineering, arts, and Mathematics, to be called the Dyson Building, donated to his school byJames Dysonfor £18.75 million.[15]
Robb responded in April 2020 to the cancellation of schoolGCSEandA-Levelexaminations, as part of the British government’s response to theCOVID-19 pandemic,by commenting that "Some students are good at exams, so a terminal assessment really suits them, and other pupils really struggle. So, if this prompts debate and conversation about that, it might be a silver lining to what’s been a pretty dark cloud."[16]
In September 2020, Robb was announced as one of the five nominees in the "Best head of a public school" category of the Tatler Schools Awards, together with Mark Turnbull ofGiggleswick,Emma McKendrick ofDowne House, Antony Wallersteiner ofStowe,andJane LunnonofWimbledon High School.[17]The award was won by Lunnon.[18]
On 30 January 2021, Robb responded inThe Daily Telegraphto its recent story "Top private school ‘tarnishes’ its own history with move to honour Cambridge Five spy with blue plaque". He said there had been no attempt to pass moral judgment and added "We cannot deny thatDonald Macleanattended Gresham’s, despite the harm he caused. "[19]
Since 2016 Robb has been a Trustee of the Thornton-Smith and Plevins Trust, which makes educational grants to young people in distressed circumstances aged between sixteen and nineteen.[20]
Personal life
editRobb married Lucinda McFerran the year after his return from Africa[3][2]and with her has three children. His reported interests are travel, shooting, skiing, golf, and team and racquet sports.[4][7]
Notes
edit- ^"ROBB Douglas Robert K / Wirral / 10a 2422" inGeneral Register Office Index to Births in England and Wales,ancestry, accessed 30 January 2021(subscription required)
- ^ab"Douglas R K Robb" inLondon, England, Marriage Notices from The Times, 1982-2004,14 April 1997
- ^abcdTim Jefferis,"Douglas Robb: This is Your Life"dated 7 September 2014 at tjjteacher, accessed 27 March 2019
- ^abcGresham’s announces new Headmasterdated March 2014 at greshams, accessed 27 March 2019
- ^Jonny Drury,Ex-Oswestry headteacher in row over 'pampered' pupils,Shropshire Star,21 February 2018, accessed 30 July 2021
- ^Jonathan Barnes,Which School? 2020: A Guide to Independent Schools in the UK(John Catt Educational Ltd, 2019,ISBN978-1912906659), p. 123
- ^abWhat The Good Schools Guide says: Headmaster,goodschoolsguide.co.uk, accessed 31 January 2021
- ^abChelsea Ritschel,Boarding School Headmaster Reignites Debate about "Privileged" MillennialsinThe Independentdated 20 February 2018, accessed 27 March 2019
- ^Eleanor Pringle,Norfolk head teacher calls young adults ‘entitled, spoilt and molly-coddled’ in a bloginEastern Daily Pressdated 20 February 2018, accessed 27 March 2019
- ^Geoff Maynard, "Headteacher sparks backlash after accusing generation 'snowflake' of being 'mollycoddled'",The Daily Express,20 February 2018
- ^Andrew Billen,Douglas Robb, head of Gresham’s: ‘If your child is a lazy toerag then I’m going to tell them’,The Times,24 February 2018, accessed 27 March 2017
- ^David Bale,International rugby stars Tom and Ben Youngs return to their old school as special guestsinEastern Daily Pressdated 5 July 2018, accessed 27 March 2019
- ^ "Gresham’s headteacher: if pupils want to protest like Greta Thunberg we must support them",Eastern Daily Press,26 April 2019, accessed 30 January 2021
- ^Douglas Robb,"Shift in school focus may finally celebrate good work",Norwich Evening News,7 April 2019, accessed 30 January 2021
- ^Abigail Nicholson,£19m Dyson building at Norfolk school given go-ahead,Eastern Daily Press,9 January 2020, accessed 30 January 2021
- ^Jo Golding,"Cancellation of exams could prompt debate, says Gresham’s head",Independent Education Today,4 April 2020, accessed 30 January 2021
- ^Tatler’s top prep and public schools announced Find out who the nominees are for this year’s Tatler Schools Awards, Tatler,24 September 2020, accessed 30 January 2021
- ^Megan Hinton,No Hampshire schools chosen for Tatler's school awards 2020,Basingstoke Gazette,8 October 2020, accessed 30 January 2021
- ^Camilla Turner, India McTaggart,"Top private school ‘tarnishes’ its own history with move to honour Cambridge Five spy with blue plaque"The Daily Telegraph,28 January 2021;Letters,The Daily Telegraph,30 January 2021, accessed 30 January 2021(subscription required)
- ^THORNTON-SMITH AND PLEVINS TRUST,charitycommission.gov.uk, accessed 30 January 2021
External links
edit- Headmaster’s blog,greshams
- Douglas Robb,schoolsshow