Concordia

Concordia Winter 2021

Development and Alumni Relations Update

This year has been a very exciting one for the Development team. While there have been plenty of challenges, we have adapted to whatever the prevailing conditions have been and, I hope, delivered an exciting programme for anyone wishing to be involved. It has been great to welcome Hamish Stewart to the team: Hamish joined at a tricky time – he had one day in the office on 4th January, before a Government U-Turn and another school closure. Hamish had to get to know the school via Zoom for his first few months! When I wrote last December, our online events series, MTS Together, had just got underway. We were still in the process of getting to grips with the technology and how best to deliver an online event at that stage. A year on and we have run 15 online events on a huge range of topics. Our production values have certainly improved! All these talks are available to view on our website if you missed them and are interested to catch up. They have been really popular: well over 1,000 people have registered for the series. So popular, in fact, that even now we can gather, we intend for them to remain part of our programme for the foreseeable future. Look out for those events in the NewYear. The online events have been hugely enjoyable and it has been great to engage with a wider audience than we can for events in fixed locations. With that said, it has been wonderful to gather again since the summer. The fact that one of the first events to happen here at the school was a celebration of ten years of the OMTs having their home at Sandy Lodge seemed very appropriate and was a real highlight of the year. The strength of the relationship between the school and the OMT Society is something to celebrate and enjoy, and all those present in June certainly did so. Another high-point in the year was the Recent Leavers’ Barbecue in early September. Coinciding with the re-opening of the school without the restrictions the previous year had forced, it was fitting that this was the point at which the Class of 2020 could finally have

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Class of 2020 return for their leavers’ assembly

a proper send-off from the Head Master, as well as gathering together in the Inner Quad – somewhere they can always call home – with OMTs from the last five years of leavers. More recently, it was a wonderful occasion at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall when the OMT Society Annual Dinner made its return to the calendar. The dinner is always wonderfully well organised and, while our office supports it, most of the work is done by Max Weitzmann (1997-2002). After a number of hugely successful years as organiser, Max is finally passing on the baton. The dinner has been transformed under his stewardship and is a highlight of the year for OMTs, drawing in a crowd of all ages for a really vibrant evening. Thank you, Max, for your efforts. A common thread with our OMT events is a wish to catch up with former teachers. With this in mind, in the coming months and years we aim to do much more to provide a community for our former staff. For any former teachers reading this, please do get in touch if you would like to hear more about our plans.You are an important part of our community and I feel we have neglected you! There are so many events going on at school that you are very welcome to join, and I hope to see many more of you back at

Development