Taylorian

TAYLORIAN 2024

113 VALETE 113

Jude Hedges-Robinson Jude Hedges-Robinson joined Taylors’ in September 2023, his first teaching position, having studied at UCL and Linacre College, Oxford. Though Jude has only been here a year, his impact on the Classics Department, the students, and the whole school has been significant. Arriving as a fresh-faced, first-class graduate, Jude immediately established himself with students and colleagues as an academic member of the SCR. He was an instant hit with his Sixth Form classes, who were as awed by Jude’s intellectual hinterland as they were reassured by his calm, curious, and ambitious style of teaching, while his Lower School charges were inspired by his academic zeal. Jude’s students trust him as an academic leader, but also as a pastoral guide, a reputation which Jude rightly earned when volunteering to be a part of the LGBTQ+ ‘roadshow’ assemblies earlier this year. This was a tremendously brave step for someone new to the school, and it earned Jude the respect of the boys and his colleagues. His participation in Archery has perhaps resulted in fewer encounters with students, but Jude has cheerfully engaged with the Games programme nonetheless. Above all, Jude has cherished his participation in the musical life of the school, singing with gusto in the choirs. He is an excellent role model for the Taylors’ boy. Jude leaves us to begin formal training as a Classics teacher, and will begin a PGCE at Magdalene College, Cambridge in September 2024. Whichever school subsequently snaps him up will be very fortunate indeed, and we wish Jude the best of luck for his next step and beyond. Mr E. H. Gazeley

Sarah Durrant Unbeknownst to us at the time, when Sarah was invited to interview for the role of Music Teacher to cover a year’s maternity leave in 2021, the request for her to teach a lesson on Folk Music played right into her Irish fiddler’s fingers. Newly qualified with her PGCE from Cambridge University, and having studied as a violinist at the Royal Academy of Music, Sarah was a clear fit for the Music Department. Sarah immediately took on the responsibility for directing the Sinfonia Orchestra, and soon afterwards also began to coach a string trio. Her violinist expertise and positivity really encouraged the musical development and confidence of these pupils. Imaginative repertoire choices, such as when she arranged Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ in a fusion of our sophisticated young string orchestra with an Upper Sixth rock band – obvious, in hindsight – ensured that performances under her direction will last long in the memory. Sarah has had a busy time in the three years since she arrived. After her first term, Miss Walsh married Ben Durrant, and when it became clear that her position in the Music Department could be extended beyond a single year, Sarah saw the chance to settle down and complete both years of her ECT at MTS. Somehow, she managed to also find the time to study for (and complete) her Med; her dedication to developing her skills as a teacher permeated her work in the classroom A violinist first and foremost, but with a genuine desire to share the benefits of studying music through teaching, it was no surprise that Wellington College chose to create a new Head of Strings role especially for her. The sincere generosity of the school’s twenty-three visiting music teachers in wishing Sarah well is testament to the deep impression she has made in such a short time. Having begun her time with us covering a year’s maternity leave, Sarah ends her time having taken a year’s maternity leave of her own – there is a rather pleasing symmetry here, somehow. Sarah will be greatly missed, but we wish her, and Ben, and their young family, all the very best as they move onto the next phase of their lives. Mr S. Couldridge