OBITUARY: E. Rex Sean

‘Sup w********s what’s good?

Right, ritual number one complete. Who's ready for a rollercoaster obituary?

I joined Hampstead in 2011. I started writing for the Trash in 2016 after choosing to stay at Hampstead for Sixth Form. At the time of my GCSEs I believed it was in my best interest to continue my education there and in many ways, I still believe this was the best decision. I chose to stay at Hampstead because I knew that with the subjects I chose to study at A Level I would have the best teachers available. And they truly were. My two years of Sixth Form gave me many opportunities and great experiences both from teachers and peers. This is what makes Hampstead a truly welcoming community and a brilliant place to broaden educational and personal horizons. 

I decided to write for the Trash for a variety of reasons. Firstly, I became increasingly disillusioned with the school over time as I saw student power decrease and teachers - who had students' best interests at heart and whose ideas would’ve made learning even better - put down by senior staff for not conforming to the School's ridiculous regulations. Secondly, I wrote for the Trash due to a drop in student voice. I watched on as School Councillors were disregarded by management for bringing genuine educational concerns, instead being credited for the introduction of bins. Finally, I was also present when SLUDGE's obituary was published and the SLT launched a crackdown on the Debate Society which he passionately advocated. I think what pushed me more into supporting the Trash, let alone writing for it, was seeing how the school and in particular the Head, responded to criticism with tyranny and open threats against individuals. I wrote with the intention of trying to make a difference however corny that may sound. 

Now, I was a lazy writer, I won’t lie. I only wrote 10 articles in the 18 months I was an official writer, taking over this account from a previous writer. I somewhat regret this. In his obituary, SLUDGE wrote that the Trash is “A blog [which he hoped would] continue until it is not needed.” It is genuinely saddening that I have had to write for this blog 6 years on from its creation. I have seen no change for the better in the school. I have only seen Hampstead School fall further and further down the slope and more dramatically off of the rails. I hope that students continue to speak of this blog - even in some deranged myth about SLUDGE and his heroism if they want - and write for it, if only to write poor quality spoofs to antagonise the school management.

I *chose* to stay at Hampstead for Sixth Form. Many people in my year group chose to leave the school favouring other “better” places like Woodhouse College, HSFW and CSG, amongst many other schools and colleges. As I said, I chose to reject those institutions in favour of Hampstead. My rationale behind this was that Hampstead offered some of the best teaching staff for my subject choices (Humanities teachers, you're all amazing) alongside high quality educational and extra-curricular experiences. 

My teachers were incredibly hard working. On occasion, they would come in exhausted from being overworked and yet still be able to produce a brilliant lesson which has enabled me to now attend one of the top 100 universities in the world. I cannot thank them enough for their dedication in all that they have done. I’d also like to apologise to them for being a massive suck up (you loved it though don't lie). I also, from Y7 to Y11 had the best Head of Year I could’ve asked for. She stood up for me and other students on multiple occasions in order to defend us against decrees from the Head which would've seen a fall in standards of education and personal development. The work done by these members of staff is priceless and brilliant. Once again, thank you for standing up for, and supporting, every student.

So to all the current students reading this: don’t give your teachers such a hard time. The vast majority genuinely want the best for you and know what they’re doing and get enough of a hard time from the SLT as it is. Challenge them intellectually, not in terms of their patience. 

Despite some great experiences, I have seen increased disillusionment of teaching staff as a result of the Head and his management. So much so that one long-serving teacher who left in recent years told me they left because they had effectively had enough of working there. Staff have also seen their workloads increase exponentially. Now, this is of course largely down to the government and the poor funding of the education system, but also the decisions made by the school. Decisions such as asking teachers to teach subjects that they do not specialise in to KS3 students (due to chronic understaffing) based on tangential background knowledge such as their partner knowing about the subject, all while they are overworked as it is in the subject they actually teach. Fabulous teachers are leaving the school due to ridiculous demands being placed upon them by the management. Students then bare the consequences of staff grievances as staff are exhausted and unfocussed at times due to pressure from above. Furthermore, newer staff pick up the management’s authoritarian obsession which means they quickly lose their individuality and quality as teachers, leading to students losing enthusiasm in subjects as focus shifts from broadening knowledge and intrigue, to check box exercises and respecting authority. Fault lies with the Head and his culture of intimidation.

The Head and his ego do not end with turning teachers into some sort of power hungry police force. This, of course, is where I come to mention the idiocy of his policies on media, advertising, and favourite of the Trash, the uniform issue. The Head’s obsessions with media appearances has frequently harmed the school as previously reported. I distinctly remember one person many years ago claiming that Szemalikowski is, to paraphrase, “like a vampire, except instead of sucking blood he leeches off of the media to feed his ego”. Now, aside from all the financial issues which have harmed the school at a time of increasing budget cuts, the issue of the media in recent times led the Head to indulge the Secretary of State for Education. Now I do not know what they discussed but I have an idea that the Head most likely did not raise the issues of acadamisation, of budget cuts, of teacher recruitment issues that this government has allowed to spiral out of control. In the Buzz (Summer 2018) the Head writes that the minister “officiated” the opening of the New Block (not to be confused with the New Block), which might I add was supposed to be built when I joined Hampstead in Y7 but due to the Secretary’s government was delayed until I was in Y11 as they cut the Building Schools for the Future programme. I doubt the Head mentioned this though. If he did, good on him. But most likely the Head just cosied up to the man who now presides over the continuation of such harmful programmes alongside funding £50m for grammar schools to expand with the goal of the creation of new grammar schools in the future. 

Now onto a more serious issue largely unnoticed at Hampstead: anti-Semitism. This issue has been has become prominent in national news recently due to the ever ongoing crisis within the Labour Party. However, what I feel the need to mention is also that in my time at Hampstead I have noticed that Hampstead has also had a deep-rooted issue with such racism. It is prevalent amongst students and often I have seen it go unchallenged by other students and staff. To detail some cases of anti-Semitism I have witnessed or been told about at Hampstead:

• During the 2014 Israeli-Gaza war a Jewish student in the year below me was attacked by an older student on the basis that he’s Jewish and could be held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. The student was not Israeli, just Jewish.
• I know another student who was called a “disabled Jewish faggot” 
• I have heard of students belittling the tragedy of the Holocaust, justifying this through comparisons to the conflicts in Gaza and the West Bank.  
• And I, myself, have had coins thrown at me.

This is not an exhaustive list, however. In fact, most of the anti-Semitism is very casual and as such you become desensitised to it. From comments about some Jewish world conspiracy, accusations of killing Jesus, and tropes of Jews being rich and stingy, always in a “joking” context. This form of racism is prevalent within Hampstead. Now that is not to say that it is all deliberately hateful. Much comes out of ignorance which is where fault lies with the school for not properly educating students on what can be deemed as anti-Semitic. The school bears a responsibility to properly educate its students on how to be a normal and respectful human being. This is particularly important in the modern context when we look at escalating online anti-Semitic abuse directed at Jews who speak out (See Rachel Riley as an example). If they cannot even do that to a satisfactory standard how can we trust them to teach students more complex things like how to pass an exam? Yes, students are taught about anti-Semitism through Holocaust education in Year 9, Sixth Form and for one PSHCE lesson each January, but this is certainly not enough. At a time when it is reported that 1 in 20 Britons do not believe the Holocaust took place, more must be done to tackle the issue of anti-Semitism in society and this must start in schools like Hampstead. 

School is also what you make of it. Extra-curricular activities, as proclaimed on this blog over and over again, turn a school from an exam factory into a place of genuine education. These are the crowning jewels of a school, allowing students to freely express themselves and deepen their knowledge. In my time at Hampstead, however, it was very rare that I would see clubs promoted that weren’t run by PE or the Drama department for the school play. It made it seem to a person like me, who fits into neither grouping, that the school would not cater for me. Of course, other clubs exist, but were much less well promoted in more public forums such as assemblies.

When I joined Hampstead in Year 7, I immediately joined the Debate Society. It taught me to think openly and critically, to voice my concerns and opinions in a clear and persuasive manner. I also met people who challenged my ideas and the environment I was in. Most importantly, we were led by students. Y13s would lead a year’s worth of sessions, teaching large groups of students from across the school age group as best they saw fit and as each year they left to go to university or work, they were replaced by their juniors who past on that knowledge adding new traditions and styles in order to get the best out of themselves and other students. This is what school should be like. A community of young people coming together to empower and better each other.

I’m saddened to say this no longer is the case. I have noticed a series of changes over the years since SLUDGE first advocated the Society in his obituary. First, there was increased surveillance and restrictions. Then came the imposition of teacher oversight for “health and safety reasons” which meant it could not operate if a teacher was not present - which was frequent as teachers were unaware of how or where the society met or functioned. This policy was of course headed up by the management. Since 2016, student leaders have been undermined on almost every occasion with their opinions agreed to and then deliberately disregarded and acted against. Despite obstacles, students continued to persevere and progress, winning their first competition in almost 10 years in January 2017.

However, in the last year, teacher dictatorship leadership has finally been established. Increasingly convoluted excuses to impose restrictions on student leadership, to the point where they could not function, were imposed and so participation ended, crushing a beacon of free speech. Yes, there were flaws and issues in the Society but excuses of “health and safety”, “a culture of bullying”, “elitism” etc. etc. all sound alarm bells of lies, deceit, and explicit anger at the thought of students being able to think and speak critically.

I have spent much of my obituary ranting about the failings of Hampstead, the Head, and management. In the true style of the modern politician, I have pointed out its failings and offered no potential solutions. I feel that I should. Firstly, allow students to set up their own clubs and societies as and when they wish to. Give them free rein over what it should be and where they can operate. In addition, give them proper publicity to bring together like-minded students. Secondly, treat staff like humans. Allow staff who challenge the autocracy to get promotions. Don’t ostracise them by preventing them from being able to progress in their career, leading to the loss of good teaching staff as they move away for better opportunities and working environments. Thirdly, use opportunities such as the horrific PSHE lessons to actually educate students on issues such as anti-Semitism. Fourthly, give students greater opportunities. Take sixth formers on trips to more universities so they can understand what it is they want to do. Let lower school students go on genuinely educational and enjoyable trips relevant to their studies as opposed to an off timetable day in school where an expert in mindfulness tells them to listen to a grape (true story). Fifthly, to the Headteacher: End the obsession with your ego, conformity, and business mindset with which the school is operated. Hampstead is a comprehensive school. Stop trying to corporatise it by suppressing individualism and leeching off of media appearances and advertisements. There is simply no need. Just focus on the one job you have which is giving students the best possible education. At a time of budget cuts, use money to hire qualified teachers and buy textbooks. This will give better education and give a little rest bite to teaching staff who are so badly overworked and under-resourced.

On this topic, stand up to the government which presides over these policies! Don’t cosy up to them and give them a nice tour with the nicest students around. Show them the harsh realities if they visit. Show them the understaffed departments such as Geography and Music (collectively these departments had 3 qualified teachers for the whole of the 2017/8 year and they did an amazing job under these awful circumstances I must say). Have a backbone and call them out in person not just in some badly edited news bulletin. The Headteacher has presided over a race to the bottom in standards of student and staff welfare in the name of statistics whilst simultaneously blaming government in PR exercises which while partially valid, do not detract from the fact that the Head and leadership is complicit in falling standards.

So here is where my long rant and ramble ends. My final words about Hampstead. My final lines on this blog. I hope this blog continues under some student or another until students are taken seriously. Sorry to be a pessimist, but that time will probably never come, regardless of who is leading the school so to students I say continue to question, challenge and rebel against all idiotic rules. I will probably never think of you again after this but maybe you can take some sentiment from my words, do what you like. I will now go on to learn that the world is probably just like Hampstead’s management but worse as I battle through university lectures, seminars and essays. I’m glad to say Hampstead is behind me and that I have genuinely enjoyed being part of this blog through both the good and bad times. Now, tradition dictates I end with a quote so I have picked this from John Mulaney. I feel that it is appropriate seeing as you’ve read all of my rambling up to this point.

“Something happened here. You hope it’s a miracle, but probably not.”