MS. LANGHAM: First of all, I'd like to thank you very much indeed for inviting me back to my second year at NAPSG. I don't often get invited anywhere twice. It was quite a relief that I didn't show myself up quite as much as I thought I had. I had intended to be incredibly impressive and tell you how it took me 24 straight hours to get here, but in the light of other people's travel problems, I think mine pale into insignificance.
Last year's president in GSA, Brenda Despontin, is Welsh and we held that conference in Cardiff. The theme of the conference was headship and leadership. We're facing a real crisis in the UK at the moment, as many heads are due to retire and we don't have the people to take their place. So I was particularly impressed to learn about how you have addressed this issue. I find each time I go to a conference that I'm trying to think about my own, which will be held in Leeds next year. And I find people remarkably willing to tell me all the problems with conferences, rather than telling me quite how to solve them. But it does strike me, having been here since Thursday, that Bruce has done a magnificent job here, and I'd like to thank him for the sunshine, which I haven't seen for months. So thank you.
I started my teaching career in state schools before moving to be the head of a large independent girls school, and the man in charge of the education of Yorkshire at that time was a gentleman called Sir Alex Clegg. When he was a young man, he saw on his aunt's wall a sampler and this is what it said, and this is what I'm going to take as the theme of my conference.
So for you at this conference, be they hyacinths or cacti, I hope they feed both your and my soul. Thank you.
MS. DAVID: Well, I will say that I would love to have a second opportunity to attend the Canadian Association of Independent Schools, which was my privilege to attend last October. The site was the Chateau at Lake Louise, and I will tell you that it is every bit as beautiful as the photographs. I kept thinking it was a photograph. It was a wonderful opportunity. I received an extraordinarily gracious reception. Everyone wanted to make sure that the conference was going well from my standpoint, and that I was comfortable, and it felt terrific to be there.
There were two things that were interesting. Peter Cobb was actually one of the speakers there, as well. The conference was for heads and chairs together, and so it was an interesting dynamic as speakers were presenting some provocative ideas and the back-and-forth from different perspectives.
The other is that the compelling speakers also led us in some really wonderfully feisty discussions. The title of the conference was "Responsibilities of Privilege," and the first speaker, who actually believed more in public schools than private schools, took the group in some way to task for that, and raised really wonderful questions about what the obligations are for those who have the privilege of a good education. And of course, we have had those discussions in our schools as well, and what was wonderful for me was to experience the common threads across the borders and recognize that those exchanges are something very much to be cherished. So thank you for the invitation, and if you ever have an opportunity to go, please say yes.
MS. FORD: I would love to ask Paul Duckett if he would come to the podium. Paul is from the Country Day School. Thank you.
MR. DUCKETT: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Paul Duckett, and I'm past president of the Canadian Association of Independent Schools. I'm taking the liberty of speaking on behalf of Claire Sumerlus, who I think will be here but is unable to be here at the moment.
Brad made a comment earlier about the extremes of weather you have experienced all over North America. Claire is from Winnipeg, which is affectionately known as Winterpeg. I think recently their weather has been minus 40 degrees centigrade. Actually, if I could speak American just for a minute, that's minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I think that's where the two graphs intersect. So you can imagine how cold it is, and maybe that's part of the difficulty of getting here.
I bring you greetings from the Canadian Association of Independent Schools. We're a very small organization, but as you have heard from Marlene, very vibrant, and we always enjoy coming south of the border to meet with other associations and share optimism and look at the challenges of the future.
I'd also like to thank you for appointing Claire as the first Canadian member of Council for NAPSG, and I'd like to congratulate you on choosing her, because I think she's eminently qualified and I think she will serve you extremely well. So thank you for having us here, and I look forward to a good conference. Thank you very much.