To celebrate their achievements and commitment to the school, we are interviewing long-serving staff members to find out what has kept them at Norwich School and what they have loved about their time with us.
In the last stretch of the academic year, Will Croston, Head of Examination Centre, UCAS & Careers/Director of International Programme/International Engagement Committee, shares his experiences of Norwich School with us:
What has your role at Norwich School entailed?
“My current role at Norwich School involves looking after the international students who mainly come from China and Hong Kong. I also still teach Modern Languages; I teach French and German all the way up to A-Level. For the last few years, I have been running the exams office and dealing with all aspects of public examinations. Finally, I also help our pupils and ONs with their university applications, with UCAS and applying to universities abroad.”
How long have you been working at the school?
“This September will be my 30th year at Norwich School.”
What drew you to the school initially?
“Well, when I first applied for the school, I was in the process of finishing my PGCE at UEA and I really liked living in Norwich. I had applied for other jobs and had got a job in Surrey, but then the vacancy at Norwich School came up and I applied for it more out of curiosity than anything else. I had no previous experience of schools like this and as I walked into the School House and the Head’s study which was where Mrs Fairweather now is, I was completely blown away. The rest is history.”
What do you like most about your career?
“I really like the variety of my career. I started off as a French and German teacher and although I continue to teach, I’ve done all sorts of different things throughout my time here. I have never felt stale, bored or frustrated in what I’m doing. I enjoy working with the pupils, their parents, my wonderful colleagues, especially those in Exams, the Sixth Form team and Languages as well as, of course, the ONs.”
What is your favourite event of the year at Norwich School?
“That is an incredibly difficult one to answer because there are so many events. I do enjoy the Carol Service which marks the run-up to Christmas and makes the whole atmosphere change. House Music is a lot of fun too – and I always enjoy the choice of songs for the House Shout. I also enjoy any events with our former students, the ONs, I love to hear how they are getting on and what they are doing.”
What has been your most memorable experience at Norwich School?
“Any school trip that I have been on. I have been on around 50 MFL trips to Hamburg, France and Liechtenstein. Some stories are best left untold but each of these trips has an impact on the people that go on them. More specifically, even though I went for over two years without catching the coronavirus, I finally succumbed in October 2022 and tested positive in Hong Kong. Having someone escort me in a Hazmat suit to be locked up in a Community Isolation Facility for a week was something I won’t forget. This experience of being tagged and detained remains of course a great source of mirth to friends and colleagues here in Norwich as well as in Hong Kong and China.”
What do you like about the community of Norwich School and Norwich as a whole?
“I enjoy the increasing diversity within our community and how everybody in the school community has a sense of purpose. I am always so impressed by the depth and breadth of talent across the whole school community. It’s an incredibly busy place but I think it is wonderful that everyone who has been through the School hopes to go on and do interesting things with their lives. It is wonderful that Norwich School has given them the confidence and the springboard to do just that. As far as Norwich goes, I love the city, I love walking through the city to and from The Close. I also enjoy going out in the city and meeting people with a connection to the School. We have found Norwich to be a family friendly place to bring up children and I think all of our children have really enjoyed their time in the Sixth Form and living in Norwich. It’s been a win – win.”
If you could choose anyone to visit the school, who would it be? And, why?
“Maybe the people who founded the school; Herbert de Losinga and Edward VI. I think they would be delighted to come back and see what has happened to the site they invested and believed in as well as how it has grown and prospered. They would also be curious to see what happens to the people who study here today and all the great things they are planning to go on and do.”
Which house do you think will win sports day?
“I was in Nelson House for 26 years. I don’t know if they will win, but my heart is with Nelson.”
What is your greatest professional achievement?
“It is hard to pick out one thing. Perhaps, anybody who has left the school thinking “I really enjoyed my time here learning French and German”; that is a professional achievement of which I feel proud. I feel humbled that ONs remember my lessons, 10, 15, 20 years later. Another professional achievement has been working for over 25 years to help our pupils get offers from their dream universities and then to secure their university places in the summer, especially if they haven’t quite got the grades they were hoping for.
Moving away from individual memories, another achievement was helping the School alongside Mr Griffiths, Dr Farr and Mrs Grant to navigate the examination system in the coronavirus years of 2020 and 2021. During the 2020 lockdown, we had to devise and implement a system to award meaningful grades whilst respecting the integrity of the examination process. That was a real case of doing the best that we could in incredibly strange circumstances. We wanted all our pupils to be able to embark on the next stage of their lives after their GCSEs or A Levels and it has been gratifying to see how well they have done.”