THE HEADMASTER of Malvern College will be moving to his native South Africa in April to become head of the high-flying Michaelhouse in KwaZulu-Natal, the boys’ boarding school.
Antony Clark’s ‘leaving present’ will be the spring launch of the Clark Scholarships, a means-tested award for sixth-form entry to the college.
They will provide between 60 and 100 per cent of the fees for young people who would not otherwise have been able to attend the school but are outstanding academically.
The first Clark Scholars, who could be from Britain, the Commonwealth or elsewhere, will join the school in September.
Through winning a Douglas Smith scholarship, which enabled him to attend Downing College, Cambridge in his early 20s, Mr Clark, a Modern historian, knows first-hand the transformative effect of academic or sports awards on promising youngsters from cash-strapped families
During Mr Clark’s 11 years, Malvern has moved steadily up the academic league tables and opened four international schools.
He has also overseen an ambitious building programme, partly funded by the income from these overseas schools, including a new sports centre, two new boarding houses and a thoroughly refurbished Science Centre and Theatre.
He said: “I’m proud of how, during my time, Malvern has enhanced its reputation as an International Baccalaureate school and boosted its national and international profile.
“We’re now seen alongside the top schools in the country and people come to us from further afield.”
The college has students from 27 different countries and pupil numbers are rising, up by 80 this year, to 650.
“We run well-attended language schools over the summer and our sport is on a real high, thanks to excellent coaching and first-class facilities. Worcestershire County Cricket Club come to practise here and we are a growing centre for girls’ cricket too – we now offer Britain’s first dedicated cricket scholarships for girls.
“We have close links with Worcester Warriors rugby and a number of current pupils are in their Academy set-up or already playing professional rugby with them on leaving school.
“Our girls’ hockey is particularly strong and our Under 16s recently reached the National Finals for the third time in six years.
“It helps that our head coach Mark Moss is the captain and coach of the GB Over-35 team.”
Reflecting on his time at the college he said: “This has been a rewarding, challenging decade for my family and me.”
“We want Malvernians to strive for success, but be able to cope with setbacks, to be confident, but not arrogant, to see learning as a lifelong experience and be optimistic about the future – as I am.”
Visit [email protected] for more on The Clark Scholarship.
