By the time you read this I will have officially concluded my tenure as the Rector of King’s. This week has been the single most difficult for me personally in my twenty-five year teaching career.

My emotions have been raw. I have shed tears on multiple occasions as I have prepared and delivered farewell speeches and shared embraces with boys and staff. I think my emotional fluctuations have been on account of the fact that I have invested myself extensively and wholeheartedly into our school and in particular into the lives of the young men I have been privileged to serve and work with over the last ten and a half years. The reality that this draws to a close today has exposed the depth of my feelings and the place that King’s holds in my heart and has played in my life.

When I took on the role in late 2008 I could never have anticipated what it would take out of me and what it would add to me. At times I have been exhausted and depleted but not once have I regretted my decision to take on this position or wished I were somewhere else. Not once have I woken up on a Monday morning and not been excited about getting to work.

While I had a clear vision about what our school might look like under my leadership, I never envisaged it would become what it has. King’s is now among some of the best schools in the country. I say that without an ounce of conceit. While our academic, sporting and cultural results all point to a great transformation, it is the culture of the school, the intangible, that compels me to claim King’s is a great school. The sense of unity and belonging, the culture of care and acceptance of difference and the prevailing sense of pride at belonging to the King’s family, all testify of the spirit of the place that we have built and that our young men are excited to inhabit.

I am not sure what my future holds but I know King’s will always hold a special place in my heart. I have learned so much about effective leadership and myself during the past ten years. I owe much to the students, staff, parents, old boys and supporters of King’s.

I have loved being the Rector at King’s. I have loved working with our young men. It is now someone else’s privilege to carry the mantle of the leader of our fantastic school. I will watch with great pride as the school continues on its positive trajectory. I will remember with great fondness the friendships that I forged here. I will leave in the knowledge that I have been part of a very special time in our school’s history, a time when we worked hard together, laughed and sometimes cried together, more often than not celebrated together and hopefully reached the hearts of our young men together.

God bless you all.

Dan Reddiex

Rector

All photos below were taken at Dan's farewell which took place on Friday afternoon.