An exciting appointment for Medbury and a huge opportunity for us as we look to widen and develop the experience and opportunities for all of our boys and help them grow into the leaders of the future.

Dear Parents and Caregivers

I am delighted to be able to announce the appointment of Medbury’s first Director of Leadership and Service, Mr Richard Wilson. Richard will be known to many at Medbury with his youngest son Tom graduating from Year 8 at Medbury last year. Richard has also been working as a Teacher Aide at Medbury in recent years.

This is a strategically important appointment for Medbury. Following research and feedback from a number of sources including the recent MMG community survey it is clear that while Medbury has a strong leadership and service ethic there is room for improvement and an opportunity to take this provision to the next level for all of our boys. As a strongly values-based and holistically focused boys prep school we understand the importance of preparing all of our boys to be leaders and to see that leadership comes in many different shapes and forms. Perhaps most importantly we want our boys to understand that leadership is all about positive influence and also about serving others. With that in mind our ambition is to develop a truly altruistic leadership and service framework that connects our boys not only to each other and the school community but also to our wider community.

We are very fortunate to be able to secure the services of Richard who as you will read is highly experienced in the leadership sphere with a highly distinguished career in the British Army rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Having joined the British Army at 18 years of age, Richard attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals. His first two tours were as a troop commander in West Germany during the Cold War, with his newly-learned leadership skills being thoroughly tested, and improved, by the older and far wiser soldiers under his command.

Richard considers himself extremely fortunate to have served with the airborne brigade, as second-in-command of the parachute signal squadron, and also to have two tours with the Gurkhas. The first tour with the Gurkhas was in Hong Kong, and the second as a squadron commander in the UK, from where he deployed his squadron to the Balkans in the late 90s. These were all career highlights.

During his career, Richard attended both junior and higher command courses, gained an MSc in electronics & guided weapons, and had a stint in the Ministry of Defence. For a short period, Richard lead the small British Army training team in Sierra Leone that developed courses for, and trained, the local West African soldiers and young officers.

Following retirement as a lieutenant colonel, Richard moved to New Zealand, where he subsequently gained employment in Christchurch as a service manager for Fuji Xerox. Redundancy in 2016 saw Richard take on the role of house-husband until the situation allowed, and fresh opportunities arose, at Christchurch Boys’ High School, Christ’s College and at Medbury Preparatory School, where Richard has just been appointed as the inaugural Director of Leadership and Service on a fixed-term contract.

When not working or taxiing young men from one sporting venue to the next, Richard can sometimes be found pottering in his vegetable garden, attempting to improve his knowledge of Victorian history courtesy of George MacDonald Fraser, or swinging the lamp when former comrades visit the antipodes.

I am sure you will agree that this is an exciting appointment for Medbury and a huge opportunity for us as we look to widen and develop the experience and opportunities for all of our boys and help them grow into the leaders of the future. We are grateful to the Medbury Foundation for their support in helping to create this opportunity and I look forward to updating you all with news of our progress over the coming year.

Dave Scott
Headmaster