A Report from
the Warden
It has become apparent that
many in the Wykehamical
community would like to
have a clearer view of how
Winchester College is governed.
This has become particularly relevant given the
challenges we are setting ourselves: improving
the educational experience for pupils and dons
alike from already-high levels; managing the
balance between necessary change and desirable
conservation; developing a fair and effective
Bursary programme; delivering the Kingsgate Park
development to provide 21st century indoor sports
facilities; and integrating Win Coll in the wider
community of which it is a part through outreach
and communication.
The Governing Body of Winchester College is
known colloquially as Go Bo, but more properly
as the Warden and Fellows, the Warden being
the elected Chairman. The maximum number
of Fellows is 15. In October 2017, the Queen in
Council approved new Statutes for the governance of
the College. Since the Public Schools Commissioners’
efforts of the 1860s, partly to correct the then poor
state of governance in public schools, the Statutes
provided for six externally nominated Fellows.
Two of these came from New College, our sister
Foundation, one each from Oxford and Cambridge,
one from the Royal Society, and one nominated by
the Lord Chief Justice. Our new Statutes preserve
only the nominations from New College and the
Lord Chief Justice, the other institutions having
found it no longer comfortable to nominate Fellows
to an independent school. So Go Bo today is made
up of a Warden and 14 Fellows, three of whom are
externally nominated. With the resulting higher
number of elected Fellows, it becomes particularly
important to manage the number of Fellows who are
Old Wykehamists in the interest of taking the widest
possible approach to the resolution of our challenges.
Of the 15 Fellows on Go Bo in 2017, eight were
OWs and three of the seven non-OW Fellows
were women. There is a diverse spread of skills
and experiences: university academics (4), lawyers
(3), a soldier, the Head of a girls’ independent school,
an advertiser, industrialists (2) and those with varied
experience in finance (3).
Whilst this spread of skills is helpful, what really
matters is that Fellows are each fully engaged in
Go Bo’s business, and are willing and able to tackle
those sometimes intractable issues which invariably
reach that body.
The engagement of Fellows is admirable: despite
heavy commitments in their other lives (only two
could possibly be described as ‘retired’), attendance
at scheduled events is of a high order, and their
availability for the unscheduled is remarkable. One
Fellow, Dr Peggy Frith, unde rtakes on behalf of
GoBo an important role as Fellow with Special
Responsibility for Safeguarding, as well as Health
and Safety.
The scheduled activity of Go Bo itself is
straightforward: it meets in full at the end of each
term. Additionally, there are occasional Away Days
The Wykeham Journal 2017 3