Stephen Borthwick (schoolmaster)
Stephen Robert Borthwick FRSA (23 September 1951 – 15 December 2020) was an English schoolmaster, successively head of Aldenham School and Epsom College, after teaching at Rugby, Bloxham, Marlborough, and Bishop's Stortford College.
He was a Chartered Physicist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and at the time of his death was chairman of the Diocesan Board of Education of Hereford.
Life[edit]
Borthwick was born at Windsor[1] on 23 September 1951,[2] the son of Sydney Borthwick.[3] He was educated at a grammar school in Surrey and at the University College of Wales, Bangor, where he took a degree in physics,[4] having also studied the history and philosophy of science.[5] From there, he joined Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in 1973.[6] In 1974, he married Glynis Francis in Brecknockshire.[7]
After teaching physics at Rugby and Bloxham Schools, Borthwick became head of the physics and technology department at Marlborough College and then deputy head of Bishop's Stortford College. His first headship was at Aldenham,[3][8] from 1994, and in 2000 he was appointed to head Epsom College.[9][10]
In September 2002, as a headmaster, Borthwick was highly critical of the standard of marking by the OCR Examinations Board,[11] commenting to The Independent: "We had 170 pupils taking A-levels this year and we've had to put in 236 remark requests. Of those, 183 were with OCR.[12] In March 2005, he challenged an Ofsted inspection of his school, not accepting it as a fair and accurate representation of the facts.[13] Asked by The Sunday Times in October 2007 "Should we support city academies?", Borthwick's reply was "not yet", as establishing a new city academy would be a diversion, and he had to give priority to the children at his own school.[14] In 2008, he doubted the usefulness of school performance league tables published by national newspapers.[15] In 2009, when his school hosted the finals of the National Schools Rugby Tournament, he was interviewed by The Daily Telegraph and commented that school rugby "goes a long way towards supporting grassroots rugby in this country".[16]
While still in post at Epsom, Borthwick championed both co-education and links with state schools, and Epsom College worked closely with Lambeth Academy. He was also influential in the creation of Epsom College in Malaysia.[8] Borthwick announced the project in December 2009, stating that a high calibre project team had been put in place; the new school in Kuala Lumpur would follow a British curriculum and teach about 900 children between the ages of 11 and 18, mostly boarders.[17] In 2010, Borthwick said it was planned to employ teaching staff mostly from the United Kingdom.[18] He thanked the Malaysian government for its support.[19] In June 2012, the new Epsom College was nearing completion on a fifty-acre campus at Bandar Enstek, for its opening in September. Borthwick said there would be "real pollination between the two schools through pupil and staff exchanges".[20] However, the new school did not finally open until September 2014.[21]
In 2010, some universities announced that A-Level grades given to school students resitting exams would be ignored, and Borthwick replied in The Sunday Times that he might now advise pupils against applying to study medicine.[22]
Borthwick was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts[3] and as a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. He was also a Chartered Physicist.[23] In 2010, he said in an interview that if he had not had a career in education, he might have been an acoustic engineer.[5]
In June 2011, Borthwick's successor as head at Epsom College was chosen,[24] and in 2012 he retired from the school to the Wye Valley,[8] where he already had a house.[5] There, he joined the Diocesan Board of Education of the Diocese of Hereford, becoming its chairman, and was also a member of the Bishop's Council and a governor of Hereford Cathedral School. Borthwick died suddenly in December 2020, prompting Bishop Richard Jackson to say he was shocked and saddened.[25]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ "BORTHWICK Stephen R / ROBINSON / Windsor 6a 266" in General Index to Births in England and Wales (3rd quarter, 1951) ancestry.com, accessed 21 December 2020 (subscription required)
- ↑ "Birthdays" in The Times, 23 Sept 2003: "Stephen Borthwick, Headmaster of Epsom College, 52"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Borthwick, Stephen Robert, BSc FRSA" in People of Today 2006 (London: Debretts, 2005, ISBN 978-1870520324 Search this book on
.), p. 171
- ↑ Good Schools Guide (Lucas Publications, 2003), p. 241: "Mr Stephen R Borthwick (forties), previously head of Aldenham. Educated at a Surrey grammar school, then physics at the University of Wales, Bangor..."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Surrey schools - Stephen Borthwick, headmaster at Epsom College in Epsom", Surrey Life, 15 February 2010, accessed 22 December 2020
- ↑ List of Members - Cambridge University (Cambridge University Press, 1982), p. 113
- ↑ "BORTHWICK Stephen R / Francis / BRECKNOCK 26 26" in General Index to Marriages in England and Wales (3rd quarter, 1974) ancestry.com, accessed 21 December 2020
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "The Sad Loss of Former Headmaster Stephen Borthwick", epsomcollege.org.uk, 16 December 2020, accessed 21 December 2020
- ↑ An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 2001, Volume 133 (London: Joseph Whitaker, 2001), p. 410
- ↑ British and International Music Yearbook (London: Rhinegold, 2009), p. 331
- ↑ Mary-Lou Cowdy, "Pupils miss out on university places", This Is Local London, 20 September 2002, accessed 21 December 2020: "If the parents have no confidence in one of the major examining boards in this country, it will have a major impact on the system of examination."
- ↑ Jonathan Thompson, 'It's totally unjust. I know I deserved an A', The Independent, 29 September 2002, accessed 22 December 2020
- ↑ "Inspection Report, Epsom College", ofsted.gov.uk, February/March 2005, p. 40
- ↑ Sian Griffiths, Steve Farrar, "Should we support city academies? Leading independent schools are being asked to sponsor city academies. Two private school heads explain why they will and won’t get involved", The Sunday Times, 7 October 2007, accessed 22 December 2020
- ↑ Students celebrate A-level success, getsurrey.co.uk, 14 August 2008, accessed 1 January 2021
- ↑ Gareth A. Davies, "British schools Rugby joins fight against US gangs", The Daily Telegraph, 16 February 2009, accessed 23 December 2020 (subscription required)
- ↑ Helen Crane, "Epsom College opens new branch - in Kuala Lumpur", Sutton and Croydon Guardian, 9 December 2009, accessed 22 December 2020
- ↑ "F1 chief spearheads Epsom College in Malaysia", Surrey Live, 6 August 2010, accessed 22 December 2020
- ↑ Paul Teed, "Children in Asia to get Epsom College education at its new Kuala Lumpur boarding school", Sutton and Croydon Guardian, 16 August 2010, accessed 23 December 2020
- ↑ "Bringing a British Dimension to Malaysia's Education System", expatgo.com, 13 June 2012, accessed 23 December 2020
- ↑ Epsom College in Malaysia, smapse.com, accessed 26 December 2020
- ↑ Jack Grimston, "Universities reject A level grades obtained in resits", The Sunday Times, 30 May 2010, accessed 22 December 2020 (subscription required)
- ↑ The Education Authorities Directory and Annual 2007 (Redhill: School Government Publishing Co. Ltd., 2007), p. 461
- ↑ "News, June 2011", perrettlaver.com, accessed 22 December 2020
- ↑ "Hereford Diocese learns of the death of Mr Stephen Borthwick, Chair of Diocesan Board of Education", hereford.anglican.org, 17 December 2020
External links[edit]
- Farewell to Stephen Borthwick, Headmaster 2000-2012, YouTube
- Sad Loss of Former Headmaster, Stephen Borthwick, aldenham.com
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