On 1st of February the Arthur Terry BBC School Report team were lucky enough to get the chance to interview Sir Christopher Stone, the Executive Head teacher at the school. The main line of questioning was about his recent Knighthood; however the team also took the opportunity to ask several questions about how he managed to reach such a unique and outstanding point in his career and what had motivated him to do so. His open and honest responses and positivity were engaging throughout.
Sir Christopher started by sharing how he views schools, based on his experience as a child and an adult, he likened schools to families, big extended families where people, keep people safe and are nice to one another, getting the best out of them. His wisdom and optimism was compelling and in response to a question about determination and confidence he talked about self believe, courage, and doing the right thing for the right reasons.
"Not being remembered" is something that is feared by many, and at times consumes and controls the decisions people make in life. When questioned, Sir Christopher said it was something he had feared when he was young, and it was this that had had made him so determined to be remembered in life, choosing to do
"the very best he could" and that if he couldn't be the very best then he would keep practising until he was the better. "Being the best, can make you quite competitive" he said "But you can be competitive in a team based way, aswell, it's not always about oneself it's also about helping others to be the best"
It is clear that Sir Christopher intends this for the students and staff at Arthur Terry School and the other schools in the Learning Partnership where everyone is encouraged to learn from each other and be the best they can. Furthermore, it is the advice that Sir Christopher learnt from; "we have two eyes, two ears and only one mouth". He said "Really, you should spend more time watching and listening to what others have to say before you say what you want to say and very often when I do that I learn more and when I don't I just hear the sound of my own voice and my own thoughts prevail"
When asked about his knighthood, Sir Christopher felt it is not just his achievement, but ‘a shared reflection of what everyone has done' at Arthur Terry. He further went onto say that he hopes this achievement will inspire ‘creative individuals who are willing to listen to others and form their own opinions of the world'. Similarly, Sir Christopher told us he was influenced by his father-in-law, his P.E. teacher, local MP Lord Rooker and Nelson Mandela, people who played a main role in allowing him to strive to be ‘the very best' he could be, now mirrored in his acquisition of a knighthood.
On learning Sir Christopher said following his skiing accident; "if you are not falling over you are not learning", can easily be applied to life. The mistakes we make may make us fall, but we learn from them. It is these mistakes that drive us to be better, to make decisions in life that we will be remembered for. Each student, part of the BBC School report team for Arthur Terry, feel that Sir Christopher is truly influential, and will undoubtedly be remembered for his many achievements that have so greatly impacted upon the lives of students across the Birmingham area.
BBC School report Team
Sir Christopher started by sharing how he views schools, based on his experience as a child and an adult, he likened schools to families, big extended families where people, keep people safe and are nice to one another, getting the best out of them. His wisdom and optimism was compelling and in response to a question about determination and confidence he talked about self believe, courage, and doing the right thing for the right reasons.
"Not being remembered" is something that is feared by many, and at times consumes and controls the decisions people make in life. When questioned, Sir Christopher said it was something he had feared when he was young, and it was this that had had made him so determined to be remembered in life, choosing to do
"the very best he could" and that if he couldn't be the very best then he would keep practising until he was the better. "Being the best, can make you quite competitive" he said "But you can be competitive in a team based way, aswell, it's not always about oneself it's also about helping others to be the best"
It is clear that Sir Christopher intends this for the students and staff at Arthur Terry School and the other schools in the Learning Partnership where everyone is encouraged to learn from each other and be the best they can. Furthermore, it is the advice that Sir Christopher learnt from; "we have two eyes, two ears and only one mouth". He said "Really, you should spend more time watching and listening to what others have to say before you say what you want to say and very often when I do that I learn more and when I don't I just hear the sound of my own voice and my own thoughts prevail"
When asked about his knighthood, Sir Christopher felt it is not just his achievement, but ‘a shared reflection of what everyone has done' at Arthur Terry. He further went onto say that he hopes this achievement will inspire ‘creative individuals who are willing to listen to others and form their own opinions of the world'. Similarly, Sir Christopher told us he was influenced by his father-in-law, his P.E. teacher, local MP Lord Rooker and Nelson Mandela, people who played a main role in allowing him to strive to be ‘the very best' he could be, now mirrored in his acquisition of a knighthood.
On learning Sir Christopher said following his skiing accident; "if you are not falling over you are not learning", can easily be applied to life. The mistakes we make may make us fall, but we learn from them. It is these mistakes that drive us to be better, to make decisions in life that we will be remembered for. Each student, part of the BBC School report team for Arthur Terry, feel that Sir Christopher is truly influential, and will undoubtedly be remembered for his many achievements that have so greatly impacted upon the lives of students across the Birmingham area.
BBC School report Team
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