Goodbye Mr Phillips
At the end of next week we say goodbye to a much-loved colleague, as Mr Phillips comes to the end of his time here at Crescent School. I wanted to use this opportunity to pay my own personal tribute to everything that Matt has contributed to Crescent during my three years here, as well as for the best part of a decade before I arrived.
When you teach games on the prep school circuit you become familiar with a certain type of sports teacher. Perhaps not win-at-all-costs, but teachers with an instinct to employ tactics that win matches without developing individual skills or encouraging self-expression. These are often teachers with competitive sports background themselves who like to see their teams as an extension of their own sporting prowess. Well, Mr Phillips has shown us, and them, that there is another way to do things. Mr Phillips always puts the children first. The tactical discussions and half-time talks involve the children themselves feeding back how they feel and what could be done better. Not for Mr Phillips the Churchillian rant or the upbraiding of individuals for missed opportunities. Of course, the magical trick is to combine this child-friendly approach with match-play competitiveness and, in an ideal world, some success in tournaments. That of course is exactly what Mr Phillips has achieved in bucket-loads
I know that he will be sorely missed by children, teachers and parents alike, not just on the games field and in the sports hall, but in the IT suite and in the staff room as well. Mr Phillips goes on to explore other opportunities in the developing world of information technology and he goes with Crescent’s very best wishes and blessing.
Matt, we hope you feel able to come and visit us in the future and share with us your new adventure and in the meantime we thank you for everything you have done for the school and for the children.