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Barnaby Lenon
Boys' academic achievement was a goal for which Mr Lenon aimed from the outset and on which he would not compromise. GCSE and A-level results set new Trinity records under him; while it was the teachers in the departments and the boys themselves who worked together to achieve these successes, it was Mr Lenon's insistence that fired the school up as a whole. Not wanting to neglect younger boys—and indeed knowing that forming habits of hard work would spell public examination excellence later—Mr Lenon enthusiastically built up the Commendation system as a way of encouraging pupils to explore their potential from the beginning of their school careers. Boys throughout the school were also expected to be smart, well-disciplined, and to take responsibility for themselves and their development.
Another objective was to redecorate and brighten the school buildings with new carpets, paintwork, and pictures, not to mention bringing sculptures and a strikingly modernist fountain into the grounds. Along with this came the impetus to augment the school's already fine facilities: the new frontage, the waiting room, the rugby pitch drainage system, the new artificial pitch, and the massive computer network were all Mr Lenon's initiatives. This last project made him the first Trinity Headmaster on email!
Mr Lenon always encouraged boys to make use of facilities and extra-curricular opportunities at Trinity. The CCF and Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme both saw their numbers grow during the late 1990s. Also, Mr Lenon secured a substantial government grant to form a link with Ashburton: Trinity Sixth Formers help younger Ashburton pupils to develop their reading confidence, while groups from Ashburton have attended sculpture classes in the Shaw Building.
At Common Room level, one of Mr Lenon's most important legacies has been his interest in developing people's potential, whether by appointing young staff or creating new roles for longer-standing colleagues to best harness their experience. Others have been encouraged to advance their careers through new challenges elsewhere. Just as Barnaby Lenon is Trinity's first Headmaster to move to a second headship, Andrew Halls was our first Deputy to become a Headmaster.
Efficiency is a Lenon watchword. As well as getting through massive amounts of work himself, he galvanised the Senior Management Team around him into a well-organised and effective machine that continues to run the school smartly and professionally. Mr Lenon also had his finger firmly on the public relations pulse: publications such as the prospectus, Sixth Form prospectus, diary, and newsletter were improved beyond recognition or created from scratch at his instigation. He also appointed a teacher to the role of Press Officer, a rare and useful asset for a school to have.
For the benefit of those who would come in the future, Mr Lenon ran the school at a time of record-breaking applications for entry—570 for 132 places in 1999. This was thanks not only to how good-looking and high-achieving the school had become but also because parents found his clarity, energy, and focus so attractive.
Members of his Geography classes also benefited hugely from his lucid command of the essential. He taught a huge timetable for a Headmaster—12 periods a week, with a Junior School class and Lower and Upper Sixth sets. Boys enjoyed his exciting and often amusing delivery, while being reassured by his clear explanations and the knowledge that they were getting the material they categorically needed. He was just as distinct in the field, unruffled in his address to boys whether standing on a wall in a crowded Liverpool Street Station, by a lift shaft in the rather hostile Aylesbury Estate in North Peckham, or in a Tunisian shanty town. The demands of headship never diminished his love of or dedication to his subject.
Many at Trinity remember Barnaby Lenon with respect, admiration, and a certain awed fondness. We wish him, his wife Penelope, and their daughters Flora and India the very best at Harrow.