Meet the teachers: New Deputy Head

There are a few new faces around school this year so we’ve tracked them down to find out a bit more about them. First up it’s new Deputy Head, Al McConville.

We asked him to tell us a bit about himself:

“I’m Al McConville – short for Alistair, but no-one calls me that – which sounds Scottish, but I think of myself of an Irishman primarily, and an Ulsterman specifically, though you wouldn’t be able to tell from my accent… That’s the result of lots of years living in Bristol, Oxford, and Cambridge. The accent only comes out when I’m watching the rugby! I studied Theology at university and have been teaching Religious Studies and Philosophy for 20 years, as well as some History and Latin, at Latymer Upper, then Cheltenham Ladies’ College, then Bedales, where I’ve been Deputy Head Academic and Director of Learning and Innovation most recently.

I’ve become increasingly reform-minded about education and enjoyed a stint on the KAS Council discussing avenues for change with Robert, so I’m very excited to be joining a school with such a distinguished past in the progressive movement, and with such an appetite to be at the forefront of educational progress now. I recently co-founded the organisation Rethinking Assessment (www.rethinkingassessment.com), of which Robert’s a key member too, in order to push the agenda of educational reform away from its exam obsession, so I’m really looking forward to collaborating with other schools in moving towards a broader educational experience for young people, not just at KAS, but around the country.

In my spare time, I enjoy biking, cricket, reading, dog-walking and everything French. I’m very much looking forward to immersing myself in the KAS community. “