GMS Summer Newsletter 2022

Dear Guildmember,

Welcome to our Summer Newsletter and I hope you enjoy this edition's news, views and updates. My theme in this article is the new way we have found to conduct some of our core business. It's all exciting stuff! 

75th Anniversary and the AGM

First things first: this is a big year for the Guild. It has achieved the ripe old age of 75 years and, as you know, we are planning to celebrate its birthday in style at the site of the old Mercers' School, Barnard's Inn, London.

If you have not already booked a place for our Anniversary celebration this summer, please do so know to avoid disappointment. Bookings for the event, which takes place on Thursday, 30th June, are now open on our website. Thank you to those who have already expressed an interest. Please now confirm your place by reserving a place formally. 

Can I also remind members that the Guild AGM will take place on the same day in the afternoon and at the same venue? You will not be able to log into this event remotely. We will need to know how many of you intend to come to the AGM to ensure we have appropriate rooming for the meeting. Please do look out of for an invitation from our Clerk very soon. 

You can book your place for this special occasion here: https://theguildofmercersscholars.com/events/book-reservation?error=zero&event_id=cd5d25235b2dc5ae9877733fccc0c5d7

Safeguarding Training 

In other news, I will be hosting an online Safeguarding Training and Information webinar via Zoom on Thursday, 28th April at 7pm. I will be joined by our Membership Clerk, Julia Tucker, formerly Deputy Principal and Designated Safeguarding Lead at Peter Symonds' College. As you may know, I am acting Designated Safeguarding Person (DSP) for the Guild having had several years experience in this area as a secondary school headteacher. All Apprentice Masters and members of Court should have received an invitation by now. Please do respond to our Clerk to notify of us of your intention to attend. There is a ceiling on the number who may attend. We also need to ensure that active Apprentice Masters have received this training within the next six months in order for them to continue to work with Apprentices. The event will be recorded to enable ease of access, but attending in person makes asking questions and getting immediate answers a lot easier.

Online Engagement event for Sixth Formers and others  

Please will SCAs and Apprentice Masters ensure SLOs, Apprentices and Sixth Form students are also fully briefed about the next Online Engagement event coming up on Monday, 25th April. Here is the message from our Renter Warden, Daniel Subramaniam about this: 

I'm proud to announce the second Career Spotlight talk of 2022. This talk will focus on Stacy Snook, a Nuclear Security expert at the UKs largest nuclear facility and Brendan Musgrave, one of the preeminent consultants in the field of Business Psychology and Behavioural Science. As non traditional career paths these fields are growing in importance and global prominence. 

Who is the event for: 

The talk is targeted at those with an interest in understanding the career paths of Stacy and Brendan, the roles that they have in Nuclear Security and Behavioural Science and the industries they focus on Nuclear Power industry and Consulting in Financial Services. We will be welcoming questions and you will have plenty of opportunities to get your questions answered. 

This event is open to all, but will have a focus on those who will be leaving school in the next couple of years. 

• Thursday, 23rd June at 5.00pm, Midsummer Court meeting (by Zoom only) 
• Thursday, 30th June at 4.00pm, GMS AGM (in person only, at Barnards' Inn)
• Tuesday, 26th July at 1.30pm, Midsummer Membership Court (at the Guildhall only) 

South Bank guided tour - Saturday, 7th May

It would be lovely to see as many colleagues as possible for this first in-person social event since December. Do see the invitation from our Social Secretary, Jack Armitstead, and do come along. I look forward to seeing you there and sharing refreshments afterwards.

Here is the link to book your place: https://theguildofmercersscholars.com/events/book-reservation?error=zero&event_id=84c0ed6625e1b6d104bb947483713f32

And finally...

Many congratulations to Laura Miller on her appointment as new Clerk to the Chamberlain's Court, successor to long-standing Clerk, Murray Craig. We have been very well served by both Murray and Laura over many years. We wish Murray well on his retirement and Laura equally well on her promotion. The timescale for the new appointment was the issue which led to our having to rearrange sessions at the Guildhall over the summer. My sincere thanks to Julia Tucker for her patience and dedication in liaising with the Guildhall to ensure we remained on track with our Apprentice bindings in an already busy year. 

I have attached a couple of photographs to record a lovely day at the Lady Day court session when bound five new Apprentices and admitted a new Guildmember (and former Apprentice) - congratulations to all. We followed this by hosting our first ever hybrid (i.e. part online, part in-person) Court Meeting. Strange at first, but highly efficient. More to come! 

Do keep in touch, enjoy the spring weather and come along to our 75th! 

My best wishes, 

John Weeds,

Guildmaster