We are sad to announce that former King's Headmaster, Alan Charters, has passed away. Our thoughts and prayers are with Alan's family and friends at this difficult time.
 

The below tribute was written by Alan's former colleague, David Evans.
 

The Revd. Alan Charters was Headmaster at King’s from 1983 until 1991.  He was a reforming Headmaster who established many of the foundations on which the school of today rests.

It was Alan Charters who abolished corporal punishment, gradually replacing it with praise and encouragement, which he felt brought out the best in human nature.  He introduced the ‘Recommend’ system, a forerunner of today’s commendations, as a way of rewarding effort and achievement.  It was also Alan Charters who completed the journey of King’s into a fully co-educational institution, positively encouraging girls to stay throughout Senior School.  Some of his ideas did not find favour with all his staff, but they were to become mainstream in later years. The unforgivable crime of any teacher, he often said, was to de-motivate children. 

The school flourished during the eight years of Alan’s headship and the increasing wealth of the country in the 1980s enabled it to expand.  The pupil roll reached a peak at 651, a number not to be exceeded until very recently.  Academic standards also rose with a crop of excellent A level results; a full inspection of the school in 1989 reported that King’s could now seriously be considered for admission to HMC.

As well as being Headmaster, Alan was also a Minor Canon in the Cathedral, and the two institutions worked together very closely during his time. He had a deeply-felt appreciation of the work of the choristers and personally provided much of the pastoral care they received. “We have the almost unique privilege”, he wrote in 1984, “of downing tools at 5.10 p.m. to go into the Cathedral to join Evensong.  The beauty, control and discipline of the choristers in such a setting is indeed a purifying, cleansing and reconciling experience”. 

Alan retired from the school in 1991 on a high note, having been almost single-handedly responsible for bringing together the choirs and orchestras of seven King’s Schools to perform before the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in the Royal Albert Hall in celebration of the 450th anniversary of their foundation by Henry VIII.

Alan Charters is remembered as a most caring Headmaster, kind and compassionate, a leader who did not simply know each of the pupils in his care by name but was genuinely interested in supporting their individual personal development.  He returned to King’s on many occasions after his retirement, including for Staff Evensongs, the Three Choirs Festival and the school’s 475th anniversary celebrations in 2016.

We will share details of Alan's funeral when they are announced.