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Chance to blend study with sport
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QUEEN Victoria School has a right to be proud of its head boy and Senior Monitor. And Stuart Cook has even more right to feel proud of his soon to be "old school".
For the ambitious 18-year old looks set for a university course in economics at Aberdeen or Glasgow. And he is only too aware that the chances afforded him at the Dunblane boarding school have provided the springboard for a promising career.
Stuart is keen to dispel any myths that Queen Victoria School is a military academy. He is also vociferous in his opinion that the original use as an orphanage for the sons of fallen servicemen is now, happily, only a minor part of its function.
"We are encouraged through the CCF to sample a taste of the military life but there is no compulsion to join it or indeed to follow a military career thereafter", he said.
With a father serving in the RAF, Stuart feels personally that it would be the easy option in life if he were to follow in his footsteps.
"A lot of boys from the school do join up", he said, "but I want to do something different".
"Something different" is exactly what Stuart got when he arrived at Queen Victoria School eight years ago.
Plucked from his cosy family surroundings in Fife, he had to summon up as much courage as a 10-year old could possibly muster to see him through his first few distressing homesick weeks and take him on to a new and promising future
"No one can tell how my academic studies would have fared in a state school", he said, "but the children of servicemen face the prospect of a new home and a new school as often as every two years and that can be no good for any youngster's education."
"Studying at QVS has been done against a stable environment and that is vital for any young boy."
Stuart also highlighted the sporting opportunities he has taken advantage of at Dunblane.
Stuart traded his early skills at rugby and football in the junior Wavell school for cross country running, badminton and squash after breaking his arm three times in two months!
"After almost a term in and out of the school hospital I decided I better not risk any more damage in contact sports and changed tack."
Stuart's change of tack has paid dividends for himself and Queen Victoria School as he represents the school in all three of his new sports.
Being a keen sportsman, Stuart is all too aware of the school's need for a new games hall.
"Sport plays a big part in the lives of the boys here", he explained, "but they have to have adequate facilities for everybody and all sports. The new proposed games hall should be brilliant -I'm sorry I'll miss it!"
But Stuart stresses there is so much more he will remember about QVS than his hours on the sports field when he leaves at the end of term. "The school gives you back as much as you are willing to give it", he said. "Many of the new boys starting out on their life here won't appreciate the value of the years ahead until, like me, they find they are drawing to an end."
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Stuart Cook
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"It's a very grand old school with its origins built on the stoutest moral and practical foundations", he added, "but, it's changing with the times where it needs to and retaining some of its unique and more attractive traditions harking back to its military beginnings."
As Head Boy, Stuart is the ceremonial figurehead of the school and enjoys the traditional uniforms and ceremonies that are unique to Queen Victoria School as a boarding school.
With an eye to the future, Stuart believes the well-being of the historic school is in the hands of the teaching staff and the boys themselves.
"The teachers are tremendous", he said. "They encourage, comfort, correct and congratulate wherever necessary and there isn't one who wouldn't give you direction and room to grow if you show willing and ability."
And Stuart added that while not every boy that was fortunate enough to attend Queen Victoria School has turned out to be an academic genius, each was brought to the highest possible level of his ability and encouraged to make the most of the opportunities this afforded him.
They also learn to be independent while knowing how to work for and with each other as well.
And Stuart believes girls may have a role to play in the school's future if Queen Victoria advances along the lines that other Scottish boarding schools have and takes in females.
"I know the horrific financial implications of such a change and the impact it may have on some of the more traditional aspects of the school's life", he said, "but if you put it to the vote, the boys would welcome girls here - after all, servicemen have daughters as well as sons.
But the boys are not entirely cut off from female company at Queen Victoria School at present. Girls often come a'calling to attend social functions there such as discos or reel parties and the senior boys are allowed freedom to go "down town"
Dunblane and meet and mix with local girls.
Having followed a course through the school of responsible positions such as dorm leader, prefect, monitor and Head Boy, Stuart will be glad of a bit of anonymity at university. But he has no regrets as he looks back over the past eight years.
"I'm proud to have been a part of QVS", he said. "I can now look forward to the annual Old Victorians' gatherings to meet and chat over old times.
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