It seemed such a small request. I had just attended ICP’s 2015 Convention in Helsinki in my then role as President of the Association of College Leaders in the UK. I had been deeply impressed by this wonderful gathering of leaders from across the world and had returned enthused and inspired by the work of ICP. Hence when I happened to meet Ari Pokka, ICP’s then President, at an ASCL event and he asked if I was interested in standing for a vacancy that had arisen on ICP Executive, I found myself thinking: ‘Why not?’ It had seemed a relatively small way to express my support for the organisation’s work and questions such as ‘what does this involve?’ never occurred to me- perhaps it was just as well.

Even the process of standing for election did not go entirely to plan. ICP’s next Council was in Perth and my school commitments meant that I was not able to attend. Hence, I recorded a short ‘please elect me’ video message to Council. It was going well until I was distracted half way through by Liverpool scoring a goal (a relatively unusual event at the time) which rather disrupted the flow of my electioneering. Hence, I was surprised, but pleased, when I found out I had been elected, but then thought relatively little about it.

It was only when I joined Executive for the first time at ICP’s 2017 Convention in Cape Town that I began to grasp all that was involved, both in the work of ICP and in being a member of its Executive. My abiding memory of that Convention is of the immediate friendship my wife and I formed with Alta van Heerden and her husband Vic. In particular, the spontaneous celebration from African delegates at the news of Alta’s election as President (including the impromptu tribute from a Praise Singer) is a scene I will never forget. Like many of you, I continue to miss Alta more than I can say.

I have very happy memories of that period, including a splendid 2018 Council in Killarney which included an AGM enlivened by Indimuli Kahi (soon to be President of the African Confederation of Principals) describing in some detail the lessons that he had received from IPPN’s Maria Doyle in what he called ‘Irish Country Dancing’. This was a fantastic example of the way in which ICP brings different cultures and continents together, and how wonderful to have the chance to later serve on Executive with both Maria and Indimuli. Despite frequent requests, Indimuli has never shown me his Irish Country Dancing, though I did have the chance to dance with him and many other senior members of KESSHA during my visits to Mombasa.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, our Convention in Shanghai came around in October 2019 and I rather nervously put my name forward for election as President. I don’t recall any great celebration on being elected, but I do remember that Council dared me to sing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ as part of my election address (which I did- very badly!) It never occurred to me or anyone else at the Convention in 2019, that because of Covid would not take up the role of President until 2022.

And so this summer I found myself in Mombasa, ten years on from Helsinki, attending my final Convention as a member of ICP Executive. Without noticing it I have somehow slipped from being the new and rather naïve member of Executive to becoming the experienced hand who remembers what we used to do and why we did it.

I still find myself being regularly being asked why I have given so much of my past ten years to ICP and whether it was worth it. It reminds of another question I am sometimes asked: ‘What is the value-proposition of ICP, and can I precisely quantify the value of being a member?’ The honest answer to that question is ‘no’. It is like being asked if you can provide a monetary cost for love or a valuation on friendship. However, here are a few final thoughts on what ICP membership has brought to me and my family:

1. The most important part of any organisation is the people within it.  I now have friends across the globe that we would otherwise never have met or got to know. They have a value beyond anything I can describe.
2. The chance to share with and learn from colleagues who are doing the same or similar job in schools across the world. I am still realising how much I have learnt from the depth of wisdom, experience and advice provided by my colleagues.
3. The realisation that what we all have in common is much more important than the points of difference between us. ICP is many things, but above all else it is a global family of friends and colleagues united by a powerful set of shared experiences and roles. We are a worldwide community of practice that continues to learn so much from one another- whether it is how to make best use of Artificial Intelligence or the precise moves required for ‘Irish Country Dancing’.

I often think back to that first conversation with Ari and think how much I would have missed out on if I had not put my name forward for election: wonderful experiences, tremendous professional learning, but above all else, the people who make up ICP. It is their willingness to share and contribute and their friendship that makes ICP such a uniquely powerful global family.