From the Principal #90

It’s the 90th issue of ‘From the Principal’ (FTP), and it coincides with the 90th anniversary (academic year) of DLD being established by Mssrs Davies, Laing and Dick last century. And how far we have come on our journey is quite incredible. From our humble beginnings on No 34 Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park back in 1931 to our world-class boarding school in the heart of London overlooking Westminster, the transformation has been quite something. We have weathered a world war, are dealing with a world-wide pandemic, seen a number of Governments come and go, several staff and Principals too as well as generations of students who have walked through the doors of DLD in its various guises.

And yesterday all the hard work paid off as we were crowned, ‘Boarding School of the Year’ and the winner of the Special Judges’ Award for ‘Independent School of the Year 2020’ at the Independent School Parents awards. A remarkable achievement in this prestigious national competition, especially during a turbulent and challenging year, which demonstrates not only our strength in character but also our resilience; qualities we seek to develop in our students every day.

The three visionaries would be very proud of the College’s achievements to date as will the Principals and staff before us. They would be proud of our ‘Excellent’ ISI inspection (yes that was exactly a year ago!), our outstanding public examination results this summer and university destinations and, of course, these distinguished awards. However, after our celebrations, it is back to work – there is still much to innovate and create here as we continue on our exciting journey.

I am so proud of all the staff, students, parents and Governors who work so hard to make DLD College London what it is today, one of the leading independent schools in the country.

Best wishes
Irfan
Irfan Latif, Principal