Wellington University headmaster Dr Anthony Seldon knighted

“It truly is an extraordinary honour. There are so many men and women that deserve it more than me, not least all the individuals I work with at Wellington College and Wellington Academy. They are the real heroes.”

Erica Peinaar, who runs the Leathersellers’ Federation of Colleges, in Lewisham, south-east London, is also to be knighted, alongside Barry Day, who runs the Greenwood Dale Basis Believe in in Nottingham, one particular of a handful of academy heads to have obtained the honour.

Sir John Dunford, the Government’s training champion, who will also be knighted, mentioned: “Head teachers now are carrying out a brilliant task, usually under very hard situations.”

Robert Francis QC, who oversaw the public inquiry into the Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandal, will also be knighted for “services to health care and patients”.

The healthcare lawyer’s report, published in 2013, concluded that the hospital oversaw the “appalling and needless struggling of hundreds of people” amongst 2005 and 2009. He named for a “zero tolerance” approach to bad care and produced 290 recommendations for regulators.

A leading neuroscientist who has become a detest figure for animal rights activists will also be knighted. Prof Colin Blakemore, a fellow of the Royal Society and director at the Centre for the Study of Senses at the University of London, has published breakthrough investigation on problems such as stroke and Huntington’s illness.

He has been outspoken in supporting animal testing in health care study.

Wellington University headmaster Dr Anthony Seldon knighted

Pet topics: can I buy Wellington boots for ducks?

A: There are several triggers of itchy skin: you require to concentrate on getting a distinct diagnosis of the result in. It may be worth asking your personal vet for a referral to a expert veterinary dermatologist while this may be costly in the brief term, in the long phrase you will save cash and time, and the dog’s discomfort will be relieved more rapidly. A change of diet plan will perform only if the itchy skin is triggered by an allergy to an ingredient in the diet, and you don’t need to have a raw-meat diet program to investigate this probability. Most vets stock a assortment of particular diets designed to make it straightforward to rule meals allergy “in” or “out”. Appropriately sourced raw-meat diets will not give your dogs worms, but this way of feeding dogs does not suit every owner and animal.

Q:I have two Birman cats who sometimes regurgitate undigested food due to fur balls, which I am treating. Have you any concept what dye/food colouring goes into cat food, specifically the dried selection? The colour stains the carpet brilliant yellow and is extremely challenging to remove.

JD, Worcestershire

A: If any person ever has queries about elements in a certain pet meals, it is greatest to get in touch with the manufacturer directly, both on the internet or by telephone they are normally approachable and helpful. Colors are occasionally used in pet meals, typically to redress the all-natural variations in colour that can stick to heat processing of foods and the wide range of raw resources employed – animal, fish and vegetable. Some additives are derived from naturally happening supplies (typically plants) and other individuals are artificial substances. There is rigid EU legislation governing what additives can be used in pet meals, based on security, technical require and efficacy. The yellow colour you describe may possibly not be from the foods – it’s typical for bile to be brought up from an animal’s stomach. This is a bright yellow colour and can lead to deep stains that are not easy to eliminate.

Q:Our 5-yr-outdated black Labrador, Lola, is very delicate to rain and/or thunder. She becomes visibly distressed, taking to her bed where she sits with her head hung reduced until the rain has passed. Her bed is in the conservatory and the rain on the roof is specifically loud, but she refuses to settle in a quieter area in the home. What can we do to minimise her nervousness?

AP, Henley-on-Thames

A: The prolonged-phrase answer is to consider to desensitise Lola to the sound of storms by utilizing a specially designed audio download of foul weather (see soundtherapy4pets.co.uk). You play this very quietly in the background as component of the household’s typical regimen, progressively growing the volume as she grows utilised to the sound above weeks and months. You should also talk to your vet about occasional use of anti-nervousness medication to give her in advance when you know a storm is coming. It would make sense to set up another bed for her, in a room that’s greater protected from the noise of the climate. If she gets utilized to the new bed as component of her regular regimen, she’ll be much more probably to settle there throughout a storm.

British charity saving tigers with veterinary expertise

Canine distemper virus is killing a single per cent of the Siberian tiger population, and is also suspected to be existing in tigers in Sumatra and Bangladesh. Wildlife Vets Global is involved in surveys for illness in tiger nations, offering guidance on preventing ailment transmission. To locate out more about this and other tasks, please visit wildlifevetsinternational.org.

Rescue pet of the week

Ossie is a 1-12 months-old Labrador who is seeking for a property with no younger children. Contact information@labrador-lifeline.com or contact 01256 884027.

To locate out about the outcomes of the rescued pets featured in this column, see Pet Topics Rescue

*Send pet difficulties to pete.wedderburn@telegraph.co.uk. All sick animals must, of program, be taken to a vet

Pet topics: can I buy Wellington boots for ducks?

Anthony Seldon: I have completed all I can for Wellington, but not for Joanna

We met at Oxford in the Seventies, when I was directing plays, and she was renowned for her extraordinary intellect: her tutor, Professor Marilyn Butler, described her as the brightest pupil she had ever identified. With our three youngsters grown up and in their twenties, we have learnt to value every single other and the instances we invest together more deeply. I admire our children’s strength and love, which make them so constructive with her. A large point came two weekends ago at the London Marathon, exactly where our elder daughter’s boyfriend proposed to her 200 metres from the finish line – a moment of joy for Joanna ahead of she had to return to hospital two days later on.

Joanna’s sickness has been a principal issue in the announcement this week that I will be leaving Wellington College following year. The relentless nature of the occupation prevents me spending time with Joanna and the children, and I now want to be with them more than the running of a giant school like Wellington permits.

The college has one,060 13- to 18-yr-olds, the wonderful vast majority of them boarders. To look after so many younger people – all with their ambitions, person characters and considerations – is far from effortless. Most of the time they behave impeccably and merit the trust we area in them. It is when factors go awry, when the phone rings in the middle of the night, that you know what being a head truly signifies.

I oversee 6 colleges in our group, including Wellington Academy, the state school we sponsor in Wiltshire. My BlackBerry is by no means far more than two feet away 365 days a 12 months. The task demands continuous vigilance. Because Joanna’s diagnosis, I have worked ever tougher, feeling guilty that I am not running Wellington effectively, and have taken up working marathons in assist of her cancer charity.

I am leaving also simply because I think I have carried out all that I can, and a fresh figure is required to consider the college forward. The college is heavily in demand. The benefits up coming yr will place us in the Prime 25 in Britain, and an inspection report final term gave us the prime rating in every single element. I do not want to be a single of these leaders who stays on too prolonged.

When I became Master eight many years in the past, 1 of my aims was returning Wellington to its historic spot as one particular of Britain’s fantastic colleges. I needed, even more, to supply a vision of what schooling can be. So, with complete governor backing, we introduced the Worldwide Baccalaureate as an different to A-degree and GCSE, created our very own “eight intelligences” model, instituted wellbeing and character training, grew to become a educating college, opened schools abroad, ran left-discipline conferences and schooling festivals, and designed innovative studying, educating and partnership programmes. The independent sector has been slow to reform – yet carrying out so, and developing lasting bridges with the state sector, are the best ways of guaranteeing its survival and good results in the 21st century.

Leaving Wellington will be a huge wrench. Heading a boarding school is far a lot more than a occupation: it is a complete way of existence. I go to rest considering about the occupation and wake up early in the morning to the sounds of college daily life even now thinking about it. Our young children have lived in head’s houses at the heart of each and every school and grew to accept getting youngsters and grownups at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We always sought to fill the houses with the existence of the school, with a by no means-ending succession of going to speakers and occasions to enrich the younger. More than something I will miss these youthful folks, the one hundred and far more lunches and dinners I have every 12 months with them at the Master’s Lodge, cheering them on in matches, directing plays, attending concerts, educating and investing time talking to them. They are continuously fascinating, energising and existence-improving. My greatest desire for them has been for them to go on and do excellent in the globe, and to locate which means in their lives.

I often explained I would leave Wellington when I felt the teachers have been turning out to be buddies. I adore their firm, and the intellect, warmth and humanity they deliver to the college. The big occasions I will miss also, for no one particular does grand like Wellington. Speech Day sees 5,000 in the Massive Top enthralled by the pupils’ singing, dancing, drama and ensemble performances our Field Gun teams at the British Military Tournament the numerous bespoke traditions, including the Be The Duke game of tag the yearly Kingsley’s race for all the community, which finishes operating through Swan Lake and Maniacs, the everyday swim in the outdoor pool every single morning in the summertime term. Handful of items are as sweet as viewing the fantastic sporting set pieces: nowadays the 1st XI cricketers are enjoying Eton on Turf.

We will miss the community the most, as opposed to anything at all else outside, possibly, the military and diplomatic missions abroad. 1 wife has sewn a particular bag to carry Joanna’s drip yet another bakes cakes to suit her particular diet program colleagues and mothers and fathers rally about and help with the purchasing, and walked our puppy, Trevor, until finally he had to be offered away final month.

Up coming yr sees the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Joanna is completing her guide on the death of the Duke of Wellington in 1852 and the foundation of Wellington University by Queen Victoria seven years later on. I hope too to see her novels and short stories published. She is a far better author than me, and reads exquisitely too, most recently at lectures on my new books on public schools and the Wonderful War, and the British embassy in Washington.

Deep down I have often had a sense of what the future would deliver. No longer. I promised Joanna soon after my guide on Gordon Brown that I would not publish an additional on a prime minister. Ever forgiving, she has allowed me to compose on David Cameron. She understands how much I have loved speaking to men and women above the past twenty years about the inner life of Downing Street, and I hope the point of view has produced me a far better Head and a stronger and far more rounded individual. Whether or not it will give me the strength for what lies ahead, we shall see.

Certainly I identified it far from effortless this week telling the staff about my departure and the information of Joanna, even though I joked to the pupils that I was leaving for Manchester United. We know we have the two had immensely fortunate and privileged lives, no matter what might occur in the long term. Our faith has deepened. I come to feel nothing but gratitude and hope.

Anthony Seldon: I have completed all I can for Wellington, but not for Joanna