THE former headteacher of a Westcliff grammar school has written a book based on his assemblies.

Andrew Baker, 68, was headteacher of Westcliff High School for Boys for 22 years and has written Education, Society and the Pursuit of Values: A Headmaster’s Reflections after deciding to collate his assemblies.

Now an education consultant Mr Baker, of Burges Road, Thorpe Bay, spoke to the school almost daily on a range of issues.

His notes from these occasions have been developed into a collection of essays spanning 320 pages.

He said: “The book is essentially an exploration of moral and spiritual values and the values of liberal democracy.

“I’m extremely concerned about the direction of our society and education is not just about exams. We have a responsibility to young people to put across the best that has been known and thought and do something to develop their own system of values.”

Split into five sections, Mr Baker writes on young people, relationships and British society.

In the final section – Notable Lives Exemplifying the Human Spirit – Mr Baker writes about Mother Theresa, Iris Murdoch and Enoch Powell and others.

From 1990 to 2012, Mr Baker saw the school achieve four outstanding Ofsted inspections under his watchful eye. He said: “Westcliff High School for Boys is a tremendous school and it was a great privilege to have contributed to the development of the school for 22 years.

“Pupils were extremely able, motivated and committed to doing something with their life.

I was exceptionally fortunate in having so dedicated a collection of staff during my time there.”

Mr Baker’s book will be published on March 31 and available online on Amazon and all good bookstores.

No golden world ...extracts from Mr Baker’s book THE LIVES AND CHOICES OF YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY THERE is no golden world of the past to be recreated, just as there is no future utopia which can be ushered in through the omnipotence of technology.

There is only the proper and continuing pursuit of balance and purpose in our lives. ...

Technology has had a massive impact on our social and cultural lives; it has increased the speed and volume of communication; it has made so much instantaneous; it has enthroned the visual.

Similarly, the Internet has made authors and publishers of every man; information is now as readily accessible as water from the tap.

But technology has simultaneously trivialized and abbreviated much communication...Today, we don’t communicate because we need to but because we have the means to.

These are aspects of today's world within which we need to find our bearings.

Young people have choices to make relating to their lives. Those choices are more complex than ever were the choices of earlier generations. Let those choices be freely rather than obsessively made and made with our eyes open, our minds engaged and our perspectives across the longer term.

MULTICULTURALISM IN BRITAIN OVER the last 50 years Britain has become an increasingly multicultural society. It is no longer the case that we speak one language, have one colour and defend or promote one faith.

That change in our national life and culture is profound. The language of multiculturalism developed in the Sixties because there was a possibility that our society would become disfigured by conflicts of race, colour and culture. Multiculturalism offered a way forward by conferring respect on all.

But…we should be mindful of a further danger. For any society must nurture…an understanding of what binds that society together… We are…a kingdom united in our allegiance to the Crown, the law and the principles of liberty, tolerance and parliamentary democracy. Setting aside any of these characteristics…we do at our peril. We believe that human beings are to be accorded respect.

We recognise that, within a framework of law, people will wish to make different choices…