Barrie T. Pennington

Well Done, Elite Eight! Barrie T. Pennington

St. Judas of the Domination of Oddfellows is a specialist, beacon flagship free school academy, part of the Bright Spark Academic Foundation Trust ? a not-for-personal-gain market-led body dedicated to educational excellence for the fee-paying. The school?s ethos, imbued into its students from Day One, is a combination of the traditional values of integrity and trust coupled with the more contemporary concept of not just aiming high but aiming higher. Achieving their potential is simply not enough for a St. Judas disciple ? instead they have to sweat passion, bleed enthusiasm and ooze breathless compliance. It will come as no surprise, then, that the school has created a certain type of personality which has contributed to a historical narrative best described as ?chequered? in the same way that Genghis Khan can be described as a man of his times. Therefore, it is no disgrace to relate that among those who learned so much within its hallowed walls were: Mad Dog Jake the Slasher of Holborn (entrepreneurial libertine), Smokin? Joe Dragg (arsonist by royal appointment), Long Legged Lana the Razor Blade (her work on vivisection is still compulsory reading in the better medical universities) and Bad Day Marvin the King?s torturer (whose final words to all his clients were: ?So you think you?re having a bad day!?) A genteeling of the times means that those who can now boast that St. Judas is their alma mater are three Secretaries of State, a dozen Permanent Secretaries, six generals, an admiral, two National Health Service Chief Executives, nineteen university deans, thirty cardinals, twenty-two Public Relations directors and forty ?eight Chairs of assorted regulatory bodies including the Quality Care Board, Data Information Commissioner and the Financial Integrity Trust. How times have changed. Donna Kilburn is a current example of the right type of St. Judas person ? determined, focused, driven and going places. She does not let small details get in the way of the big picture. Small details are for small people. Since democracy survives only because of the watchful eye of the few, Donna Kilburn is someone we should all keep an eye on.