Mark Turner wasn’t looking for a new job in 2016; he was looking forward to retirement.
He had no intentions of uprooting his life and moving to Canada, and he certainly had no plans to start a new professional chapter when most people his age were winding down.
But “the opportunity of a lifetime” came calling.
“Shrewsbury was my third headship in the U.K., and it’s regarded as one of the bigger boarding schools so there was really nowhere I would’ve wanted to go from a career ambition point of view after that,” Mark recalls. “Back then, I was planning on retiring in 2020, but in 2016 I was approached and asked if I’d be willing to come to Victoria and have a look at SMUS.”
Immediately upon arriving at SMUS, Mark saw something special.
“The community, the campus, the reputation of the school,” he says, reflecting on what piqued his interest. “Once I learnt about the type of school – co-ed with boarding – that fit my philosophy of where schools should be. And then there was the location: Victoria – what’s not to like?”
The Board of Governors, too, saw something special in Mark.
“What I could bring was a great deal of experience, and I think that’s why the board appointed me. They could download a lot of experiences and best practices from some of the leading schools in the U.K.,” he begins, “and I think that worked out well.”
Marking a New Path Forward
Fast forward to June 2025. Mark sits in his School House office overlooking the fields of the Richmond Road campus. The Head of School’s office is starting to look sparse, as many of his belongings have already headed back to the U.K.
The view outside of the windows from this vantage point – the Sun Centre, the Science Block, the quad, and the boarding houses – hasn’t changed much in the seven years since his arrival. But SMUS is certainly a different school, thanks to Mark.
In September 2018, Mark began a year of “looking, listening, and learning” to help inform the school’s next strategic plan: Floreat.
“I learned through experience how important that process is, and how important it is to resist the urge to come in and make change,” he says.
Mark saw an incredible amount of positives: community, fellowship, support, outstanding students and learners. But he also saw areas for opportunity to help solidify SMUS as a top academic school and a top employer in Canada and globally.
The theme of Mark’s time at SMUS and the Floreat strategic plan, he says, was “evolution, not revolution.” He arrived soon after the retirement of Head of School Bob Snowden, who had spent 22 years in that position.
Mark saw his role as a steady hand; not making waves, not reinventing the wheel, and not getting involved in the day-to-day of the school; trusting in the Senior Leadership Team around him to allow him to focus on the high level direction of the school.
One area that Mark was quickly pulled into was the master plan of the Richmond Road and Junior School campuses.
While the view today from the Head of School’s office hasn’t changed, that nearly wasn’t the case.
“When I began, there was discussion going on about moving the Junior School up here,” he says.
Instead, it was an intentional decision on Mark’s part to lean into and be confident in our three-school model, and put effort into fundraising for the Junior School annex project and now the Middle School expansion project, rather than a full retrofit of the Richmond Road campus.
“We are unique. We have three wonderful and distinct schools where kids get their needs met absolutely square on. It works quite well and I wanted us to be proud of that.”
A Steady Hand, A Lasting Mark
Floreat launched in January 2020, less than two months before the COVID pandemic.
For Mark’s part, he acknowledges that while the pandemic was a crisis, “most of the bits of the strategic plan that were substantial were happening anyway and weren’t going to get derailed.
“Everything was interpreted through the lens of ‘how can we make this as good for our students as we possibly can in a bad situation?’” he says.
David Longridge ‘88, former Chair of the SMUS Board of Governors, says SMUS was incredibly fortunate to have had Mark at the helm during the chaos of the pandemic.
“Mark's leadership style is what impresses me the most. I really believe that leaders should actually lead, which doesn't mean they win the popularity contest every time, and what COVID needed, particularly in school environments, was leadership like that,” David says. “I'm reminded of that famous line by the Queen: ‘Never complain. and never explain.’ That’s Mark. He knew he had a job to do for the sake of the school, the students, and the staff, and he always got down to work to get it done.”
David says Mark worked hard behind-the-scenes to help advocate for and shape the province’s direction for boarding schools, ensuring the health and safety of the community – especially a boarding community – in such uncertain times.
“I learned that being responsive but also being quietly confident we’re on the right track is a good place to be,” Mark adds. “David was quite happy to give the SLT the independence we needed to respond, and being given full responsibility means that you rise to the full responsibility.”
The Mark of a Good Education
Even through the middle of the pandemic, Mark’s leadership allowed the school to continue moving in the strategic direction of Floreat, namely in ensuring we offered the best well-rounded education in Canada.
One area of passion for Mark was debate, and he saw to it that the school provided students more opportunities to participate in public speaking and debate competitions to encourage healthy and respectful discourse, and build new perspectives.
David says: “His philosophy of education is that in a school the most important thing is to encourage people to think for themselves and you have to encourage debate. It’s such an important skill for students to develop.”
Since 2020, participation in public speaking and debate has been growing at the Senior School, with students enjoying competing at local and national competitions.
Another pillar of the Floreat strategic plan that Mark was keen to ensure didn’t fall by the wayside was ensuring the school remained true to its roots: St. Michael’s School and University School. And it just so happened that the 2021-22 school year marked the 50-year jubilee anniversary since the amalgamation of our two founding schools.
“Looking at the stats from 1971 and at amalgamation, SMUS has expanded and improved by a whole range of KPIs. This combined institution, the DNA that we have, has led to a hugely successful model that will continue into the future,” Mark says. “I thought it was a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate that growth line and celebrate it. It was also an excellent opportunity to glorify co-education and equality, and recognize the journey through equity, diversity, and inclusion that we were moving forward on.”
Mark points to the Spindle Whorls, carved by Salish artist – and SMUS Indigenous Scholar – Dylan Thomas (Lyackson First Nation), and unveiled at the jubilee celebration, and the school’s two Welcome Poles, as integral pieces of work that will help guide the school for decades to come.
Indigenous reconciliation is an area, he admits, he knew little about before coming to B.C., and he says he is deeply grateful to Dylan and the Indigenous Elders that SMUS has worked closely with for sharing these new perspectives with him.
“I’ve appreciated learning the stories of Indigenous peoples in Canada. I’m a history guy, and this history provides colour and balance and knowledge of where you’ve come from,” he says. “All these things should be celebrated and acknowledged in a school, and recognizing the history of the area, the site on which we exist, seems to be an extension of that.”
Off the Leash, On the Mark
Mark is quick to give credit to other members of staff and members of the SLT when asked about the tangible impacts of his time at SMUS: capital projects that were completed, the evolution and growth in the academic programs.
However, he is proud to take some credit – alongside the personal counselling team – for Radar.
“I will claim a little bit of influence in the arrival of Radar – more so than in the expansion of the Junior School and Middle School – because it was an idea that I thought would be such a positive for our school,” he says with a laugh. “It’s partly because I love dogs and partly because I’ve seen the use of welfare dogs in other places. And because we have such a fantastic counselling department, we thought it would be a good opportunity to make that team more visible.”
He thanks personal counsellor Chris Webster for his work in ensuring Radar is well taken care of, and well-behaved as a working dog on campus.
“There were so many questions at the start, ‘What is the insurance policy for having a dog at school? Who’s going to pay the vet bills? What happens if it runs away?’ All these reasons not to do it,” Mark recalls. “But when all those questions came up, I said I wanted to make it happen and see if it works. I think Radar has proven himself, and I love seeing the smiles on people’s faces when he’s about!”
Marking Time
Had Mark and his family – wife Elizabeth, and sons Gideon and Alexander – not taken the leap and moved to Canada, retirement likely would have begun five years ago.
But there are no regrets from Mark and the Turner family for having postponed that decision for the opportunity to come to SMUS and create some incredible memories that make for the perfect end of a career in education.
From weekly crossing guard duty at the Junior School and meals shoulder-to-shoulder with boarding students in the Sun Centre, to graduation ceremonies and year-end concerts, there is no shortage of memories from SMUS that will stick with Mark.
“I think the Lifer’s Assemblies are what I may have enjoyed most; when the Grade 12 Lifers go back to the Junior School and spend time with the little ones starting off. That, to me, shows what a SMUS opportunity provides: the leadership, the joy, the community, the celebration.”
He’s also keen to note that he and Elizabeth took full advantage of being in British Columbia, exploring all corners of the province in the summers. An avid fisherman, Mark says returning to flyfishing in the U.K. in the near future – after having spent seven years catching salmon throughout the province – may be the hardest challenge in retirement.
Mark and Elizabeth will retire to Shaftesbury in Dorset, England, this summer, where Mark intends to volunteer on boards of independent schools, do consulting work, and enjoy the outdoors.
As a retirement gift, Mark was given a unique, hand-carved Spindle Whorl by Dylan Thomas. The imagery, a split thunderbird design and the moon, is reflective of the Spindle Whorl Dylan carved for SMUS that’s representative of the value of service; symbolic in Mark’s dedication to education. The moon at the centre ties in to changing of the seasons and transformations, as it reflects Mark’s move into retirement.
“To have a Spindle Whorl as a leaving present is remarkable. The work and the symbolism that Dylan put into it is very meaningful,” Mark says. “This will be something that hangs prominently in our home and that we will treasure.”
Reflecting on his time at SMUS, Mark cannot help but express the most sincere thanks to the entire community.
“On behalf of Elizabeth and I, we say thanks so much for your welcome, your patience, your flexibility in accepting us for who we are, and for your warmth. It's been a wonderful learning journey over the course of the full seven years, and we are indebted and grateful beyond measure,” he says. “We feel incredibly fortunate that by this strange mix of fate and circumstance, we ended up here. If you were to choose where you could live and work, then Canada being the country, and British Columbia being the province, and Victoria being the city, and SMUS being between McRae and Knight is as good as it possibly could get.”
