Mr K introduced me to opera - something I will be eternally grateful for. He let younger students join the Sixth Form Theatre Club for when the trips were to ENO and not to the West End. My first experience was therefore Jonathan Miller's Rigoletto and the rest is history (he says, listening to Tristan right now).
Mr W was an extraordinary character. He claimed to have been a judge on Come Dancing before his teaching days and, indeed, his choreographic abilities were brought into play for a school production or too. For some reason he was profoundly unpopular with other members of my class - something that I found particularly baffling. I was even told by a member of IR (she knows who she is) to stop smiling (and most certainly laughing) in his classes. For goodness sake. He had an extraordinary way of encouraging a particularly writerly style in his students (you were guaranteed a higher mark if you addressed your essays to "My Dear Reader"). He did make a gaff or two though. One was an extraordinary outburst at the class at the evils of sharing and copying work. He didn't realise that a student had, by mistake, submitted their essay twice and that's why there was a certain familiarity around the content he was reading, the second time around. The other one was slightly less forgivable. He came in one morning extolling the evils of his trip to the theatre the night before - he'd never been more upset or offended - he'd been to see La Cage aux Folles. Oh Dear.
He'd always promised a school trip to Petticote Lane to sample the best salt beef sandwiches in London. It never happened.
Miss C was ALL about Anthony & Cleo - her 'friends, romans, countrymen' was awesome - as was her advice on how to handle the difficulties I was having with conducting the junior girls choir! Miss L made maths achievable. Mrs W was an inspiration to my music-making and, indeed, to my life in general. Mr B got EVERYONE an "A" in Economics thanks to his particular techniques of fear and learning the factors for demand by rote. Miss J took an extraordinary dislike to me and made it abundantly clear after a school play rehearsal once - not entirely fair I felt (and still feel now). Mrs F put me on stage and made me dance - she wrote me the nicest card before opening night, commending (no doubt, inaccurately) my comedic skills. She also was the only teacher to give me a detention (for bunking off games to rehearse a scene from Pygmalion) which she later retracted (when the rendition of said scene was so AWESOME no doubt!). Mr R put me off History for ever (until most recently) but took pains to develop and commend even the most untalented of sportsmen (now - how often do you hear that about games teachers!). Although Miss J wasn't necessarily an inspiration she most certainly provided the comedic moment of the year when she locked S in the stationary cupboard for bad behaviour - something that still gets mentioned every now and then these days!
Mr B - Headmaster. An extraordinary man who made a suburban comprehensive school into a centre of excellence and achievement. His standards were incredibly high and he took personal pains to encourage and enforce them. From standing up when a teacher enters the room, to school uniform standards, to a sense of faith, to discipline, to a love for Geography, through to knowing exactly what was expected of you. The best. Soon after I left, he fulfilled his dream (I imagine it was his dream) to become Headmaster of an eminent school in London. He also fulfilled his dream of marrying his Deputy Headmistress, Mrs P (later, of course, Mrs B). He died tragically soon afterwards from leukemia. Terrrible. Tragic. I'll always remember him. Rest in peace.
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