Old school learning

Last year I visited my old school to donate the biography of Jo Cox to their library. (You can read about my visit here). They invited me back last week to give a presentation to their awards evening on what I had learnt from being there many years ago. Below is the speech I gave and a some pics from the programme that was handed out. It was a glorious evening to be a part of and watch the young people receive their prizes and accolades with pride.

I will be begin by thanking the Headteacher Mr Paul Foxley and the Chair of Governors Mr Paul Evelyn for inviting me and my wife, Julie here this evening. I left this school 42 years ago and it is great to be back. From the smiles on everyone’s faces and from what I have read about the school, Purbrook Park School continues to be amazing school it was when I was here. Indeed it is probably even better!

So it is good to see you all: students, staff, parents and governors. Thank you all for being so welcoming.

I was asked to reflect on my time here at Purbrook Park School and what learning I took away with me that I still use today, decades later. So please allow me to go through a few ideas and then I will assemble them all into a one word at the end. See if you can work it what it is before I get there.

So what did I learn?

I learnt that everything starts with I, with me, with my ideas and with my actions. Here at this school, I began to get a real sense of my own uniqueness. I attribute this to all the teachers I met during my time here but probably especially Ms Stothers with whom I clashed more than once. But there was deep mutual respect there for each other’s views.

So my overall word begins with I.

Maths was a fun topic for me and I had an array of great teachers including Commander Foster who took no prisoners and was very funny. He left me with a strong belief in numbers, facts and science which I still carry with me. I use this understanding to challenge anecdotal politics and fake news.

So M is my second letter.

I left school here with many ambitions, hopes and dreams. This school was great - and its head teachers especially in encouraging me and my schoolmates to have such plans. Mr Le Min was the head when I arrived and then we had a Mr Elamin, funnily enough. But both were very strong on ambition and inspiring pupils to dream.

A is my third letter

PE and games were never quite my thing. I could never quite understand the educational value of a cross country run in the cold and wet. Still don’t. But Mr Davies shared his delight in games of all kinds and I still have great fun.

G is my next letter.

I am driven forward my innovation. When I was 12, I defined intelligence as being all about getting the most out of life with the least amount of effort. I am always seeking the most elegant, the most efficient and probably therefore the most innovative way of achieving a task. Physics helped me see this and I am grateful to Mr Overton who shared his enthusiasm for good engineering with me.

Another I is next.

Nature is all around us. Mrs Munday in Biology taught me so much about how to enjoy the living breathing world of animals and plants that surround us. I am left with a deep appreciation of all the beauty in the world and the understanding that came from biology.

N is my next letter

Whilst I said that PE was never my favourite subject, I have now returned to a commitment to being active. Here’s my fitbit which has changed my life. And the only sport that I was any good at here at school was badminton and I am grateful to Mr Kent who organised this on Wednesday evenings. He helped my set the foundations for being active today.

A is the next one

One piece of learning I keep coming back to is the importance of being kind, courteous and tactful. I won’t say who it was, but there was evening drama club where the teacher had brought back some new techniques from a training weekend. The group of us, aged about 14, mercilessly took the mickey with these techniques to the extent that the teacher escaped to the staff room crying. We thought we were being funny but actually we were being unkind. We sorted it but it left me always thinking about how important it is to be tactful and just courteous. It goes such a long way.

So T is the next letter.

My third I is for investment. Back here at school I learnt the more you put in the more you get out. It is that simple. I have always liked the quote from Arnold Palmer, a very famous and successful golfer who said  “The more I practice the luckier I get.” While not a golfer, Dr Race my chemistry teacher made me very aware of the need to balance equations.

I is my next letter.

When I was at school, I became very committed to raising money for Oxfam and it was a teacher called Miss Stuart who inspired me to that. I learnt then of the huge importance of creating opportunity. I still carry that learning with me as I summarise my politics as being all about building a world in which everyone has dreams and ambitions and the opportunities and resources to achieve those. This still drives me know - and I am still raising money for Oxfam.

O is my second to last letter.

And my last word to describe the learning I obtained here is ‘now’. Everything is always changing, moving, developing. But one thing is constant - we are all here right now. In this single moment, the future is beginning again for all of us. Nobody has ever taken that sense of now away from me because now everything starts. Again. Once more. And I am grateful to Miss Wood to taught me Latin - and all about tenses - including the present and future tenses!

So N is my last letter.

Have you worked out my overall word of learning? Anyone?

Yes, it is imagination. The most precious piece of learning that I have taken from my school days is a valuing of my own imagination and my respect for everyone else’s. With our imaginations we can all create new worlds and new lives for ourselves. And no one can take your imagination away from you. Our imagination liberates us, inspires us and drives us forward. And it was Mrs Baker, my English teacher who taught me that with novels and with poetry.

So there you have it - 42 years on - I can list what I learnt here and from which teacher I learnt it. I carry with me my individuality, maths, ambition, games, innovation, nature, activity, tact, investment, opportunity, nowness and imagination.   

I am sure that you are all learning far more than you are aware of right now. And it is not all about exams. It is always about living good purposeful lives and helping to build an even better world for everyone.

Keep learning! And keep having fun while you do so!