As I look back I am very grateful for the friends I made at Monkton among the staff, parents and pupils. It has been a pleasure to return to Monkton recently to sing in the Monkton Combe Choral Society.
Tim Turvey (66) (Head of Biology) 1975 - 1990
Monkton finally lost its grip on me in 1990 when I headed north to Oldham to take up the role of Deputy Head at Hulme Grammar School – a boys’ grammar school in multi-cultural Oldham; a far cry from Bath but so much nearer the subject officer for Nuffield Biology at JMB whom I married not long after arriving in the north west. My work as Deputy clearly had its impact; my boss had a heart attack one summer weekend in 1995 and I took over as Headmaster until 2000 when I moved to the King’s School, Chester as Head – a fine rowing school, I am pleased to report, where Tom James was one of our best maths students and oarsmen. I loved being Head but missed the biology teaching and the Big Band and directing musicals – all of which I’d loved at Monkton. In 2007 I decided to stop working for other people and started working for myself which I continue to do: quality-assuring the induction of NQTs in independent schools throughout England, inspecting maintained and independent schools for the exam regulators and advising Governing bodies on the appointment of Heads. Life continues to be good! Giles Wakeling (Physics) 1988 - 1995 I joined the African Pastors’ Fellowship, in Coventry, as their first Administration Officer. This enabled me to serve the Church in East Africa – from a distance – as well as learning a wide range of administrative procedures from a very competent Director. After five years, I was appointed Church Manager of the Church of the Ascension, Balham Hill, South London. It was exciting and challenging working for a visionary Vicar in a period of tremendous growth: attendance doubled and the income quadrupled in four years. We lived in a quiet cul-de-sac in Streatham and where families of English origin were in the minority. When the job at Ascension out-grew me, I retired again, taking two less demanding administrative roles at the Friendly Almshouses in Brixton and Holy Trinity Church, Upper Tooting. Both these jobs came to an end after I had heart surgery, from which I have made a good recovery. In 2011 Jean and I moved to our house in Kidlington and after being the Church Administrator at the local Baptist Church for 18 months I finally retired in August. I enjoy swimming and playing Pickleball at the leisure centre and volunteering for Churches Together in Kidlington and I continue marking GCSE Physics papers from time to time. Bryan Wilson (Mathematics) 1954 - 1959 In 1959, after five years at Monkton, I went to Uganda to be Head of Maths at King's College, Budo. During nine wonderful years there, Joy and I had three more children to join our 'Monkton' daughter. An exciting time professionally included introducing a modernised curriculum, writing textbooks as part of a three-country team, starting educational television, setting and running the national secondary entrance exam and lots of informal in-service training. Returning to England for our children's secondary education, I taught at Winchester for two years, and then started a unique job as Britain's liaison person with any other country that wanted some collaboration with us in mathematics education. For fourteen years, from an office base in London, I was constantly travelling the globe on short-term visits: providing information, running teachers' courses, arranging training in Britain, recruiting Brits for overseas appointments, you-name-it. Altogether I worked in over fifty countries. The next phase was seven years as a CMS Area Secretary, preaching somewhere most Sundays and promoting world mission throughout Winchester and Portsmouth Dioceses. Voluntary jobs in retirement have included being Chairman of Food for the Hungry International (a kind of international version of Tear Fund), and supporting Joy in her work with adults with severe learning difficulties.