FAREWELL TO ROLY CRAIG JAMES MILLER

FAREWELL TO ROLY CRAIG

BY JAMES MILLER JUNIOR SCHOOL HEADMASTER

The Junior School has been fortunate to have been led by some exceptional, memorable Headmasters over the years. Characters such as Mr AW ‘Buggy’ Little (02-39), Mr TT Anderson (24-60), Mr RW Bertram MBE (30-69), Mr JH Jones (6990) and Mr John Shackleton (96-99) and not least Mr Roly Craig (99-20), helped to shape the futures of hundreds of pupils passing through the gates of the RGS, many leaving a lasting impression on these young minds.

Above: Junior School Staff on Zoom, Summer 2020 In the summer of 2020, Roly Craig (99-20) retired from his position and said farewell to his beloved school and team of staff. His successor James Miller, shares his thoughts on the man who certainly left a lasting imprint on the RGS.

“I was fortunate to work with Roly for 11 years. As I am sure would be the case for anyone who crossed paths with him. I will always remember him for his incredible sense of humour. Roly’s sense of humour which, I think, set him apart from many other heads – he was always looking for something fun to do! However, this image of him being the ‘joker’ never got in the way of him accomplishing great things for the Junior School. Roly was an incredibly determined man with a drive and work ethic that set the tone for the development of the RGS Junior School. Roly’s legacy is a thriving, oversubscribed, happy school filled with eager students and enthusiastic staff. That may sound simplistic, but he took this all-boys Junior School by the scruff of the neck, doubled its pupil numbers, introduced girls, built new facilities and secured our position as the pre-eminent school on Tyneside and beyond.

Roly was respected by his staff and adored by his pupils. They would describe Roly as a lover of birds and all things natural. Every assembly would have a reference to a feathered friend, every new set of Year 3s was given a bird as a mascot – his last little lot were the Robins and as a gift, the staff bought him a watercolour of a robin’s nest with three eggs in it. Many students who stayed at the RGS all the way through to Sixth Form, when leaving the school, would always find the time to say their goodbyes to Roly, even though he hadn’t taught them for over seven years. This says an incredible amount about the impression he left on them. I will never forget the response from students when the whole school assembled in the hall for Roly’s farewell speech. In typical Roly fashion, he had students of all ages in tears of laugher during the final show he put on for them.

One of my funniest memories of Roly, involved a trip to the capital. Each year, Year 6 take a trip to London to visit Harry Potter World and take in a theatre show. One year, Roly was settling the restaurant bill so he said that he would catch us up. Unable to find him, we had to take the 72 children into the Theatre to see the Lion King. About 10 minutes in, I received a call and dashed out of my seat. ‘Hello James, it is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory we are seeing tonight isn’t it?’ asked Roly. Heaven knows how, but without a ticket Roly was sitting with the wrong school, in the wrong theatre – but at least he was in the right city!

For all the laughter and memories I am lucky to have shared with Roly during our time as colleagues, I am most grateful for a piece of advice he gave me when passing over his prestigious title. Roly advised me always to put family first, even when you are giving your heart and soul to the RGS. It’s very hard to find the right balance but those words are still ringing in my ears…”