Steve Watkins Retires

ONA Magazine catches up with retiring Maths Teacher Steve Watkins (89-18) on 29 years loyal service at RGS and his plans for the future.

Above: Spartans 2016 after the presentation of the Spartan’s helmet Below: Steve Watkins (L) with Dave Smith during a Games Afternoon

What year did you start at the RGS?

January 1989 and was blown away with the academic prowess of the Maths Department and in the early days it was an extremely daunting feeling, as I was working alongside some brilliant Mathematicians, such as Peter Mitchell (8003), John Porritt (79-93), John Douglas (56-94), John Hewitt (78-90), Pauline Perella (82-03), Tom Hall (6798) and of course Bill Gibson (63-69 and 74-15). Saying that, I have learnt a fantastic amount from them all and those early days helped me in my teaching of the subject and laid the foundations to enable to me teach up to Further Maths.

I became Head of Middle School taking over from Jim Lawrence (60-94) in September 1994, which coincided with James Miller(94-08) starting as the new Headmaster.

As well as being Head of Middle School and teaching Maths, what else have you been involved with at RGS?

Typically RGS, I was given various responsibilities before I became Head of Middle School, which were: Master in Charge of the Dining Hall and House Master of Collingwood. When I started at the school, lunchtime was very traditional, in terms of a member of staff sat with and was responsible for a group of boys. This soon changed to a servery-style of lunch, but still nothing like we have now. Another role of being Master in Charge of the Dining Hall was setting up the Dining Hall for Parents Conferences’ which involved shifting all the tables and chairs and putting out table names; how times have changed!

My role as House Master was organising teams for House Competitions and in those days there was only the traditional sports such as rugby, Miller Cup, cricket, House Swimming Galas and of course Sports Day; again nothing like the extensive House Competitions in place now.

My main involvement throughout my time at the school has been sport, especially rugby and cricket. I have been in charge of the U12, U14 and U15 cricket teams with U14s winning

the County Cup a few times. The U14 team of 1991 was a particularly talented team extremely well captained by a certain Michael Smalley(85-95), Econonics Teacher and I must admit that they knew a lot more about cricket than I did!

In the autumn terms I was given the role of coaching the 3rd XV and thoroughly enjoyed my time working with these players. In the early 90s the school regularly put out three teams, with the 3rd Team being made up of players who loved playing rugby, but weren’t always committed enough to play higher teams. The matches were taken very seriously and the level of commitment was outstanding, but whether win, draw or lose, all players came off the field with a smile on their faces. The 3rd XV, a bit like the present day Spartans, developed such a strong team spirt, that it became like a club within a club; forming their own identity, and in order to recognise this, a special 3rd Team tie was produced for match days with the motto Ne Te Confundant Illegitimi 3rd XV, although I doubt if it would be allowed now! A special thanks must go out to Paul Ponton (71-09) (1st Team Coach) and John Armstrong (72-03) (2nd Team Coach) who I worked closely with at this time, and certainly learnt a lot from, especially the occasional de-brief at the end of a match at Northern RFC.

About 1996/97 the role of Head of Middle School became more demanding and certainly more time consuming. As a consequence, I regrettably had to stop my involvement in the rugby and cricket, which was a great shame, as it gave me an opportunity to see students in a different environment away from the rigours and pressures of a classroom. At this time, there were only three Heads of Year; Tim Clark (84-17) (Head of Lower School), the late Howard Baker (77-12) (Head of Year 11 and Sixth Form –very sad that he passed away last year as he was an incredible man), and myself with no assistants. The pastoral structure was slightly restructured in the mid-90s with Dave Smith (80-11) becoming the Head of Discipline which was the early beginnings of the present excellent pastoral structure in school.

I have also had the pleasure to go on various trips abroad, including watersports and skiing trips to Ovronnaz in France. In those days it used to be a coach to Ramsgate, then ferry to Calais and then coach to Ovronnaz; about 26 hours in total!

When Andy Watt(Head of Rugby) joined the school he somehow persuaded me to referee the occasional Spartans game, which at the time was being run by Daryl Baker, (IT Technician and U16 Rugby Coach) and when I stepped down from being the Head of Middle School, I was given the responsibility of taking over from him; what shoes to fill! I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the involvement with a great bunch of lads – being presented with a Spartans helmet in assembly was a fantastic gesture. The following year I helped Alex Brown (Games Teacher) with the U15 Rugby Team which involved a successful trip to Langley School, Norwich and in Easter 2017, an inaugural tour to Romania.

What will you miss about the RGS?

Being at the school for 29 years it has being a major part of my life and I have got to know so many people from all aspects of school life. Naturally this will be a massive miss and will take some getting used to when September 2018 comes around. Also another massive miss will be the students and going into a classroom and just teaching; an experience I have thoroughly enjoyed over the past three years since stepping down as Head of Middle School.

Do you have one particular memorable moment from your time at the RGS?

There have been so many, it is difficult to select one, but there is one particular poignant occasion that stands out and that was being given the opportunity to personally remember Neil Goldie (89-03) at Neil Goldie –A Celebration held at the school (October 2003) – what a teacher, what a character and what a personality.

Not connected with memorable moments, but in the 29 years I have been at the school there have been some incredible changes: – Seeing the school structurally develop from when I started to what it is now: STC, PAC, ATP, sports halls, sports facilities, swimming pool, The Miller Theatre and the new admin area. Of course there is still more to come. – Overseeing, along with Sarah Longville(Assistant Head of Year at the time) the integration of girls into the lower year groups, in particular the first 14 girls into Year 9 in

September 2006. At the time, this seemed a radical move, but now after 12 years of the school being fully co-educational it was absolutely the correct decision.

What are your plans to do when you retire?

I have played golf badly over the past 25 years and now want to spend some time trying to play the game to a reasonable level, as in hitting the majority of balls straight and a reasonable distance, with my ultimate aim being able to beat Tim Clark!

My wife has a couple of allotments and I will be spending more time doing various labouring tasks and might even turn my hand to growing produce, if allowed!

Staff are aware that I am a passionate supporter of Welsh rugby, but usually only see them play once a year. In retirement I will hopefully have the opportunity to see them a lot more, especially in Rome and Paris.

I also enjoy photography and do much of the cooking at home, but would love to develop these skills a lot further by attending evening classes.

On tour with the U15 Rugby Team Romania, April 2017 – thoughtful coaches?