John Paul McCrohon (affectionately dubbed “JP”), the new Director in Residence ‘In an ideal dream world I would be the artistic director of the Donmar warehouse in London. It is the most exciting theatre in London, with small spaces but producing some of the best work. There are no boundaries between different kinds of theatre. I aspire to that perfect blend. ‘ What was your education like? Portsmouth born and bred. I attended St. John’s College (I am therefore surprised to have ended up teaching at rival PGS) and then trained at Chichester University in Drama and Musical Theatre.
What is your life time proudest moment? I tutored a girl who was predicted a ‘C’ at GCSE Maths. My dad had twisted my arm to do it as a favour for a family friend; in the end she got an A ‘ ’. So that was very proud moment for me, and I suppose it was also one of the main reasons I considered this profession. It’s nice to feel like you can make a difference and be such an important figure in so many people’s lives.
Have you taught any famous/influential people? No, but some people who hopefully will be in the future. One person I taught has been in Les Mis in the West End and is now moving on to a production at the National Theatre. Through running CCADS, my (award winning) theatre company there have arisen leads in Dreamboats and Petticoats and a lost version of Lionel Bart’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Favourite book?
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee(also directed it on stage) Favourite film?
Some Like It Hot (Marilyn Monroe), perfect, there’s nothing about it that doesn’t work. Also American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes.
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What was your previous education like? I went to school in N.Ireland, in a school which was fairly similar to PGS; we even had a black and red uniform! For my A levels, I studied Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry. I then went to Queens University in Belfast to study Maths. I have fond memories of my time at both Regent House and Queen’s; at both institutions the support that was given to me was excellent. I would certainly recommend Queen’s to any Sixth Form pupils who are currently considering their options, and Belfast is such a friendly city. What is your most embarrassing teaching moment? As a teacher you tend to embarrass yourself fairly regularly; my most embarrassing moment? During my second placement, I was in the staff room with one of the other PGCE students. She was a Zumba instructor and was telling me just how difficult it was to do. At which point I stood up and pulled a few “Zumba moves” to prove her wrong. Why? I don’t know. Once I had finished I looked round and saw my Head of Department staring at me in disbelief.
What previous jobs have you had? While still training (19 years old) I was contracted to write an internet soap opera for Casio (of keyboard and computer fame). Because of a friend who had faith in me who worked in the industry I ended up at a large important board meeting which had Japanese businessmen and the like. I wrote the manga animation which was supposed to have a “Friends meets Hollyoaks vibe” on a regular basis for a year. After that I toured doing various pieces of theatre until I got a teaching qualification and started working at South Downs College, where I worked for seven years before coming to PGS.
If you could be any Disney character, who would you be? Torn between Lumio (the candlestick from Beauty and the Beast) whom I played on stage, and Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid, because I mainly look forward to watching my three year old son experience these characters for himself.
Patrick McGuiggan, new teacher of Mathematics
Do you have any hobbies? Well I love sports. I love to play table tennis, football, badminton and squash. I also like watching movies and listening to music, attending gigs/festivals and playing on my PS3. What is your favourite food? It has to be pizza. Even a bad pizza is good…it just can’t go wrong.
Ideal job? In an ideal dream world I would be the artistic director of the Donmar warehouse in London. It is the most exciting theatre in London, with small spaces but producing some of the best work. There are no boundaries between different kinds of theatre. I aspire to that perfect blend.
If you could have any promotion, whose job at school would you have? I’d like to be a Head of Maths someday but I suppose that’s a pretty boring selection. Let’s go with the Headmaster.
If you were stuck on a desert island, what 5 items would you take? i. Some sort of music player (since I love listening to music) ii. Solar power generator (to charge the music player) iii. A hunting knife iv. A sleeping bag v. A ham radio What is your motto in life? I like the quote from Ferris Buller’s Day Off: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” If you could ask anyone anything, who would you ask and what would you ask? George Lucas – Why did you inflict Jar Jar Binks upon us? What is your favourite band? This is a horrible question for me, I like so many bands. I think I’ll go with The Postal Service. Which band do you hate the most? One Direction! They spoilt my go-to karaoke song, ‘Teenage Kicks’, in their new single which was pretty upsetting. What is your advice for pupils? I don’t really feel qualified enough to give life advice. I think ‘Baz Luhrmann - Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen’ puts it rather nicely, definitely worth looking up on youtube. I am not long out of education, but already I look back and if I was able to do it all again, I know there are a lot of things I would change. I suppose my main piece of advice is to enjoy your time at school and university, as clichéd as it is, they are some of the best times you’ll ever have. Also, to do the best you can, otherwise you’ll spend the rest of your life wishing you had. I would also say that, although it’s nice to have a career in mind, I didn’t know what I was going to do until I was 24; there is a lot of time to figure it out. I like this quote by John Lennon, “When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment; I told them they didn’t understand life.”
‘“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”’ Ferris Buler.