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Stoic), he was familiar with the immersive educative experience of a school not too far away. When he arrived, Philip threw himself into all areas of School life with gusto. He left as a schoolmaster of reputation and affection with few rivals, because no person in their right mind would take on what he did in five years of service.
Quality is an Oundle School characteristic that does not happen by accident. It requires teachers to go the extra mile to make sure that the events and activities they organise for Oundelians are top- class. Philip was most certainly one of these teachers. He got involved in Third Form activities playing ridiculous games, such as laying a table blindfolded; trod the wilds of Dartmoor and the Lake District in rain, wind and sun in the name of the Duke of Edinburgh; and facilitated a talk by an Al Jazeera newscaster via live video link during Climate Week.
It would be remiss not to mention the sociable dinners that Philip hosted on a regular basis, often served with meat from his farm to crown a welcome home-cooked meal. Much merriment was had at his table. The dinners were symbolic of Philip’s myriad of friendships in the Common Room. He was everybody’s mate – young and old, new to Oundle or long-serving. Oh, how we miss his stories that began: “You’ll never guess what happened... !” And the pointless repetitive jokes. These friendships were nurtured by Philip. The teachers who helped him out were always very well looked after: given time to enjoy oneself whilst on a trip in the holidays; meaningful little notes and a very nice bottle of wine to thank you for your time and trouble. These touches to Philip’s school-mastering were very much appreciated and a measure of the man.
As Acting Head of Geography, Philip demonstrated just how adept he was in the classroom as he led the department through a challenging year and brought home outstanding exam results. Clearly, this sojourn into middle management whetted Philip’s appetite and spun his compass point. It was this role that
took him to Norfolk. No doubt Philip learned a great deal as an Oundle teacher. We encourage pupils to get involved in as many of the opportunities available here as possible. Philip did just this as a teacher. Oundle School was very lucky to have him.
Dai Barnes
Megan Smedley
English teacher
With Megan’s departure after 27 years as a member of the English department, the School lost one of its most inspirational teachers and stylish figures. The subtle lighting, the vast range of interesting texts and the piercing eyes of Samuel Beckett created an ambience in her classroom which aptly reflected the range of her interests, as well as her ability to create just the right atmosphere of intensity and intellect which formed the heart of her approach.
Megan joined the School in 1993, following an early career involving extensive travel to places such as the Seychelles and Papua New Guinea, where she lectured at its university in Port Moresby. She taught English in challenging circumstances, working in environments which at times included poisonous wildlife and armed guards. Entertaining in retrospect, but no doubt terrifying at the time was an occasion when she was stopped at a road block by a group of local people who had plans to trade her in for a pig!
Whilst she clearly enjoyed teaching all age groups, Megan’s particular forte – and a reflection of her own intellectual prowess – was Sixth Form teaching. Her approach was one of high expectations, rightly
encouraging pupils to take responsibility for their own progress, and urging them to read as widely as possible and to develop their own ideas and taste. Her own willingness to continue to develop was reflected in her readiness to take on new and challenging texts, to avoid the obvious and instead to focus on the unexpected. Her passion for modern literature, and particularly the poetry of T.S. Eliot and Absurdist dramatists such as Beckett and Pinter, highlighted both her desire to challenge her pupils and also her enthusiasm for the humour inherent within these writers’ work. Humour was never far from her approach – exemplified by her Fantasy Poets’ Football League, where Elizabeth ‘Pat’ Jennings and Gerard ‘Very Manley’ Hopkins, of Sporting Pentameter, regularly took on John ‘The Feet’ Keats and Sylvia ‘Utility’ Plath, of Inter Stanza — but Megan also recognised the power of literature in addressing crucial issues, for example when she chose to focus on the poetry of women in the First World War rather than the more obvious works of Sassoon and Owen.
She was delighted to have the opportunity to teach her daughter, Kate (L 06), at A level, whilst being aware of the pressure involved. Fortunately, Kate secured a place at Cambridge to read English, so her mum had clearly done a good job. This set remains one for which Megan feels enormous affection; she had known some of them since their earliest days at Laxton Junior School. There were occasions when she was referred to as ‘mum’ during lessons, although not by her daughter. Kate had to content herself with the occasional surreptitiously extended deadline and a witty comment in her final English report which read: “I hope she will keep in touch”!
Maintaining close contact with former pupils is important to Megan and she was delighted to have the opportunity to invite a number of them back to School to present talks during her tenure as Head of Sixth Form lectures. Particular highlights included Masterchef finalist and ex- lawyer Rukmini Iyer (L 03) on her
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THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2018 –2019