Page 6 - Quadrangle_Autumn_2017

6 7

A WYLLIE “I had been in her very first class at Heriot’s
and she retired two years after I came back.
She said in her retirement speech, ‘I knew it
COMMENDABLE was time to go when that nice wee, curly-
headed boy who wouldn’t stop talking came
back as the Head of English’! She was great.”

PERFORMANCE Hundreds if not thousands of former pupils
have memories of being taught by Mr Wyllie
or of being coached by him in Debating –
a Heriot’s society which grew from small
beginnings to be the training ground of
CONTINUED more national level debaters than any
other Scottish school, including five world
champions – an achievement which makes
him justifiably proud.

“But I wasn’t actually all that good at English
until about 4th year when I started getting
better. But that was because of Mr Caw, he
was a wonderful man: a very kind man.”
“I will miss the idea of seeing young people
I am interested to know if his calling to grow up and the capacity they have to cheer
teaching included an active decision to stay you up. I will miss the banter. I will miss the
in the independent sector. But the reverse is contact with new people that I have had
actually true. through the admissions work; telling them
about this School of which I think so highly.
“My predisposition was to go into the But I’ve been doing this for 37 years and
state sector because I had been privately you’ve got to stop sometime.
educated myself and I had had a very happy
teaching experience at Gillespie’s while at “I’ve applied for 14 jobs in my life and I got
Moray House, but it was Daniel Stewart’s seven of them. I could have gone somewhere
and Melville College, where I’d also done else or maybe it was all meant that I should
teaching practice, that happened to offer me finish my career here.”
a job. I don’t know how I feel about that. In Cameron pictured with his older brother
some ways maybe I’ve been better suited to And how many does he actually remember?
the private sector but I don’t know that.”
“Lots and lots and lots. At least half my social
time is spent with my former pupils and that
At that starting point in his career he was is possibly the most unusual thing about my
also offered a job at Heriot’s, but decided to whole time as a teacher. There are just so
take the Stewart’s Melville post because he many of my former pupils that I would count
had got to know the staff there. But destiny as my friends. Some of whom are now 55.
is persistent: his mother spotted a job advert That gives you pause for thought. Cameron’s 2nd Year school report
for the Head of English post and after an
interview with the ‘wonderful’ Keith Pearson “They have been my family. I do not think
and the ‘splendid’ late Hugh MacLennan, of them as my sons or my daughters or my resourceful, skilful, kind, sophisticated and would bend over backwards to support both
he returned to Heriot’s as Head of English in nieces or nephews, but I think of them as much more confident than my generation. the pupil and the family but that just didn’t
1991. friends and it means I have always had the If anything they have less knowledge and I happen back then. The old way is 95 per
company of young people growing up in the do sometimes worry about their resilience.” cent bad but young people do need to be
“It was a bit odd. The only thing I really way that I would have done if I had had my To illustrate this point he recalls a car able to deal with hard knocks and they need
remembered was the smell of the old gym own family. So I’ve kind of had my own family accident that nearly killed his mother when to be able to seek support to help with the
which was exactly the same as 16 years without the expense and the rubbish bits.” he was 12. “The accident was on Saturday hard knocks. However, if that is the only side
before when I left. And a lot of my old and on Monday, slightly unwillingly because effect of producing these lovely, confident,
teachers were still here. The main difference So it is time for Heriot’s and Mr Wyllie to it is not what you did in those days, my happy young people then I’m not worried
was there were girls.” move to the next stage. For Heriot’s it is with father wrote a note explaining what had about it.
Lesley Franklin at the helm – an appointment And at this, the finishing point in his career, happened. Nobody ever said a word to
Among Mr Wyllie’s teachers who became of which Mr Wyllie wholeheartedly approves he has no reticence in delivering an honest me about it. Can you imagine! Today we “I’d love to go to Heriot’s today. That’s
colleagues was May Moffat whom he had – and for him: baking, gardening and lots of appraisal of the Herioters of today he has would be waiting for the child to arrive, have what I’d like to do, I’d like to retire and
‘adored’ as a pupil in her P6 class. lunches out. But will he really miss us? helped create. “Young people here now are flowers sent to my mother and everyone become a 12-year-old. Start again.”