Meet John Walmsley

Head 

My own schooldays in East Yorkshire were quite different from life at Sidcot. I was in the last grammar school stream at one of the UK’s first comprehensives. The East Yorkshire coast is a cold, windswept sort of a place but I enjoyed the school and exceptional teaching. Many of my friends went on to university then disappeared out of the area because there weren’t the jobs in that part of the country. 

Memories of school tend to be of the relationships; it’s the teachers that you remember. My geology teacher, who I probably most emulate, was very relaxed with the pupils; he enjoyed being with us and teaching. Lessons were fun and I think that was the important thing, you learn but you enjoy your time learning. 

My favourite subjects were Geography and Science but I also liked English literature. My father was a scientist and I used to spend a lot of time with him, fossil collecting. I always enjoyed reading and exploring literature that wasn’t on the syllabus, asking for extra reading – a bit of a swot I suppose. I went on to do sciences at University – Geology and Chemistry.

I was attracted to teaching because I enjoyed my subjects and wanted to work with children. Children are exciting – they don’t conform to stereotypes in the same way that adults tend to and they challenge you. 

My first job was in Somerset, teaching Geology and Science. It all went very smoothly, although I do remember early on, in a lesson at my first school, letting the pull-down board snap back up and the clock fell off the wall above, hitting me on the head; I didn’t know where it had come from and thought someone had thrown it, which was quite embarrassing. 

What I enjoyed most about those early days was the whole adventure of taking the children out on field courses. Sometimes we went to the Scottish Highlands and we’re talking about the Somerset of the 1970’s - some of these children had hardly been further than Gloucester. So it was a very different experience for them. Some of them would come back wanting to be geologists and that was very rewarding. In the 1980's I spent 2 years teaching in Mexico City and had a very exciting time. The blend of cultures was fascinating and it was my first experience of teaching the International Baccalaureate.

Apart from Mexico my teaching had been in the state sector until I came to Sidcot. I was Deputy Head here from 1998 and have been Head since 2001. The Quaker education is what attracted me initially to Sidcot. My father went to a Quaker school and at university, I shared a room with a boy from Sidcot, plus my professor was from Sidcot. So I knew quite a lot about Quaker education and how advanced Sidcot was compared to other schools. 

Quaker education has always been coeducational and about the individual. In 1904 the Head of Sidcot wrote a science book, which you could use today. The children in it were doing investigations just as they do in most schools now but in those days, pupils tended to sit in rows and be told things. Although written in Edwardian language, the book is very modern in its outlook, promoting creativity and challenging preconceived ideas.

So the ‘pull factor’ to Sidcot was its Quaker nature and the fact that teachers here can really develop education in the way they feel is the right. That individuality is so important because what you remember from your own education are individual teachers and their idiosyncrasies. Sidcot excels at building up children’s self-esteem by looking for strengths and not just academic strengths. Pupils who find academic work difficult feel just as valued and this helps their academic work because their self-esteem becomes much stronger, so they start achieving more. 

Sidcot pupils leave the school confident without being arrogant.  I think they’re easy with themselves; they get on with people on all different levels.  

If you’re not a Quaker pupil, it makes no difference because the Quaker values are so accessible; they are not dogmatic, they’re not peculiar. They make a lot of sense and are values that most people would subscribe to. 

Looking ahead say in ten years from now, I hope Sidcot will continue to have a thriving boarding community and will still be a 3 – 18 school. We will have a genuine mix of international students studying the International Baccalaureate, which will enable them to study at universities worldwide.

Each day here is different. I enjoy the teaching but I also enjoy meeting current or new parents, or visiting overseas families and seeing how they actually live in their own countries. It’s an extremely fulfilling job because it’s so varied.

Away from school, holidays are spent at a house in Ireland on the west coast. I like the sea and doing water-based activities, whether it’s scuba diving, snorkelling, boating or fishing. I enjoy cooking and reading but with so little spare time, I like to spend as much of it as I can with my wife and 6 children, 2 of whom are grown up and pursuing their careers and 4 of whom are at Sidcot!

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