On January 4th, Dr John Ridley gave us a talk on “A Village Headmaster”. John qualified as a teacher in Ripon, working in a variety of village schools, ‘retiring’ as a Head after 21 years, and then taking a Ph.D. from the Open University.

Clearly a very gifted, creative teacher, John revelled in initiating projects in primary and secondary schools. He encouraged children to be artistic, making pottery models as part of historical projects. He twinned his classes with schools in more deprived urban areas, and with children from Islamic and other faith backgrounds – giving his pupils personal experience of very different ways of life. He also took advantage of the 1988 Education Reform Act in establishing out of the classroom ‘outdoor education’, mixing adventure and learning.

A number of members in the audience expressed the wish that they’d had a head teacher like John!