My role as a teacher at St Dunstan’s began on 1st September, 1976 when both my wife (Maggie) and I, having finished our teacher training courses at the end of the previous summer term, and having our marriage on 14th August, began our first teaching posts. Part of our contract included on-site accommodation. I had arrived earlier in June to view the accommodation, which was a cottage in the grounds of the school located on Rectory Rd. It was the cottage that has now gained planning permission to be demolished to enable the care home to expand.
I was offered the post of class teacher with 8 and 9 year olds, with the addition of games teacher for the younger pupils. During the summer, and before the school term started, the school was kind enough to send me on a rugby coaching course at Bisham Abbey. Maggie was given the role of PE teacher for all classes.
To have the accommodation was a great bonus for us. During our initial interview, in the early part of May, we were able to view the accommodation which helped us to decide quickly that it was a good first move into teaching. The accommodation had five bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, but the downstairs included a modest sized lounge/diner and a very small and ancient kitchen. The decoration was not in great shape, so I decided to arrive at the school as early as possible in June and July to carry out some decorative work, with the help, from time to time, from my future father-in-law, who happened to be a painter and decorator by trade. During this time, one of the teachers at the school, Chris Clarke, offered me a job at his family pub, the Brean Down Inn, which allowed me to stay local and do as much work as possible to help us to move in immediately after our wedding. The grounds at St Dunstan’s, at the time, extended into the woodland behind the school and the tennis club, and included a swimming pool.
Neither myself nor my wife had experience of private school education, unlike all the other staff at the school. There was an interesting mixture of staff at the time under the guidance and support of headteacher Eric Stokes and his deputy Evan Williams. Other members of staff included Chris Clarke, Bruce Broker, Arnold Wood, Sandra Wright and Bruce Wingate. Although our pay (around £3000 per annum) was a little lower than if we had worked in state schools, we were well looked after by the catering staff at the school who prepared all our meals, which we ate in the dining hall with pupils at the school.
In addition to teaching, we had evening and weekend duties to look after the boys. The school also had an old coach which we used for away rugby matches and for trips out on a Sunday afternoon to provide the boys, who had not returned home, m with a treat. The photo below was taken at Lydeard Hill, on the Quantocks in the autumn of 1977.
Since he left teaching in Burnham Malcolm has constantly been involved in education. He became Deputy Headteacher at Cheddar First School and then set up his own education business operating government contracts in England and overseas.