Oakwood Park Grammar School

Formerly known as Maidstone School for Boys was where I began my teaching career in 1976 and where I remained until the end of 1983 when I moved to Wrotham School. This is the school where my two sons went, but fortunately for them and for me I'd already moved on since then.

I was back at the school for the first time for a very long time to referee a match between Oakwood Park Grammar School and Kent College. It must have been the first time I'd been back on that field since 1983. To make matters more interesting I'd coached the 1st XV all those years ago so this team was a direct descendent from those teams I'd managed, the players from which must now be in their late 40s and early 50s. I only come across one or two former pupils from those days. I wonder what happened to them all?

Oakwood Park won quite convincingly, but I had no hand in the result of course. There are no teachers there now that were there when I taught at the school but oddly the school seemed generally unchanged. There were some mobile classrooms where the swimming pool used to be but the changing areas, gym, walk to the sports fields are just the same.

I taught Geography there - second floor, windows to the right. And as my blip statement says, I'm still a Geographer at heart much to the irritation, I'm sure of my wife, sons and anyone else who is unfortunate enough to be walking with me in a glacial valley or has had to suffer an explanation of why rivers don't flow slower nearer their estuaries.