GPC came to Bloxham in September 1986. On arrival Gordon joined Crake House as Assistant Housemaster and remains proud of the distinction of spending his entire Bloxham career as a Tutor in the same House, serving under four Housemasters, Mike Tideswell, Colin Stewart, David Best and Richard Devesa.
When Gordon first arrived at Bloxham, the teaching of French Literature was a major part of the 6th Form language syllabus, and GPC has strong memories of taking students through the works of Camus, Gide, Beckett, Flaubert and Maupassant, and latterly Gordon addressed the Common Room Society on The Theory of the Absurd in Camus’ work.
If the teaching of Literature declined in importance in recent years, GPC kept his enthusiasm for the classroom as buoyant as ever by taking on Lower School Spanish: something of a challenge having never spoken a word of it, but a hugely enjoyable task nonetheless.
If asked which were his most satisfying moments in a lifetime of teaching, GPC would be quick to say that getting the non-linguists of bottom sets a “pass” grade at GCSE was every bit as rewarding as seeing the high-fliers achieve their A-stars, such successes speaking volumes in terms of self-belief and resilience, qualities which GPC always sought to encourage in the pupils he taught.
Outside the classroom, in the Exams Hall, GPC held the post of External Exams Officer for 17 years, dealing with the school’s GCSEs and A-Levels during the advent of the computer age when exam entries were transformed. GPC’s aversion to most things technological ironically made the task ultimately impossible and he thereafter downgraded himself to Internal Exams Officer, a position he held until retirement.
In sport GPC made no mean commitment to school life. Having run in the Edinburgh Marathon and Oxford Half-Marathon, GPC was one of the Cross Country coaches during his first 10 years at Bloxham. He spent twelve years running Colts “A” rugby, with rare victories over Abingdon and Warwick, and eleven years running the 2nd XI cricket, including the famous 1995 side whose record was Played 8, Won 8. Most recently Gordon has focused on rugby refereeing.
GPC blew the whistle in an estimated 700 matches on the Bloxham pitches, from 1st XV to u-13s (this in addition to refereeing some 200 games on the Warwickshire Society circuit), and he ran a weekly Laws Class in Room 5 to develop refereeing talent among the students—including Tom Falkingham, who is now highly regarded by Gloucester Society. Finally, as an ex-International swimmer, GPC led swimming at Bloxham. Early morning swims, the Founderstide Challenge, the annual House Standards Competition and the House Gala are all part of his legacy.
Gordon now returns to his beloved Edinburgh. We shall miss his honest, selfless devotion to the pupils in his care. We shall miss his unwillingness to bend to the latest fads in education and we shall miss his unflinching honesty.
DFM
