As an ex-pupil of St Edmund’s from 1969 to 1973 the last profession I considered was to be a teacher. At school I was streamed in the A set which was for more able students, however I only excelled in Art and sports, (particularly football) as I did not apply myself to learning and was more interested in being the the class fool. Yet I have many fond memories of being a student at St Edmund’s. In particular Maths with Mr Fitzgerald who was great fun and Art with Mr Wiley who gave me the freedom to express my ideas. The ethos, the essence of Christian love and care was evident then as it is now. It is something indescribable yet memorable for most past students. It is the Christian duty that teachers had and still have that motivates them to do their best for the students. After leaving St Edmund’s in 1973 with a handful of mediocre ‘O levels’ I embarked on a career as a Compositor in the printing trade. After a year on apprentice wages I began a checkered career moving from one job to another; these included working on the tugs, general laboring, window-fixing, sales, screen-printing and store-work. It was whilst working in HM Dockyard Portsmouth in 1998 I decide to re-educate myself and train as a teacher. I qualified in 2003 as a Primary teacher and moved into teaching in the secondary sector in 2004. I joined St Edmund’s in 2005 and I am in my 10th year of teaching Religious Education. I enjoy my work immensely and consider it a God-given privilege to be responsible for a young person’s education.