Dr Jackson remembered -
A legend in his own lifetime
I remember "Spike" well. He was the greatest character in WGS in my time (1957 -1964). He would often arrive late for lessons, note the names taken for disorder by the form captain, and proceed to make use of George (his stick)! He always held one's interest, employed gambling for pennies as a teaching aid, and was the best English teacher I ever had. I met him in later life after he had retired from WGS; he was then teaching at Overstone School for Girls where my wife was the P.E. Teacher. Graham Walden
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My name is Roy Pettit and I was at WGS 1955-1959 aspired to not much but had fond memories of Dr Jackson and once met him in Sainsbury's Northants ,He remembered there were 2 Pettits I thought this was amazing as he must have been well into his eighties.The rather poor caricature was done by myself under the guidance of Eddie Phillips the art master of the day. G R (Roy) Pettit
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Dr Jackson taught me when I was a first year at WGS. He was one of the good guys. He rarely resorted to violence with his cane or any other wise. He didn't give excessive lines and in his class I felt both encouraged and valued. He did not frighten the young boys as many of the other teachers did. One English teacher, in my second year, I remember with the nickname "Trigger" was only too keen to demonstrate how he got his name. He is one of the teachers there that I feel inspired me and despite his ridiculous cockney lisp was always remembered, with affection, as a great teacher of English. Peter Knight 1950-55 (Joined RN for 11years - became a teacher myself - retired last year - taught at Weavers Road for a couple of years)
I was in the last class of Spike's last year [1969/70]. For whatever reason he appointed me "fine monitor".I remember shouting out 'fined' to whoever transgressed in class from unruly behaviour to merely leaning back on their chair. Then I noted the amount of fine, about halfpenny at the time, in an exercise book and then collected the fine(s) from those guilty classmates.For the life of me, I can't remember what I did with the money I collected!!
Regards Andrew [Rags] Ralph PS - fortunately I didn't end up working for the Inland Revenue |
My name is Kate Jackson, I am the Grandaughter of Dr.A.Jackson, I have already emailed the Web master and received an email back (thankyou very much Paul) but i was wondering if anyone else out there reading this can remember my Grandad? I have heard he had a reward scheme of "Good's" and he had a cain called George. Also my Grandmother worked at Wrenn for a while (which is where she met my Grandad) her name was Margaret Bates. Any information then please please email me, i would love to hear more about my Grandad.
Thankyou Kate x tainted_rejection@hotmail.com |
I went to the Grammar School in Sept. 1942. Previously I was at Victoria School in Mill Rd. W'boro. Having "mysteriously" won a "Free Place" in the annual exams ( this was before the Education Act 1944) I became a "Ringworm" along with my classmate Peter Tompkins. We were allocated a place in Form 2A1 so our Form Master was Dr Jackson. He made us feel welcome and initiated us into the mysteries of G.S. life. His accent seemed to us to be very east London. His common opening gambit at the start of a lesson was to say "Well gents". His opening address to me was to say "Well Konig". That was about the only German word I knew so I was able to respond appropiately. There was, I'm sure, no motive to catch me out and I felt quite pleased to have shown my knowlege in front of my classmates. Michael King
owe my nickname "Squatter" to Spike Jackson, tho' I suspect that my brother Chris resented being called "Squatter Jr" two years later. Spike was one of my WGS heroes. If you could avoid George, the tocsin, and the inevitable spray, his classes were always enjoyable, even though his drama classes were total chaos. As a child I had problems with public speaking - I had a severe stutter when I was nervous. Spike helped me to overcome my anxieties. Public speaking is now my profession. Paul Scroxton
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Those wondering what exactly Dr Jackson meant to us boys all those years ago may wish to click on this link which will show a video of memories of Spike recorded at the 50 year anniversary of boys who entered 1A in 1952. The conversation eventually got round to Spike when Mr Cooksey (a young master in 1952) remembered the advice that Spike gave him, then others speak of their memories, culminating in an off-the-cuff remembrance of one of Spike's lessons in the very class he used to teach us. I can vouch for the fact that David Wilson (one-time schoolboy, head boy, then teacher) has got Spike off to a T. Why is it that Spike was remembered with such affection? It was because he was a character who used his humour (often self-mocking) to bring the best out of us boys. He threatened to us with his stick and gave us a choice of 'thick end or thin end', but this was essentially an opening flourish to establish order to enable him to teach English (and especially Drama) in his own inimitable way. Spike was a one-off in a group of 'characters' who made WGS so very special. David Tall click here for a movie
Ha! With a name like mine I am sure you can imagine that Spike rearranged my labels! He used to call me "Sugarfoot" because that was the closest he could get to "Hoogervorst". I do recall doing a stint as "Form Beauty" and "Goods Keeper". I think it was about 1966 during my first year at Grammar School that I had a weekly drama class with Spike. It was just the one year - after that, I was taught English and English Lit by Dave Wilson and Noddy Wright My fondest memories are of the amazing treasures in the tea chests that were used for the "tableaus" we had to create. "Drama" for us little first years was usually a 40 minute "lesson" on the stage with the curtains closed. (I don't know the significance of that but I suspect it was a subtle way of avoiding the feeling of self-consciousness....Although there was enough of that during the tableaus!) Spike would pull out an amazing box of index cards, hundreds of them there were, with different topics for his beloved "tableaus". Simple topics like "in the trenches" or "robbers caught in the act". Each group was given a few minutes to rummage through the tea chests, find props and costumes, organise, plan and pose the teableaus. It seems a bit naff now when you look back on it but I do remember being a frightened little 11 year old and Spike's magic drama classes were the first beginnings of confidence building for me and getting used to a new structure of learning and a new school. I suppose Spike's weekly drama class in the first year was a kind of "Linus comfort blanket" which helped to ease one into the strict "Grammar School discipline"....... I never knew Spike as a teacher of English but my memories of this wonderful man are of someone who inspired confidence and was brilliant at releasing the natural imagination and creativeness of pupils.Arend Hoogervorst