Chronicle Summer 2023

48 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Kevin Reid What do you do at Teddies and how long have you been here? I am the Housemaster of Cowell’s having previously been Head of Mathematics. I joined Teddies in September 2019. Tell us about your career so far. What have been the highlights? That is difficult to condense into a few sentences! I started teaching in the state sector in Aberdeen in the mid 2000s where the pressures were very different to what I face in my current job. I moved to Gordonstoun shortly afterwards, where, as well as teaching Maths and being AHM, I trained as a retained fireman for the Grampian Fire Brigade –

What do you enjoy about working at St Edward’s? I have known about Teddies since I moved south in 2011. It always struck me as a tolerant place with opportunities for the pupils to follow their own path. Co-education is also a much more pleasurable environment to work and live in. Finally, the Common Room here is a wonderful place with a mix of people from different backgrounds who inspire each other as well as inspiring the pupils, day in and day out. What are your aspirations for the boys in Cowell’s? My aim is for every boy to be happy, secure and aspirational. If we get that right then everything else should fall into place. Obviously, Cowell’s is much bigger than one person, though – I have a cracking team around me of resident staff, our Matron, and the tutors. They all set the tone. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given? I have had a great deal of advice from a lot of people over the years! Some good, some not so good. My Dad was/ is always pretty measured in that regard and his mantra followed from a phrase used often by a South African golfer called Gary Player. He would say ‘The harder you work, the luckier you get’. What are you currently reading? I actually pinched a book when I visited my parents during Exeat! It is called The Granite Mile and it details the history of Aberdeen’s principal street – the mile-long Union Street. Like many high streets, the pandemic has hit it hard and seeing the development of the area during the oil boom in particular is quite fascinating. I don’t tend to reminisce too often but I am very proud of where I come from. Aberdeen will always be ‘home’.

it was the most incredible feeling being on a ‘shout’ surrounded by colleagues and Sixth Form students at any time of the day and night. At Loretto School, I continued to teach and live in the boarding environment and also helped to develop the golf academy to the point that it secured the financial future of the school. I moved south to Radley in 2011 where my teaching developed greatly. I was also given the freedom (and budget!) to develop a golf programme for the boys. In six years, they won five West of England Schools’ titles, were National Handicap Champions and reached the latter stages of the National Finals on three separate occasions. Who or what inspired you to become a teacher? To cut a long story short, I fell into teaching a little by chance. My initial thoughts were to head to the USA after school to pursue a golf scholarship but, after a year out playing amateur golf, I changed path and headed to the University of St Andrews to study Mathematics. A few more golfing opportunities arose but I was never 100% sold on any of them and teaching was attractive for lots of reasons. It was an opportunity to teach a subject that I loved and also to try to give something back in terms of my sporting background too.