Colleagues
Ken Creese
In 1954 I was appointed by the head, Eric Hawkins, to take up a post at Calday Grange Grammar School, West Kirby, to teach some French and to introduce German as a new subject in the school curriculum. It was certainly my lucky day, because it took me only a little time to realize that I was going to learn the art of teaching from a very exceptional man. Throughout a lifetime teaching career, I have remembered the excellent advice he gave me in those early days, either verbally or in short notes - much appreciated because, as was common at that time, I had no postgraduate teaching certificate to prepare me for the task, only a languages degree. A quote from my very first note may show how helpful he could be.
"Good luck with your forms as you begin what I'm sure will be a very happy and successful teaching career. The secret with most forms is a ready sense of humour and calm manner, and no dither. I'll come in and listen later, but not until you are settled and not without due warning. A steady, methodical and active approach is looked for."
How reassuring for an anxious and inexperienced young teacher! And that was typical of Eric's quiet and helpful guiding hand.
I served under him at Calday for eleven years, years in which I learned not only how to teach but also to appreciate what an outstanding and inspiring headmaster he was. The school flourished under his challenging and innovative approach, and much of what I personally achieved was due to his enthusiastic drive, his encouragement and support. The German language has always been my first love, and Eric was always happy to listen to my ideas for introducing and building up the teaching of German, at first starting in the fourth year as an O-level option, and later, somewhat experimentally, as the first foreign language offered to the first-year intake. We both felt that French was not an easy introduction to languages for the average English pupil and that he might not be so easily 'put off' by tackling German.
Two of Eric's close friends were headmasters of German schools, Dr Fischer-Wollpert, of the Goethe Gymnasium in Frankfurt, and Herr Schulz, of the Schiller Gymnasium in Hamelin. Links with both these schools were soon established and parties of pupils took part regularly in successful exchanges. Later Eric organised two staff exchanges with the school in Hamelin, and my colleague Peter Green and I look back on the time spent on these exchanges as one of the highlights of our teaching careers. Typical of Eric's 'worldwide' outlook, he also hosted parties of students from Denmark, France and Nigeria!
Another major influence on my teaching life was my five-week trip to the United States, initiated and encouraged by Eric, and funded by the Holt (Shipping Line) Education Trust. Its purpose was to investigate at first hand how the Americans were developing language-learning techniques, particularly in the new-fangled language laboratories. The trip took me to Harvard, Cornell, Ann Arbor, Georgetown (Washington) and Columbia (New York) and it became the incentive for Peter Green and me to embark on the writing of a new-style German text book. Without Eric's backing this project might not have taken off.
This all makes it sound as if Eric was only concerned with languages at Calday. Far from it. He was equally encouraging and supportive of the whole spectrum of education, including sport, music, drama, the cadet forces and community matters. One of my most enduring memories of this period of my life is taking part in Eric's Easter walks in the Lake District. The group of walkers, nearly always led by Eric, was made up of sixth formers and a number of staff. I had not seen myself as an active outdoors type, but I never regretted the decision to join the walks. Helvellyn and Striding Edge, the Langdale Pikes, Great Gable, Scafell are still names that conjure up a feeling of success and real pleasure. Then there was one memorable day when we took a party of German boys with us up Snowdon. One young lad, confident that a mere 3500 feet was "just a hill", insisted (against Eric's quiet words of advice) on taking his long umbrella with him, only to be somewhat dismayed before the party had climbed more than the first slopes!
My wife Diana and I kept in touch with Eric and Ellen after our ways parted in 1965, and we have many more recent memories of meeting up with them, particularly after we ourselves moved up to Yorkshire in the eighties. We were always made very welcome when we dropped in to see them, and, above all enjoyed those occasions when we met up in a country pub for a simple lunch. Their daughter Anne did a great deal to help us to keep in touch.
There is no doubt in our minds that Eric played more than a significant role in our lives. Without my appointment to a post at Calday Grange Grammar School in 1954, we, in all likelihood, would never have met, I would not have moved to Cheshire, and my wife and I would never have got to know each other. We owe it all to Eric.