OSAmag87_library

T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 7
were in the same House, Meredith, and
would meet up at a number of House
events especially in the 6th Form. Geraint
was a lean, fast, powerful athlete and
contributed greatly to many House
successes particularly in our last year at
Stationers when we won the Cock House
trophy much to the delight of the Major
(Hall) and Joe Symons our Housemasters.
We both took geography at A Level with
Sam Read, and both after University went
onto similar careers in education. It is
remarkable how closely we tracked each
other through our teaching careers. Geraint
became a much loved geography teacher at
Stationers eventually heading up the
Department, whilst I did something
similar at a school in Isleworth. We kept in
touch during those years through our
membership of the Old Stationers’ Football
Club and we played together on many
occasions. I can remember many surging
runs down the wing by Geraint.
When Geraint left Stationers, he went on
to become Deputy Headteacher at Nower
Hill High School in Pinner. I did the same
at St Mark’s Catholic School in Hounslow.
During the 80’s, Nower Hill School
flourished under the twin leadership of
Simon Hensby (former member of staff at
Stationers who became Headteacher
83-99) and Geraint, his deputy. The
School achieved national prominence by
becoming London’s top performing school
at GCSE. I had meanwhile been promoted
to Headteacher at St Mark’s in 1986 and
was keen to also raise the School’s
examination profile. I therefore contacted
Geraint to ask if he would show me
around his School and share with me the
processes behind the School’s examination
success. Clearly he was very proud of his
School and after my visit I went back to St
Mark’s to put into practice much of which
I had learned from Geraint. I have to say it
was a very worthwhile experience and
from then on my school went from
strength to strength. From humble
secondary modern beginnings, last year St
Mark’s was reported by the Sunday Times
as being the 13th top comprehensive in the
country. Thank you Geraint for that so
important input some 30 years ago.
Since both of us retired, Geraint and I
regularly kept in touch. Again, remarkably,
our lives have followed similar paths.
Geraint became President of the OSA
some years ago and then continued as a
valued committee member. I became
President in 2013 and we would meet up
for a meal before committee meetings at
Botany Bay and sort out the worries of the
world particularly when it related to the
OSA. The hurt of the closure of the
School in 1983 and the role of the
Company in the School’s demise, was very
evident in the anger and passion showed in
our meetings. It was no surprise that he
was not over excited about the opening of
the new Stationers’ Crown Woods
Academy in Greenwich and the support
that the Company had given it.
I shall miss Geraint greatly and it was a
great shock to learn of his illness a few
years ago. Despite lengthy spells of
treatment, pain and hospitalisation, he
continued to carry out his editorial duties
remaining positive to the end. As our
esteemed editor, he must have in his time,
sent hundreds of emails and letters,made
umpteen phone calls and travelled
thousands of miles up and down the
country and beyond to meet and get news
of Old Stationers. He was the glue that
bound our Association together and has
contributed so much to it’s strong and
healthy position. Geraint was a unique and
extraordinary person, the like of which we
will never see again. God bless you Geraint
and may you find the peace and rest that
your life on earth truly deserves.
David Sheath 1955- 1962
ge
Having left School in 1968 I did not know
Geraint whilst I was at Stationers’. With
the onset of the internet I became aware of
the Old Stationers’ Association website in
the mid-late 1990s and when one of my
cohort became OSA President in 2002 I
Unveiling the commemorative plaque at Bolt Court.
joined the Association. It was probably at
the first annual dinner which I attended in
March 2002 that I met Geraint for the
first time. I am pretty certain that he
recognised mine as a new face and came
and introduced himself to me. From that
moment on, whenever he saw me at
subsequent dinners, he would come over
and welcome me as if we had known each
other all our lives. We sing of “friendship”
in our School Song but his actions at the
annual dinners demonstrated the true
meaning of the word. He would welcome
me with open arms and a broad smile,
asking how I was and what I had been
doing since we last met. My fond
recollection is that whenever I told him
something of interest he would encourage
me to write a short article about it for the
magazine. Encouraged by Geraint, I duly
did and thus one or two short items
penned by myself have appeared in
previous editions of the magazine over the
years. Geraint was a warm, generous and
friendly person, someone who gave you
encouragement. Although I never knew
him whilst at school I am sure those same
qualities were bestowed by Geraint to all
whose paths he crossed when at Stationers’.
His legacy lives on in the archive of school
magazines which he has edited which I
and, no doubt, countless other Old
Stationers treasure.
Robert Hughes 1961-68
ge
Many years ago I was married and lived in
the middle of Anglesey on the outskirts of
the village of Llangwyllog (village is a
30