Tropicana Jan-Feb 2018 #116 A Start from the Heart

Ian Temple
It was interesting to note that
at every instruction given
by the photographer to Ian
Temple, Ian would act upon it
accurately and professionally.
It gave rise to some suspicion before Ian
was egged on to admit, “Yes, I did some
modelling in my younger days!”
Ian had modelled for about four to five
years from the age of 17. His fit physique,
attributed to hours of squash, primed him
for the modelling industry. It was no wonder that the photography
shoot wrapped up quickly as Ian made it all the more easier with
every pose and shot.
He eventually ventured into television commercials.
“It was for Black and Decker,” he divulges. “It was for a new
lawn mower and the commercial was shot in a garden that
had just won a national gardening competition, and it was an
absolutely beautiful garden. It was a good stint and it didn’t get
in the way of my studies. If at all, it gave me extra pocket money
and I was able to afford little luxuries like holidays and buy
nice things.”
So, did modelling influence a sense of style in Ian? “The
only thing modelling taught me was to never go into the
entertainment industry. A few people I modelled with did go
on to become well known personalities but somehow a career in
this field was not appealing to me.”
Ian is far from home – Sunderland, Northern England to
be exact. “We have a bad football team but a very good cricket
team, which is the Durham County Cricket Club. If there’s
anything I miss about home, it would be cricket.”
Into his eighth year away, Ian has somewhat acclimatised
to life in Malaysia and Dubai six years prior. His passion for
teaching has somewhat numbed any feeling of homesickness
and has him forging ahead with purpose.
Born to educationist parents, it never crossed his mind that
one day he too would follow suit. With an older brother who
studied accounts management and who has since moved into
the software management industry, Ian was a little uncertain of
his future undertakings.
“I won’t say I got into this line by mistake,” says the 47-yearold.
“I just decided to give it a shot and literally from day one
there was no looking back!”
“The education system in the UK wasn’t great in the 70s and
“If anyone told me in
1993 when I started
teaching, that I would
be a head teacher, I
would have laughed
it off. It just hadn’t
crossed my mind.”
80s. You sat in the classroom for one
hour periods, six hours a day. They
gave you information and at the end
of your five years, you sat for an exam
and that’s when you discovered if you
were really good or not. I found it to
be a negative experience because that’s
not the way I want to learn; I’m a doer.
I like to get out there and do things,
and what I learn sticks with me.”
“I went through my education and
as I got older, I started to appreciate it more, especially when
I was doing my degree. After a four to five year wait, I did my
Masters in Education in Sunderland University followed by
the National Professional Qualification for Headship a few
years later.”
Ian was in his first Deputy Headship in a school in
Newcastle when he really started to look at how he could make
a difference.
“My work was concentrated in the classroom, but when you
can do what you do in a classroom across a whole school, it
got me thinking. People will listen to me, and if they do these
things that I say, things could get better for them. One of the
first things I learnt in management was that if I make people’s
lives better, then we can make the whole place better.”
“It’s actually my job to feed information down to them to
make it better and not the other way around,” he explains further.
Today, Ian continues to teach despite being the Principal of
Tenby Schools. There’s just no keeping him away from the
classroom no matter how high up the career ladder he climbs.
A Business Studies teacher for the Cambridge IGCSE syllabus,
he takes students right through to their exam year. You would
think running the school would already take a huge chunk
of time but Ian is adamant about getting his time in the
classroom.
“Teaching evolves and it is essential to be at the ground
level to keep abreast of new techniques and developments
in teaching,” he says. “No teacher wants to let their students
down. So, I put pressure on myself to keep up to date. I feel
good doing that, as it is crucial to practise what you preach
otherwise you could lose your staff rather quickly.”
Is Ian a fun teacher? “I used to be!” he laughs. “I didn’t have
a problem when I taught in the Middle East but Malaysian
children are not getting my jokes. I did manage to get a few
19 january/february 2018 | TM