During my first year, the Head of Art found another appointment leaving me in charge of the Department. The Acting Head took pity on my situation and gave me £300 to spend on materials to keep things going. At last I had some brushes and paint to work with.
A term later, the school had appointed a new Head of Department -Roger Taylor, from nearby West Derby Comprehensive. It didn't take me long to realise that things were going to be very different with Roger in charge.
With his straggly hair, long beard, crooked nose and stooped back he looked like Fagin from Dickens' Oliver Twist. Roger also shared some of Fagin's traits; he was good at begging. Thanks to Roger, we had materials coming out of our ears as he called in favours from his previous colleagues.
I learnt a lot from Roger. He was the best sort of mentor a rookie teacher could have.
It wasn't all work though; Roger played hard as well. We had some great times together over the years both in and out of school. There are lots of tales for me to tell about our partnership.
In the meantime, the last time I saw Roger was on the Royal Iris July 2004. We were at the leaving do for Chris Sproat, a PE teacher from the Anfield days and another great character.
Roger didn't look any different, still the same full head of straggly hair, the long beard and the stoop. Although he looked very well, Roger told me that he had been very ill with some rare disease that eluded the doctors for some time. At first I wasn't sure if he was telling me a tale but his wife made it clear this was no story on Roger's part.
I was glad that he had recovered so well. I hope that he continues with good health for a lot more years to come. The teaching profession needs more people like Roger - folks with their feet firmly on the ground rather than their heads up on some esoteric cloud.
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