Dermot O’Leary – What I learnt at secondary school
Dermot O’Leary looks back on the protection afforded by an older sibling, and that moment when a teacher wants to know what YOU think…
Dermot O’Leary – my school memories
That final year of primary school is such a wonderful time in childhood. You’re the biggest kids there, and get given a bit more responsibility while you gear up for this big move.
At such a young age, that can feel really empowering. Then you get to secondary, and suddenly there are these massive fifth year boys, with testosterone coursing through their veins…
I went to quite an unusual Catholic secondary school, in that the Catholic dimension seemed to be more about being socially aware than following doctrine.
It wasn’t an especially ‘good’ school in terms of its academic results – though it is now. However, thanks to its humanities department, you did leave with a real sense of ‘the World’ and a curiosity to learn more about it.
It was a pretty nice school in general. There wasn’t much bullying going on. Not that a 15- or 16-year-old is realistically going to beat up an 11-year-old – but you’re still there at the start, thinking ‘I am no one at this school…’
That said, I was lucky in that I had a sister in the fourth year. That felt a bit like being in the Mafia. She was popular and hung out with some quite hard Teddy Boys, so for a while at least, if anyone had wanted to beat me up, I was quite well ‘protected’…
What are your memories of secondary school?
You start when you’re 11, as a child, and finish as a young adult. So much changes in that time. Some of the people I was there with I still remember really fondly. That’s despite the fact that I’ve not seen them since the day I left. I’d love to see some of them again.
“If anyone had wanted to beat me up, I was quite well ‘protected’”
Generally, we were a pretty nice, collegiate bunch. The school didn’t have too many wrong ‘uns. It wasn’t a particularly big school, either – maybe 800 or so pupils, small for the local area. That meant everyone pretty much knew everyone.
One of my oldest friends is someone I met on the second day of starting there. It was a case of mistaken identity. I thought he was another kid in my form, but he just went along with it.
I then saw him the next day, with that other guy, we introduced ourselves properly and soon became really tight. We’ve since been Best Men for each other, are godparents to each other’s kids and still speak weekly.
Did any teachers particularly inspire you?
There were some great teachers at school. That includes my old drama teacher who I still see now and is a lovely man. There was also an RE teacher who was a real firebrand. Parts of the school ended up being named after him after he passed away at a fairly young age.
I didn’t do too well at school academically, largely because I wasn’t focused enough. However, I went on to attend the local Sixth Form College, and learnt from great teachers there who taught me in English, politics and media studies, and were key in giving me that focus I’d lacked.
“I didn’t do too well at school academically, largely because I wasn’t focused enough”
I think I only really ‘found myself’ academically at 16. Those years at Sixth Form were a lovely combination of being taught well, and being encouraged to think independently. I found A Levels to be perhaps the most exciting, but also hardest period I spent in education.
You’re a young adult, and it’s the first time you hear ‘Okay, I’m teaching you this – but what do you think about it?’ Your morals are usually pretty set by then, but now you have to articulate them because someone wants to know your opinion.
My parents were amazing. They were always teaching me to be curious and to develop a love for learning – but having someone outside my family wanting to hear what I think about politics? The memory of feeling that level of empowerment has really stayed with me.
Dermot O’Leary has written a book for children called Wings of Glory, illustrated by Claire Powell, out in September 2023.
