Sign In
Sign In
Register for Free

What I Learnt at School – Nicholas Owen

Nicholas Owen has seen more sides of the education system than most – and has something positive to say about all of it..

Nicholas Owen
by Nicholas Owen
Paddington Bear whole school resource pack
DOWNLOAD A FREE RESOURCE! Paddington Bear – Whole-school lesson plans & activity sheets
PrimaryEnglish

My overriding memory of secondary education, if I’m very honest, is that I always knew what I wanted to do for a living; and so I was very anxious to finish school, get out, and go and do it. I was determined to be a journalist – and that’s what I’ve now been doing for 50 years, very happily.

Was school conducive to my ambitions? Well, I had rather a difficult time of it in many ways. I started out in a state primary, but my mother died when I was eight years old, at which point I ended up in the private system. I was sent to a boarding school first of all, which I hated, then moved to another, day school. From there I took my 11+, as everyone did in those days… and failed it. My first secondary school, therefore, was a rather rough one. It’s near where I live today, in fact, and fantastically improved now – but in my time it was basically the place you were threatened with if you didn’t work hard enough. I was fairly dreading it.

Actually, though, it was a very good and useful place for me. A little bruising, perhaps; but I met a wide range of people there, including a chap called Peter Denton, who was a little older than me, and who went off at 15 to join a local newspaper. He was a great example of someone actually doing what I wanted to do; we are still in touch, and great friends after all these years.

As it turned out, I escaped that school by means of the 13+, going to a very well run secondary, with an excellent headmaster and terrific staff, for the last part of my education. I did my GCEs and left with five O levels – including English language and literature – to join my local newspaper, just as Peter had done.

My only disappointment

Having such a broad experience of education has certainly informed my journalism, as well as my general approach to life. I learnt to get on with all sorts of people, and also – which is vital, I think, for a journalist – that absolutely everyone has an interesting story to tell. I don’t regret any of my experiences for a moment.

My only disappointment, I would say, was when I went back to my final secondary school for a prize giving event and told my old English teacher that I’d become a journalist. I expected him to be pleased, but he wasn’t; in fact, he turned on his heel, academic gown swishing around him, and walked away. It’s not the most respected of professions. And I confess, that’s absolutely fine with me!

I visit schools often these days, because I’m involved with Speakers for Schools. I always take in three newspapers – The Times, The Sun and a local paper bought that day. The discussions that arise are inevitably both lively and fascinating, and I enjoy it enormously. It’s what education should be about; not removing young people from the world into a cloistered corner, but preparing them for life.

I didn’t really thrive in my latter schooldays, because I just wanted to get out. These days, schools bring the outside in. They are completely connected with everything that’s going on, and I think that’s fantastic.

Nothing but admiration

Perhaps I’ve been lucky, but from what I’ve seen in all the schools I’ve visited, I have no doubt that secondary education works incredibly well at the moment. The students are fantastically dedicated, and completely in tune with the modern world. I love the way they embrace all the technology available to them, and use it for their learning in such creative and innovative ways.

And all the teachers I meet impress me, every one of them. Yes, they are often underpaid and undervalued – and there’s a tendency to expect them to be chippy and resentful as a consequence – but when I talk to them and they introduce their pupils, all I see is enthusiasm, and connection.

They have a powerful desire to get the very best out of their students and see them succeed in what is, it must be said, a horribly difficult world now; certainly much more difficult than the one I faced. So I have nothing but admiration for all of them.

Nicholas Owen is a journalist, television presenter and broadcaster, currently working for the BBC as well as regularly presenting on Classic FM

He is also closely involved with Speakers for Schools – an independent education charity that provides young people in UK state schools with access to leading figures for inspirational talks, free of charge; for more information, visit www.speakers4schools.org or follow @speakrs4schools

You might also be interested in...