OLD AZURIANS

Ken joined WHSB in 1935 with a BA (Modern Greats) from Queen’s College Oxford. His charismatic presence was felt from the start. Boys in his form were surprised at his, to them, rash assumption that they were worthy of being addressed as “Gentlemen” Well-chosen words of praise, encouragement and admonition flowed freely from his lips as he fixed them with an inquisitorial, but twinkling eye. He pursued any fool with ardour with the aim of creating something of greater value.

 

In teaching he displayed physical energy, unbounded enthusiasm, humour, and innovation too. In the 1940s, if not before, he experimented with the concept of audio-visual aids when, equipped with a wind-up gramophone, he took his class out onto the playing field where, free of the fear of disturbing any neighbouring class, they vigourously engaged in singing the likes of “Frere Jaques” and “Sur  le Pont d’ Avignon”.

 

Between themselves boys always spoke of him as Ken Strange in a familiar and affectionate way. He himself tended to call boys by his own invented nicknames for them. There must be a multitude of favourite anecdotes in which Ken Strange featured. One is forever engraved in the memory of a particular boy who, in class one day, when Ken was bending over explaining a point of grammar to a boy in front, thought it would be fun to pretend to poke Ken’s rear end. The boy next to him joined in and soon it became a contest to see who could get closest. One of the boys won convincingly, by dint of accidentally making actual contact. Ken stood up, turned round, and with more than a hint of surprise asked “Who was that touching my whatsit”. The culprit timidly confessed and, in one swift, continuous action was hoisted out of his seat, turned over, slapped on his backside, and plonked back in his seat. But it is the sequel to this little story that is so revealing about Ken Strange’s character. A year or two later Ken was writing on the blackboard in front of the same group of boys. Whether or not it was his position, standing with his back to the class, suddenly made him feel vulnerable we shall never know, but he stopped writing in mid-word, turned, his eyes seeking out the aforesaid culprit, and with a huge grin on his face said “Do you remember a certain regrettable incident .....? (nickname suppressed).

 

The degree to which Ken was committed to humanitarian causes was not widely known to his pupils, but nevertheless he was deeply concerned with the work of the League of Nations, and relief for refugees and famine-struck regions.

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He was an ardent Francophile who visited France whenever an opportunity presented itself, including a year as Professeur d’Anglais in Blois.  He made opportunities happen too, by organising exchange visits that started in 1946.

 

In the 1930s he had been an active member of the Incorporated Association of Assistant Masters in Secondary Schools. At a delegate conference of the Association in Harrogate in 1935 he was reported widely in the press when he spoke on the deplorably low salaries of teachers. Yet he, like so many others, continued to serve the cause of education for many years to come.