Part 1. The Headmaster, Mr Olphin
I may never have attended Blackwell or met Mr Olphin if my private school had taught ‘decimal maths’ and I had read the 11+ Exam questions properly. The first question: Which County do you live in? My answer: "England"!
However, failing the 11+ was not a disaster. Blackwell was a modern building with excellent facilities for sports, the arts, the sciences and practical engineering or domestic skills all supported by good academic teaching. This suited me very well. The staff all seemed very capable and were well organised by Mr Olphin with the assistance of deputy heads; Mr Vicary and Miss Oyston.
I remember the Headmaster, aka ‘Batman’, striding about the school with grim determination, his black gown flapping about like a bat’s wings. One day, in my fifth year, I had been allocated the task of carrying a Singer sewing machine from the Domestic Science block to the Admin block but, unfortunately, I forgot and the Domestic Science ladies had complained in the strongest possible terms to the Headmaster. Before I could leave at the end of the day I was ‘collared’ by Mr Olphin. As I struggled with the very heavy machine, a very angry Mr Olphin accompanied me saying:
“If there was a £5 note on it you would have remembered.” I had to agree and said that I was “sorry”.
In 1960 the new form and house system was started and I was made Head Boy of Byron? House which met in the girls’ gymnasium. In recognition of their efforts at Blackwell, a few pupils chose a book that they wanted and the school purchased them [as gifts]. The book I chose, which was presented to me at the end of term, probably 1961, by Mr Olphin (or guest speaker?), was: ‘Gas Turbines and Jet Propulsion’. Inside the front cover was stuck this label:
The ‘Effort’: I taught myself enough chemistry to be entered for - and to pass - ‘O’ Level at grade 2.
The ‘Service’ was probably because I was a prefect for a year.
My science teacher had recognised my self-taught knowledge of Chemistry, so he tested me, at lunch times, on old exam papers. He arranged for me, as the only student, to be entered for the ‘O’ level Chemistry exam. In the same year; on the afternoon of my ‘O’ Level Chemistry exam, I stood, waiting alone, outside the exam room. Mr Olphin came striding up the corridor and stopped to talk to me. I was very surprised when he mentioned the sewing machine incident and apologised for telling me off. He then wished me well in my exams and rushed off. Late in the summer holidays I was included in a group of students who were called back to the school. We sat in his office where he described the process of re-sitting some of our ‘O’ Level exams in the Autumn. What most impressed me, and took all my attention, were the very large and complex time-table planning charts lying around him. They must have needed all his genius to perfect.
Mr Olphin told me that I should stay on an extra year so that I could join the ‘O’ Level English Language class that he taught. He had also arranged for four of us to visit the Grammar School with a view to us studying there for our ‘A’ Levels. Instead of the Grammar School I chose Harrow Technical College.
So, thanks to my science teacher and Mr Olphin’s guidance, I was able to leave Blackwell School with five ‘O’ levels at very good grades; Maths, English Language, Physics, Chemistry and Technical Drawing.
