A Goodbye from Dave Walker

Well, I am finally hanging up my boots while I can still bend down to undo my laces after 35 years of teaching PE at Myton School. When so many students tell me that I used to teach their parents, it worries me that one day soon I will have taught grandparents too, so I need to make a swift exit.

I never planned to stay here this long.

After teaching 9 years in London, two years in Rugby, and a short stint in Sri Lanka, I intended to teach at Myton for four or 5 years and move on, but when you find yourself having the opportunity to teach such fantastic young people, and be a part of an inspirational team of professionals that Myton always seems to attract, then sometimes the best decision is to stay and not move on for the sake of it.

My Myton career is packed with a host of proud moments, ranging from Ricoh Stadium Cup victories, to District and County Championships in a wide range of sports, ski and outdoor pursuit trips, Sports Days and starting up the Cornwall Surfaris, which later became the Newquay trip.

It has been a privilege to play a small part in many talented athletes’ journeys. Recently, I was lucky enough to be invited to watch one of our amazing ex-students, Karenjeet Bains as she competed as a Gladiator in the final of the forthcoming series at the Sheffield Arena. But what has given me the most pleasure over the years has been to witness the sheer joy on the faces of so many Myton students when they have experienced that moment of success in PE that they have been working towards.

So, if you were directly taught by me, I apologise if I ever called you, “an egg”, or “Cecil”. No, you don’t need a super-absorbent towel or undercrackers with a mud flap. Oh, and there is no swimming pool under the Lower School stage!

I look forward to watching the success of Myton students from the waves of Cornwall, the hills of the Lake District, or from a sunbed somewhere on the Med.

Take care of yourself and others.

Best wishes, Dave Walker.