Ian James, Balgowlah Boys deputy principal retires after 40 year career
A teacher fondly nicknamed ‘Spiv’ by pupils — and who managed to help turn a failing public school into one of the most successful in the state — has retired after 40 years.
Manly
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A teacher who helped turn a failing public school into one of the best in the state has retired from full-time teaching after an incredible 40-year career.
Ian James, 67, was a deputy principal at Balgowlah Boys, where he taught English for 28 years.
Around 13 years ago the results at the single-sex school were at an all time low and so Mr James “wracked his brains on how to improve things”.
He won a government grant to research better teaching models and found that literacy and numeracy was at the centre of every subject.
As a result he decided to add an extra 20 minute literacy and numeracy session into the curriculum every morning, when “boys are more awake”, on top of their usual maths and English lessons.
He also insisted that teachers in all subjects take responsibility for literacy in their classes, as well as the subjects they were teaching.
“I had to convince staff that literacy wasn’t just the responsibility of English staff,” Mr James said.
“Say you’re studying construction and you have been given a 15 mark question on safety in the workshop, if you can put together a persuasive written piece then you will get full marks.”
Soon after the new model was formed, Principal Paul Sheather started at the school and together with Mr James they worked hard at turning around results.
“It snowballed and many more talented people than I made a difference,” Mr James said.
“It took a while, but after about four years we started to see some good results.”
In the latest 2020 HSC results, Balgowlah Boys was the second best performer in the state for English, including private and selective schools.
The school also ranked third in the state out of all comprehensive high schools.
As a result of the school’s recent successes pupil numbers have jumped.
When Mr James joined the school in 1992, there were 290 kids at the school and 21 boys doing the HSC.
Now there are nearly 1300 pupils.
“It’s an amazing success story,” Mr James said.
“We made mistakes along the way, but it never stopped us trying.”
Mr James, who grew up and went to public school in Narrabeen, before going to St Paul’s in Manly for his secondary education, said as a teacher he wanted to see public kids get the same education as those at a $35,000 a year private school.
Mr James will be remembered fondly by both staff and students.
He said the secret of surviving in a boys school is to have a sense of humour.
Many years ago he was given a nickname ‘Spiv’ after calling his whole class a “bunch of spivs” when they failed to meet a deadline he set for a draft essay on Shakespeare’s Antony Cleopatra. The students thought it was hilarious.
From then on the name stuck through successive cohorts at the school.
“Boys are really funny creatures,” he said.
“They think they know everything, but they know nothing.
“If you have a sense of humour and you don’t mind them taking the piss a bit they can be really loyal too.
“They will walk over hot coals if they like you.”
Mr James, who still lives on the beaches, is married, with two grown up children.
He has agreed to continue to work one day a week at Balgowlah Boys helping children struggling with English, and the rest of the time he hopes to enjoy his retirement surfing or skiing, and playing guitar in a band with mates.
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