A Conversation With... Mr Ralph

This week we had a chat with our Housemaster of Orchard, Mr Ralph, who also teaches English and runs a variety of extra-curricular activities and coaches rugby for the Lower School. Mr Ralph joined the College in September 2018 and this year became Housemaster, having been a Housemaster at two of his previous schools.

What does a day in the life of Mr Ralph entail?

Large amounts of caffeine!

I’m usually at my desk at about 7.30am, and this gives me just enough time to respond to the overnight emails before check, chapel or assembly.

After the hurly-burly of Orchard comes the relative tranquility of the classroom, doing a job that is in parts exhausting, exhilarating and frustrating, but one that I love.

Having recently moved on site, I try to get home at lunchtime to give my two dogs - Dylan and Meg - a run out in the garden. Also, if I’m lucky, I might get a few moments with the world’s coolest cat - Ferris.

The afternoon will be a mixture of House business, teaching, marking, photocopying and planning, that’s if I’m not out coaching rugby with the Lower School Dream Team of Mr Crisford, Mr Jones and Mr Brown.

After buses, when Orchard is quiet, I’ll spend some more time in thinking about and preparing the next day’s teaching before going home, hopefully in time to walk the dogs with my wife.

What is it like running a house?

Hectic. Intense. Relentless. But hugely enjoyable! It’s great to get to know people outside of the classroom, getting to know their likes and dislikes, what makes them tick. It’s all about people, and I’m very much a people person.

I’m also intensely grateful for all the fantastic support that I get from my team of tutors, but particularly from Mr Walter, my deputy, and Mrs Blackwell, the Orchard Matron.

What made you want to teach English?

If I’m being totally honest, I don’t really know. At various times in my younger days, I wanted to be a cricketer, an actor, a journalist, a lawyer, even a policeman! Come to think of it, there are aspects of all of these jobs in my various roles at Shiplake!

I enjoy reading and I love Shakespeare, and this, coupled with a desire to communicate ideas, made English teaching a great fit. And, after 25 years, I still don’t regret it!

What’s been your greatest achievement to date (professionally and personally)?

I like celebrating success, however big, however small. There was a moment this week when I read a Year 11 essay and, for the first time, this boy had demonstrated his understanding of the text and was analysing the effects of language in an original fashion, and I thought, ‘Yes! He’s got it!’ I love that just as much as anything else.

That said, I was really proud when I was able to see a former pupil from a previous school - Craig Overton - warming up with England in front of 90,000 spectators at the MCG last year (injury prevented him from playing, unfortunately), and another former pupil - Freya Alderson - has had a play she wrote performed in the West End just last week.

Personally, however, nothing will ever beat the feeling of triumphing over Kevin from Eggheads in a pub quiz a few years ago. (Apart from marriage and the birth of my children, obviously!)

We've heard that you like to sing; could you tell us more about where your passion came from and what is your favourite song to sing?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t passionate about music and singing. I have vivid memories of singing along to Yellow Submarine as a very young child, and I joined my first church choir at 7. I’ve been singing and performing ever since - choirs, a capella groups, rock bands, jazz bands. I love the freedom of expression singing offers, whilst at the same time it requires absolute discipline and concentration. Nothing can beat the feeling of being a part of a 200-strong choir singing the Dies Irae from Verdi’s Requiem accompanied by a full-size symphony orchestra. Nothing.

That said, I’ve loved cranking out Uptown Funk with a full-scale jazz band and being joined by my son - who’s a songwriter - in performances of Me and My Shadow and Vertigo by U2.

Favourite song to sing? That’s a hard one - but, as cheesy as it is, it’s probably Mustang Sally. Although it might be Mack the Knife. Or Beyond the Sea. Or Superstition. Or Fake Tales of San Francisco. Or American Idiot. Too hard. Ask me another...

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Assume a vegetative state and watch sport: cricket, football, rugby, tennis, netball, darts. Pretty much any sport, but not golf. I’m with the American writer Mark Twain who once said that ‘Golf is a good walk. Spoiled.’ I loved following the Shiplake crew at the HRR via YouTube this summer - great sport and great viewing.

I enjoy blogging about sport, and I have started a couple of blogs, both of which have fallen back in my list of priorities since joining Shiplake, unfortunately - too busy!

In terms of TV, I’m very much a creature of habit, and I tend to watch programmes on constant rotation; as such, I can probably quote you pretty much every line from The Day Today,  The Thick of It and Upstart Crow. I enjoyed The Night Manager and The Bodyguard, and I like a good panel show like Would I Lie To You? and I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue on Radio 4.

I like going out to restaurants and trying new food - Benares in Mayfair and The Mason’s Arms in Knowstone, Devon, are my favourites.

What is your favourite sport and why?

Cricket.

I’ve played for over 40 years and I rejoined a team down in Sussex this summer, having last played for them in 1996. I have also set up an occasional touring team - The Montagu Toller Occasionals CC (MTOCC) pulling together friends, former colleagues and former pupils, to play a few games in the beautiful town of Saumur every summer. This year, inspired by Shiplake, I introduced the MTOCC blazer - a riot of pink and blue stripes!

Cricket is an ideal sport for me. Not only is it aesthetically unsurpassed - an Ian Bell cover drive, a Michael Holding bouncer, anyone? - it is also blissfully lacking in sustained effort: a few moments energetic batting, bowling or fielding, and then a chance to loaf! Cricket has also inspired some extraordinary writing, and I love reading cricket books.

Tell us more about the mindfulness activity you run?

Mindfulness colouring offers the opportunity to clear your mind for forty minutes or so, to focus solely on the lines on the page, and to use colour to express yourself. It’s a very effective way to ‘self-medicate’ in terms of looking after your own mental health, and it also gives me the chance to listen to some great classical music!

What does the future hold for Mr Ralph?

Making Orchard a happy, productive, and harmonious house where everyone can contribute and achieve at their own level. Making it the most successful house at Shiplake would be nice, also!

After that, I dream of retiring to France, running a few gites, eating good cheese and bread and drinking good wine - and playing cricket until my body ceases to function!

Oh, and if the future also holds Liverpool winning the Premier League, I will die a happy man!