Head of Wycliffe College 1980 - 1986 & Hon. OW
We have been notified of the sad death of Richard Poulton, who passed away on 23rd September 2022, aged 84. Our thoughts and best wishes at this time are with Sally and all the family.
If you would like to have your memories of Richard posted on this webpage, please feel free to email them to TWS@wycliffe.co.uk
Richard Poulton came from a very modest beginning in life. The son of a local parish vicar and a Red Cross volunteer, he grew up in rural south Devon as one of four children in a loving, hard-working and community-spirited family.
The seeds of his future vocation were sown early on – as a capable 9-year-old in a simple one-room primary school in Longdown, Richard was often chosen by the teacher to help other older students with their reading. His aptitude for academia was even more apparent when he won the top scholarship to King’s College, Taunton. During his time at the college he accumulated 7 A-levels – several of which were self-taught, and he was at times asked to sit in on junior classes to cover for teacher absences. His main love was History, and it was the example of his History teacher and the influence he had on his school life which first made Richard believe that teaching could be an honourable and worthy career.
Offered a place at Pembroke College, Cambridge aged 16 (to start 5 years later), on leaving school Richard initially worked as a trainee accountant, and then a brewery labourer, before crossing the Atlantic to spend an eye-opening year studying at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Here he experienced a very different world from his childhood and relished meeting people from very different backgrounds. His adventure ended with him undertaking a gruelling hitch-hike from east coast to west to work in a kids’ summer camp, before hitch-hiking back again. He later described the biggest lesson from his time in the US: to value people above everything else – something that helped to shape his kind, caring and thoughtful nature through the rest of his life.
On leaving Cambridge with a first-class honours degree, Richard began his teaching career at Bedford School, and at around that time he met and married his devoted wife, Zara (known as Sally), who was a source of strength and support for him throughout the rest of his life. Posts followed at Beckenham & Penge Grammar School, and then Bryanston School where he spent 15 years. Here he became Head of History, followed by Housemaster of first a boys’ and then a girls’ house, as well as being Head of Rowing and frequently being involved in the choral productions and school musicals.
Seeking a fresh challenge, Richard became the fifth Headmaster of Wycliffe College in 1980, where he spent 6 years working extremely hard to grow and develop the school. This included developing a new girls’ boarding house, and numerous other changes to the campus and running of the school. Outside of school life he was appointed as a Justice of the Peace on the South Cotswold Bench.
In 1987, the Secretary of the Headmasters’ Conference recommended that he apply for the job as Headmaster of Christs’ Hospital in West Sussex, telling him it was “the school for him”. And how right he was – in what was a period of great change (with the girls’ school having only just relocated from Hertford to the Horsham campus), Richard brought stability and a clear vision during his tenure, demonstrating his passion for providing the opportunity of an excellent education to children who needed it.
Always prepared to take on a challenge and an adventure, Richard took up the role of founding Headmaster of the International School of the Regents in Pattaya, Thailand for a year on retiring from Christs’ Hospital, successfully launching the school from a hotel whilst the campus was still being completed. After retiring fully from day-to-day school life, he continued in the field of educational charities, becoming involved with The Inner Cities Young People’s Project, and then the All Saints’ Educational Trust. In 2008-9, he became Master of the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers.
A man of strong faith and renowned for working hard, Richard provided strong yet calm and sensitive leadership in his schools and organisations. He always took great interest in those around him, making time to guide and encourage pupils, colleagues and family alike. Cherished by his family and friends he was always a joy to be with, his trademark smile and twinkly eyes sharing his joy with the people around him. His outlook is perhaps best described by a line in a recent letter to his grandchildren: “Enjoy your lives, and aim to communicate with others, and do good with them and for them.”
Richard Poulton was born on June 21st 1938, and died on Sept 23rd 2022 following a stroke. He is survived by his wife Zara, and children Elizabeth, Anthony and Benedict.
Below is the text published in The Wycliffe Star following the announcement that Richard would be moving on from Wycliffe to new challenges as Head of Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham. This paints a picture of his time here:
Richard Poulton – Headmaster 1980-86
Richard arrived at Wycliffe fresh from Housemastership and Headship of the History Department at Bryanston. He had two respectable textbooks to his credit, a disarming personality and abundant energy. He took the school by the scruff of its neck, lifted it out of the doldrums, raised its morale and, during a very difficult economic period, managed to keep the applicants coming in. To do this, and raise the academic standards for five consecutive years, is no mean feat and it is hardly surprising that he has been enticed elsewhere.
Richard is a great motivator. It is extremely difficult to refuse him, particularly when you know that he is probably doing twice as much as anyone else anyway. He is an unashamed workaholic. He has the ability to make his staff feel that they are working with him, rather than for him; that he is interested in them as persons as much as in their functions and that, above all, he cares about the things that are really important.
Richard’s achievements in a relatively short period of Headmastership (at least by Wycliffian standards of longevity) were outstanding. He was thrown in at the deep end on arrival and presented with the requirement to mastermind the Centenary Celebrations. He then proceeded to double the number of Sixth Form girls, purchasing and refurbishing Haywardsend to accommodate them.
The Redgra, the Squash Courts and the Science and Technology developments all occurred during Richard’s reign, together with cafeteria feeding, the Tutorial System, a completely new curriculum, an expansion of Musical Scholarships and the formation of the College Choral Society. Many of these were things to which he was deeply committed. He saw through the introduction of the Assisted Place Scheme and the formation of the Parents’ Association and, on top of all this, produced record Oxbridge Entrance achievements in 1984 and record A Level results in 1985, following five years of steady improvement.
Should anyone think that these prodigious labours manacled him to the campus, they would be greatly mistaken. He was greatly in demand to preach at other schools or give the Address at their Speech Days. He spoke to a variety of local Societies, served on Governing Bodies of Prep. Schools and was a superb advocate for the School. He was the Chairman of the Leader Appointments’ Committee for the Stroud and Tetbury Scout District and a Justice of the Peace on the South Cotswold Bench.
He was a great supporter of the OW Society and spoke at most of their Regional Dinners. Here he always left OWs feeling that the school was in very good hands and was as good, if not better, than it had ever been. It was this confidence that he inspired in OWs, in parents and in the Staff, that led to a period of tremendous achievement in the School’s history.
Any eulogy would be an understatement of the debt that we owe to Richard, and to Sally for keeping him sane and well supplied with strong black coffee in the long night hours. He has a great challenge ahead of him, but we know that he will apply himself to it with the same enthusiasm and commitment that we have been privileged to witness and we wish him well.
He was a wonderful headmaster throughout his time at Wycliffe and helped me and Mike Squance greatly improve the Science block. His light was always on (even as one came back from late duty in Springfield at 10.45pm) and you could always knock on his door. He would give 100% of his time to listen to your problems or suggestions.
My lasting memory of Richard was as Group Venture Scout Leader. Every year the Venture Unit (about 120 pupils) went to Biblins in the Forest of Dean where we had a night exercise on the Saturday and a big meal prepared by the Unit on the Sunday.
One year Richard came on the Saturday afternoon with a certain Peter Jones, who was being interviewed for a teaching job at Wycliffe. He decided to go around the exercise route during the night with Peter who was in his best suit. Richard gave him a pair of his Wellington boots and insisted that he go down the aerial runway after him, much to the delight of the pupils, not so for Peter (who got the job).
My wife, Judy, remembers the time Richard rang her at home asking, “Is Pete there, as my car won’t start”. She replied, “No, sorry Richard but he is doing car mechanics tonight”. To which he replied, “Oh good, I’ll totter over there now”. Needless to say, we got him going o.k.
The last time we saw him was in Cornwall at Joan Squance’s funeral. He drove down from Sussex and back in one day – we thought he was mad, but that was Richard.
R.I.P. Richard and thank you.
– Pete Spicer (Staff Member 1975 – 2003 & Honorary OW)
Richard Poulton was my history master when I was in the second form at Beckenham & Penge Grammar School. I remember his lessons were always very interesting and that probably sparked off my interest in the Great War. He told us once that, during the school holidays, he used to help to dig sewers which I think we found quite amusing! One day at the end of a history lesson he announced that he was going to London to pay his respects to Sir Winston Churchill at the Lying-in-State in 1965. He added that he was more than happy to escort any of us who wished to go with him, so I raised my hand and he duly took me to Westminster Hall to file past the coffin, and it remains a poignant memory to this day. I remember how cold it was and the fact that my grandmother was so proud of me going, she nearly burst into tears! Rest in Peace Richard Poulton.
– Peter Wiseman (Beckenham & Penge Grammar School 1963-71)
