Bob Burkill Honorary OV and Member of Staff 1969 - 1997
We are sorry to announce the sad news of Bob Burkill's peaceful death on Sunday, 14th March 2010. Bob leaves his widow Barbara and two daughters Katie and Kimberley.
Barbara writes:
"Katie, Kimberley and I have been overwhelmed and very moved by the comments and memories written about Bobby from ex pupils and staff at King's. We always knew he was a wonderful teacher, but to have such personal stories brought to life brings an extra special dimension to his time there for us. He loved teaching and had many, many happy memories himself. It is especially heartwarming to feel that he touched and inspired so many. We are so proud of him. I am fortunate to have had 32 years of extremely happy marriage with him and two stunning daughters.
Thank you all for your sharing your thoughts with us. We will always remember them with joy."
Bob's family have asked that any donations given in his memory go towards bursaries at the King's School Worcester and to this end, we have created the Bob Burkill Fellowship Bursary group.
An Evensong service was held in the Cathedral on Friday 30th April to commemorate Bob's life and his contribution to the King's School. It was attended by Bob's family, OVs, current and former members of staff and former parents.
Malcolm Gill address |
The following profile was written by Malcolm Gill (Hon OV and Former Member of Staff 1985-2007) for The Vigornian 1997 on the occasion of Bob's retirement from King's:
"Bob arrived at King's from Cambridge, via Oxford where he did his teacher training, in 1969 to teach Geography and became Head of Department upon the retirement of "Basher" Bailey in 1977.
On the Richter scale of geography teachers he will be long remembered as a major force. His room was the epicentre of magnificent lessons each enriched with anecdotal evidence, infectious wit and artistic flair. His boardwork would be carefully watched by boys and girls as he illustrated the concepts and principles involved in the subject. His knowledge was immense. Eastern Europe could be in turmoil, but Bob knew where everything was, had been or should be. He also had a great memory when renewing acquaintance with the many students who had come under his influence at one time or another. They will surely remember not only his lessons but those brilliant ties, Hugo Boss suits, each with their own breast pocket handkerchief as colourful as the undergarments of a Spanish flamenco dancer, Yves Saint Laurent shirts and Italian shoes. Some may even remember him with shoulder length locks, but in my time it was the Tunisian shamal thai covered his head.
He loved taking our geographers on field trips. South Wales, Scotland. Devon, Switzerland, the French Alps and Tunisia were popular destinations for GCSE and A level groups. He could sit for hours drawing and sketching the landscape or, at the drop of his crayon, give a talk on the personality of the Swiss or transhumance in the Savoy Alps. That both of these hardly survive didn't make one iota of difference as Bob could always find something to say about anything. I can also recall a fascinating translation from a part French and Arabic speaking farmer on a Tunisian cooperative holding. We look dutiful notes which all made sense and the farm manager was delighted. This incident was jusi one of many such examples of Bob's natural gregariousness, charm and ability to draw out the best in people. He was also capable of administering a very shaip rebuke if necessary. His words could be like splinters of glass punctuating those who were inattentive or whose academic standards fell below expectation, and it is hardly surprising that many sixth formers achieved high academic success.
An appointment at King's also means that one is expected to teach more than one's subject and Bob's work indeed spread far beyond the Geography Department. He thrived on stimulating discussion, on economic issues and politics and his extra curricular course, shared with Bob Allum, on a Saturday morning was always a riotous assembly. Health, education, transport, doctrines of ministerial responsibility, the compassionate society and unimpeachable integrity were all flung into the debating pot. These lessons were never taken at a gentle canter and the asymmetry of the two Bobs in political persuasion added passion to the debates. I know that 630 MPs can't get into my room but it always seemed as if they had when I entered it on a Monday morning. There was always a touch of admiration in the faces of the sixth formers who had attended these politics classes and they always felt as if they had taken part in something special.
Bob has also been Careers Master at school, worked for the Oxford and Cambridge Examination Board and has been an HMC School Inspector. He worked tirelessly to make our transition to a mixed school a success and never failed to extol the virtues of the school at ISIS or Monmouth Group meetings. In recent years he became aware that the only predictable aspect of the future is its unpredictability. In response to this he sought to emphasise the skills and learning tools which sixth formers will need to excel in this changing world. He was involved from the outset with the Diploma of Achievement (designed to teach, develop and assess these skills) which was subsequently recognised in the Dearing Report. He was part of the small team that set up the assessment scheme, which was subsequently adopted by the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board, wrote some of the early material and shared the group of Lower Sixth Formers which piloted the scheme at King's. After that, he took on the task of running Accreditation courses for teachers set up by the Oxford and Cambridge Examination and Assessment Council. These courses were significantly flavoured by Bob's particular variety of Yorkshire humour and his cheerful, down-to-earth encouragement, so that the teachers set off at the end of the day inspired, happy and looking forward to starting the course. He, as Director of Studies, also persuaded staff throughout the school to take up this challenge. He has taken on this role even further as he leaves us to become National Director for the Diploma which now has a place in over a thousand schools and colleges and when I last heard, he was about to visit one of our more notorious prisons to see how it was getting on down there.
Bob enjoyed being in the staff pantomomimes and his performances as grotesque King in 'Jack and the Beanstalk', Broker's man in 'Cinderella' (Peter Diamond being the other), Giant Crunchbones in 'Puss In Boots' or as The Wise Owl in 'Winnie the Pooh' gave him an excuse to relax and us all a laugh.
They would have given audiences pleasure worldwide had we been able to find a rich impressario. He worked flat out at each school fete in order, so he told some people, to be close to those hour- glass shaped celebrities, but it is his passion for cars that remains legendary. In fact, I think he has really retired to manage a forecourt in Lausanne. He could smell the burning tyres on the other side of the world at the Melbourne Grand Prix, hear gear changing at Silverstone and would catch the popping champagne corks exploded in Le Mans. He even ranked work according to the make of car. An essay given a Mercedes symbol had received the highest accolade, BMW got a "B'grade and the vier Ringen of Audi a "C". Anything French was destined for the scrap heap. Vorsprung durch Technik was our motto in the department and Bob did all he could to obtain the best parts, equipment and fast drivers. A straight road was too dull for him. As a passenger one needed to be bolted in as he looked for chicanes, underpasses and fast right hand bends. Each was met at great speed, yet, in perfect control. The Common Room was his pit stop; a place to refuel, to talk of wonderful front spoilers, running boards and brake horse power.
It has been this driving at full throttle that has led Bob to retire. He was advised by his local GP to slow down and not to drive with the warning yellow light on. With the invaluable support of his wife Barbara and daughters Kate and Kimberley, he will no doubt manage to fill his time purposefully, or just renew those courtship days spent in The Cardinal's Hat. He has already left his indelible mark on the hundreds who have come under his care either in Chappel House, as geographers or as colleagues. Kipling puts it well : " For his work continueth, broad and deep continueth, greater than his knowing". Now, he has the opportunity to leave his mark on those pages he has been so longing to write. It will not be long before we are buying a series of novels, full of politically incorrect characters, written by this multi- talented man."
M.R.G.
