OV Rob’s Return

On Monday 14 November 2022, OV Rob Jansen (K 93-00) visited King’s St Alban’s to give two assemblies as part of his role as Education Officer for Severn Trent Water. Alumni Relations co-ordinator, Amanda Sutcliffe, was delighted to catch part of one of his presentations to the Pre-Prep children.

Rob and Amanda took advantage of a short break between the assemblies for a tour of the Senior School, which Rob had not been back to see since leaving.

Having crossed the road from King’s St Alban’s to the main school site, by the Dining Hall, Rob was immediately taken back to his school days by the smell of lunch cooking. He commented that it was “a very particular smell that, no matter what was for lunch, always seemed the same!” He recalled that one of the most popular meals in his day was the Ploughmans’, which everyone would fight to get before it ran out.

The first stop on his tour of the Senior School was School House, where Rob admired the Matthew Armstrong Library. When Rob was at King’s, the library was at the top of Edgar Tower, and he remembered how special it was to visit.  Retracing his steps to Edgar Tower, Rob saw where the library had been, in what is now a Classics and Latin classroom, and had the pleasure of seeing a Lower Remove Classics lesson in action with Elizabeth Shepherd (Hon OV).

At the very top of School House, Rob re-discovered what had been his Kittermaster Sixth Form Common Room, which is still used as a Sixth Form common room. Rob was transported back in time as it had hardly changed. He shared how he and his fellow sixth formers used to play out ‘skits’ on the small platform in the corner of the room before the official start of the school day.

In College Hall, the strongest memory was of exams, but also of House Music competitions and in particular Kittermaster’s winning rendition of Boney M’s Rasputin.

Rob was delighted to see Dr Mark Poole (Hon OV) still teaching Chemistry in the Science Block. Although Chemistry was not a favourite subject for Rob (he still has dreams of walking up the familiar stairs to the labs with trepidation), Mark had also coached Rob in football, of which Rob had many happy memories.

The scale of the Michael Baker Boathouse and the Keyes Building impressed Rob, who was very pleased to hear that the new sports hall had been named in honour of Tim Keyes (HM 98-14), whom he hopes to see again at a King’s event soon.

Speaking about his visit, Rob added, “My visit to King’s St Alban’s and the tour of the ‘big’ school was very enjoyable; it brought back lots of vivid memories. I would recommend any OVs to take this wonderful opportunity and relive those formative years.”

If you would like to come back to King’s for a tour, please get in touch with the Alumni Relations Team either via alumni@ksw.org.uk or 01905 721737 to arrange – we would love to see you.