At the time of writing this article - in two weeks and two further sleeps, I will have taught my last class of students at Ashburton College. After 41 years teaching at Ashburton College, I am retiring. One of four long serving staff retiring from Ashburton College, my situation is somewhat different from the other three, as I was a first day pupil of Ashburton College following the amalgamation of Hakatere College and Ashburton High School at the end of 1964. I guess to us as third formers, it was no different to any student moving to a new school to begin their secondary education. But for the teaching staff, it must have been a crazy experience. For six years, the school was located on the two sites – the Cameron Street site where the police station is currently located, the former Hakatere College was home to the Junior School – Forms 3 and 4 (Years 9 and 10), the Senior School – Forms 5, 6 and 7 (Years 11, 12 and 13) was on Grey Street, the current site of the Ashburton Intermediate School. Imagine this. You are employed as a teacher at Ashburton College. There are seven 40 minute periods in the day. You are teaching at the Senior School in Period 1 and your Period 2 class is at the Junior School. The bell rings for the end of Period 1 but the vehicle supplied by the Department of Education cannot depart the Senior School until the last member of staff was on board. There were times when teachers were 15-20 minutes late to class – for a 40-minute period! As students, we thought nothing of it. The story goes that the late Mr Bill Hayward, a teacher of Mathematics was driving one of the vehicles (past it’s used by date), down Cass Street – both hands on the steering wheel when the wheel became detached from the steering column! We laugh about it now, but how would it have been viewed with today’s OSH regulations.

I have pleasant memories of those days. I was made a Monitor in 1966 - a Junior School Prefect, and a Senior School Prefect in my last year – 1969. I was not strong academically, but I excelled at sport. Sport can open doors for young people, something I have always emphasised to my students. I competed in the 1974 Commonwealth Games (known then as the British Commonwealth Games). I was primary trained, but two years later, I was appointed as a PE teacher at Ashburton College and ten years later, Head of Department. In 1998, I was appointed Head of Faculty – a position I have held to this day. I am proud of the fact I was the athletics champion in all five years I attended Ashburton College and set records in all grades, three of which still stand – the Senior Boys 100, 200m and Long Jump. It is important to note that records were not created from scratch following the amalgamation, but rather the best performance of the two schools became the Ashburton College record. My 200m Senior Boys record bettered the time set by Owen Croy in 1925. Owen was a student at the Ashburton Technical School. Hakatere College was previous named Ashburton Technical School. For three years I was a member of the Ashburton College 1st XV and in one season, I was the top MCRU point scorer. I was the team’s goal kicker, but as a winger, I could also run! In 1970, I began my three years of teacher training at Christchurch Teachers College. I was on a studentship, which meant I was paid a salary, small that it was, and had to give back three years of teaching service on completion of my training. Having completed that stint in Christchurch, I was then on my own. The 1975 October 1 Gazette had six PE vacancies listed – five in the North Island and just one in the South. It happened to be Ashburton College – my old school. I had no intention of going back to Ashburton, but I had little choice. I promised myself I would stay two years. That was 41 years ago! I have no regrets. I have enjoyed my 41 years at Ashburton College. As stated above, I was promoted to a middle management role and am satisfied with my achievements. I am proud to say I have coached nine Ashburton College athletes to individual national titles as well as eight relay teams to national honours. In 2011, Ashburton College hosted the NZSS Cross Country Championships. I was chairman of the organising committee. The six senior members of my department average in excess of 30 years of teaching service at Ashburton College alone. I would like to think my management style in some way contributed to their decision to stay. I wonder how many of them also saw this as a two year stay? I wish the Ashburton College Alumni every success. What a great way for past pupils to keep in contact and to be kept informed of future developments at Ashburton College
 
Cheers
Trevor Cochrane