Staff Spotlight: Richard Wormald, Teacher of PE

Tell us a bit about yourself, what you do and how long you have worked at Gordonstoun?

I've worked here for a year, but I have a long history with the school as I am an OG.

I worked on Ocean Spirit for a couple of weeks as an emergency mate in 2007 and I was an Assistant Houseparent in Duffus Boarding house for a year in 2011. When my wife was head of Year 10, I lived on site. I was a tutor in Bruce Boarding House for five years, while I was working somewhere else, but I'd come in once a week to do it. This is my first time back at Gordonstoun as a full time teacher.

What do you enjoy most about working at Gordonstoun?

I really enjoy the variety that I get in my day. I'm very lucky that I can teach all the years from Reception in the Prep School, get on my bike to teach out on the fields, and then suddenly I'm teaching a year 13 Class. So, I've got this huge breadth which is really nice and I also really enjoy the smaller class sizes.

Being surrounded by a beautiful place and being surrounded by members of staff that are like-minded, interesting, adventurous, outdoorsy type people means it's a great space to work in.

Going into more depth in my subject has been enjoyable, as is the challenge of teaching GCSE and BTech having previously taught in the Scottish system.

What has been happening in your department recently? Any new initiatives/exciting events next term?

Last term was a busy time of year with sports day preparations, lots of tennis (one of my specialist areas is tennis and I've got a tennis coaching qualification), cross country running and I also went on the Round Square adventure race down in Wales. Our seniors did very well, which was very exciting, and we had really great weather.

Cross country running is one of my passions and I have set up a Wednesday morning run. If you get six Wednesday runs in a row, you get a pair of special morning exclusive run socks - a bit of a motivating factor for some people.

This term though will also be busy. We're quite a new department team, the three of us in academic PE, so we’re developing different parts of the curriculum and creating a mapping system. The mapping system is to track students and how their performance, in character education and in Core PE, changes from Year 7 up to Year 10. So definitely more of that initiative this term.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

I think helping my wife to bring up two amazing girls. So, trying to provide them with a sort of exciting, adventurous childhood filled with opportunity to explore and try new things. Hopefully lots of opportunities for them to just play and explore.

And in a more personal sense, I’ve done a number of big runs, ultra marathons and hill runs. But, although I'm proud of these, I do them by choice and just enjoy the challenge of pushing myself. So, I don't know if I see them as my greatest achievements because, actually, sometimes just being able to do the washing up, clean the kitchen and put the children to bed can feel like the greatest achievement.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Something where I am moving. Probably out for the whole day or multiple days, could be by bike, could be on foot and probably a beautiful place in the mountains, perhaps on a sunny day. So, some kind of journey that can either be with other people or I'm quite happy just having a day on my own in the mountains.

Equally, as we've got a boat that we put out in Findhorn in the summer months, taking my family sailing in Findhorn with light winds on a warm day. Then stop, put the anchor down, go ashore, make a little fire with some driftwood and make some tea. That would be really special as well.

What is something surprising about you?

I love making things out of other people's junk, mainly for the house or for the garden, so kind of upcycling. I've actually got an old gym floor in my kitchen and dining room. I found a gym floor that had been ripped up out of a prep school down in Perthshire and got it delivered here. As a PE teacher, I felt like it was pretty appropriate and I like upcycling. I put it in myself, so it's got random lines where you can see a bit of basketball line or a bit of badminton. But, it's not in the right pattern, so you've just got bits of red lines and green lines all over the floor. It's really nice beech flooring, so it really feels nice to have.

I think people know that I really love making bread because I have a bread cooker, so I don't think that is a surprising fact, but I do love cold water swimming throughout the year, and my dad was actually an OG too. He was here in the 60s and was a couple of years younger than King Charles.

Is there a quote or saying you live your life by?

Probably healthy body, healthy mind

I think it's super important to stay fit physically, feel good mentally and be the most energetic version of myself. I become grumpy, stiff and a lesser version of myself when I'm confined inside, sitting at a computer for too long. I kind of have to move and that's when my wife will kick me out of the house. By 10 in the morning, if I haven't been outside, I feel anxiety building and I've got to get out.

So, being as fit as I possibly can helps me to be really calm mentally and deal with various stresses throughout the day in a more calm and sensible manner.

It's lucky that I'm a PE teacher really. It’s the right career for me, especially on a campus like this, because I can just get up and go for fresh air.

What is your guilty pleasure? We didn’t think he’d have one, certainly not sugar related, but it turns out he’s human too!

Well, if I'm totally honest, I've got a number of friends who say that I'm the sugar police, including my wife. But, I am partial to a little bit of chocolate in the evening.

I do like carving out some secret bit of time for myself though and listening to a podcast or an audio book or just shutting myself away, tinkering away in my garage or on building something. So, that's probably my guilty pleasure.

Thanks Richard for taking the time to chat with us!

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