A DOWNEND School teacher who has introduced generations of children to the study of drama has retired.
Jon Voake took his first lesson at the school in the late 1980s, when it was still split between two sites.
Since then he has seen students go on to be actors, film makers, stand-up comedians, drag artists and take on backstage roles at some of the country’s top theatres.
Some of those whose lives he helped to change returned in April, filling the school hall for a farewell event.
Mr Voake grew up in Midsomer Norton and worked for BT before going into teaching.
He started at Downend in 1989, after four years at Worle School.
He said: “Back then it was a split school site. If you were teaching Year 7 or 8 in the middle school, you had to leap in your car and drive to teach at the upper school.”
The site of Mr Voake’s first classroom, in a Nissen hut at the lower school, is now under the Willow Surgery, next to Hill House Park.
He said: “Before we left I made a film with a student in Year 9, a romance set in the old middle school. One of the reasons I wanted to make it was to make a document of the school building – it was a unique place.”
The student later went on to win a young film maker of the year award.
One of Mr Voake’s other former pupils is now a leading lighting designer, working on productions at the National and Royal Court theatres, and many more have continued a life in drama that started in Mr Voake’s lessons.
Former pupils from more than three decades returned for the farewell event before the Easter holidays.
Mr Voake, who lives in Downend, said: “I’d like to thank the school for such a brilliant send-off – it was fantastic to see everybody.
“One ex-student came from France, others from London and some sent video messages.
“I was completely stunned, because everyone kept it secret – it was a beautiful thing to do.
“Some of the lads who came back were in my first ever drama club who did a show, then stayed in touch and occasionally go out for a drink.”
Mr Voake said the biggest change over the years has been the increased pressure on exam results, meaning there is less time to do things that encourage creativity or cultural engagement but are not on the syllabus.
Events like a battle of the bands contest and a school night club, where pupils could listen to music and play computer games, are a thing of the past, and school shows have been scaled back.
He said: “You can’t just go off and do something just because you think the students might find it interesting.
“The important thing is doing the shows for exams, and we still do those, but the whole school show is such a big undertaking; I used to have 15 members of staff to help but people are just too busy, there are other pressures on their time.”
Some aspects of school life, however, remain the same.
He said: “The most important thing about teaching is the relationships you have with the students – if you get that right, you get everything else right.”
Mr Voake plans to pursue some creative projects of his own in retirement, including playing guitar and writing songs, as well as going to the theatre, gigs and things “you don’t normally do on a week night when you have school the next day”.
He said: “I’ll maybe have a crack at writing a play or two. I enjoy the discipline of thinking through what happens on the stage.”
Head teacher Linda Ferris said: “Jon deserves every accolade he is given.
“He has given a huge part of his life to support the young people of Downend and we can see from the messages that have come in, and the number of past and present colleagues and students who attended his leaving do, what a huge influence he has had.
“A lot of these interactions will be small and seemingly unimportant, but we know the impact a good teacher can have.”