CHRISTOPHER TASKER 1961 -63

	A picture of me and my brother in May 1961. Tasker C on left, Tasker T on right.

I could say my father contracted out both my education and upbringing from the age of 6-18. I was in boarding schools in Jamaica from 6-9, Durlston Court 9-11, Jamaica again 11-13 and finally a boarding school in Surrey 13-18.  After taking my "A" Levels in 1970, my father informed me he had finished paying for my education and living expenses.  At the same time he gave me box files that contained all my letters, school reports and invoices for school fees, uniforms etc.

My Durlston memories (May 1961-March 1963) are assisted by my term reports, Durlstonian magazines, and all my letters written to my father (one every week).  My letters show what I thought of Durlston, my teachers, and my fellow pupils.  My school reports show what my teachers thought of me.

Most pupils would have a home to go to during the holidays, I did not. I stayed at Redcroft Childrens Hotel in Bournemouth.  The word "hotel" is misleading since, like Durlston, I slept in a dormitory and had meals with many other children. This fact explains my attitude to my life at Durlston and the profound influence of my teachers - who had far more contact with me than any member of my family. I remember some boys crying because they were homesick, I did not have this problem since Durlston was effectively my home for two years.

I was very grateful to my class mates, who were kind enough to take me out at half-term. They were Bland (June 1961), Langmead (Nov 1961), Puddle (June 1962), Hayward (1962), and Carey (1963).

When I arrived at Durlston from Jamaica I had two major handicaps. My education was at least one year behind British standards, and I was very shy. My term reports in 1961 said:

1. "he is very diffident and inarticulate" (MD)
2. "He is behind the standard of this form but does his best" (NP)
3. "He is trying hard to get up to the standard of his age" (Mr Cox)
4. "He appears very shy and it is difficult to get anything out of him"
5. "Improving though still well below the average for his age" (Mr Cox)

In October 1961 I wrote "I am learning English now instead of Jamaican. Some people call me a Jamaican banana, but I don't mind it."  Durlston created a very competitive atmosphere.  I wrote in July 1961 "In our form-room we have a shelf and it has racing cars on it and I am fourth and I have my school number 89 on it."  In June 1961: "This week I have overtaken a boy named Bland and a boy named Woodhouse in class".  The encouragement I received from my teachers had a huge effect.  Some examples from my letters:

1. "I am getting better at reading Mr Cox said so."
2. "Mr Cox said I am improving with my work."
3. "I got a star for English with Miss Taylor"
4. "My best subject is mathematics and Mr Pope, who teaches me maths, thinks that I am very neat at work."

The teaching methods were very effective because they used both the carrot and the stick to motivate pupils.  An example of the "carrot" was in my letter in Dec 1962: "Yesterday we had History Dates and if you got full marks which is 82 you get a sixpence from Miss Dawson who takes the IV form at History but if you get under half marks which is 41 you miss the feast at the end of term and I got 81.  If I had got the date of George V which is 1910 I would have got sixpence."  I remember trying to memorise all the English Kings and Queens from 1066. An example of the "stick" method to motivate pupils was my letter in June 1962 concerning my brother who also went to Durlston. "Trevor has been beaten by Mr Cox for not working and Mr Cox says that if anyone is not prepared to work they will have to leave because there is 50 boys waiting to go to Durlston Court." 

Written evidence of my views of Durlston are:

1. "I am enjoying myself very much here" (June 1961)
2. "I am very happy and well at Redcroft and Durlston" (Aug 1961)
3. "My best friend is Des Clayes and we have a lot of fun together" (1963)

The Durlstonian for Autumn Term 1961 shows that I was second from last in my house - St David. One term later I was second from top, behind Gush M (House Captain).  M.D. wrote in 1962 "Looking at these scores and comparing them with those of last term I see that the following have done much better: Gaskell, Kilpatrick, Hayward, Wallace A, Nettlefield H and Bland, while Fisher is third in St Patrick and Tasker C has risen in St David from second bottom to second top!  Well done you two, both from Form III."

I am sure my two years at Durlston gave me a driving ambition to succeed in my business and personal life.  This has helped my career in Marketing which concluded with building from nothing my own manufacturing business in partnership with my wife.  The quotations from my letters are the exact words used by a nine year old boy, without any corrections. Some of these letters are quite hilarious, written like a stream of consciousness and free association of thoughts.  I was surprised not to find one single complaint in all my letters written from Durlston Court.  This proves my personal theory of relativity - that you can only miss something (e.g. good home cooking) if you are accustomed to it.

I hope through the OD Society to meet anyone who was at Durlston at the same time as me.

Chris Tasker (written July 2008)