Paul Juckes Teacher 1967 to 1985

Paul Juckes arrived at St Mary’s in September 1967, at precisely the same time as Fr Graystone. He taught Spanish, French and occasionally Italian and was one of the new breed of teachers brought in as part of an ongoing modernisation programme which started in the mid 1960s.

After leaving St Mary’s and St Joseph’s he got a job at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) after a lengthy vetting process. He takes up the story: “Life in the FCO was rather different. At that time, and until a couple of years after my retirement, we had a language school that was the envy of all other countries. We taught 80 languages, largely with part-time teachers.  Spanish and French were by far the most taught of the languages, and so some of us were employed full-time as Senior Lecturers. 

“We agreed our own timetables with students and had totally flexible holidays.  Most of the teaching was one-to-one, and groups were never of more than ten, so progress was incredibly fast.  I was sent (business class!) to Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina, and given the opportunity to live for a while with families in Argentina and Mexico.  It played hell with my accent, but was very useful, as my students were mainly bound for Latin America.  I led a team of 12 teachers of Spanish then ended up as Assistant Director.”

After he retired, Paul and his wife moved to Catalonia which meant he had to learn yet another language but they live in an idyllic setting surrounded by forests and mountains. They have two sons who are musicians and a daughter who works in the Arts, as well as three grandsons (one of whom lives in Tokyo) and a granddaughter. He is pictured enjoying a pint of Harvey’s ale in Lewes, during a recent trip to the UK.