Scotch College

Roger Slade sprints into retirement

Roger Slade has enjoyed Scotch life to the full – to the lasting benefit of hundreds of Scotch boys.

Words: Dr Syd Boydell

Roger Slade started teaching at Scotch in 1976, with a crop of other fresh-faced teachers, including Ian Savage, Ross Campbell, Neville Taylor, Syd Boydell and others. A post-doctoral position at Monash preceded his appointment to Scotch, but he already had behind him an impressive university career (including a ‘First’ and a PhD from Leeds and another postdoctoral fellowship at Sussex).

He plunged into life here with an enthusiasm that has waned little in the ensuing 32 years. From the first we were in no doubt about his passion for running, Chemistry (and Manchester United).

He formed an impressive partnership with the other members of the Chemistry department, perhaps particularly with Peter Lewis, with whom he co-authored a very popular Year 12 textbook. He is still writing books – his ‘Chemistry Checkpoints’ (with Cambridge University Press) is a near essential resource for Year 12 students of the subject.

He enjoyed his teaching from the start (and still does), delighting not only in its content and presentation, but also in the ever-changing variety that classes of boys never cease to provide. However, he has never felt that he had teaching mastered; there were always conversations about better ways of getting through to students. In his time at Scotch he has taught Chemistry (Years 10 through to first-year university), General Science and even Geography (as part of a Year 7 team).

He loved (and still does) any kind of logical puzzle, from tricky chemistry calculations, the mathematical puzzles in the back of New Scientist, to a much sterner recurring one – the Scotch College Senior School timetable. His work in this last endeavour has grown in complexity over the years, and has served the School wonderfully well – the cost has, however, been most of his summer vacation.

His running passion found a very productive outlet in this extraordinary service to and success with the cross-country team, the athletics team, and latterly with the orienteering team. I think, however, that it was in cross-country that he found the most delight in getting his teams competing really well. He coached the Scotch team for an astonishing 32 years. In the 17 years there has been a premiership competition, his lads carried off the premiership an impressive nine times (with four second placings). His advice to runners on tactics during the races is detailed and legendary. Unless he was ill (this was very rare), he always ran with the boys at training sessions, leaving many of them gasping in his wake.

He coached athletics for 20 years, with a fine record in middle distance. This included the ‘dream team’ that smashed a 22-year-old record in the 4 x 800 event and included his son Andrew. In his 12 years of orienteering coaching he routinely ran the 10km distance, and also routinely left most boys (and other staff) behind – it was worth a Mars bar to ‘beat Dr Slade’.

It was not just ‘short’ events like 10km that he excelled at; he has three half-marathons under his belt (all under 95 minutes, his fastest at the age of 60), and I am fairly certain that he has completed more Scotch College 24-hour walks than anyone else in the history of the event – 10; and in eight of these he completed more than 100km. Not bad!

In 1979 Philip Roff appointed him housemaster of Orton and then in 1985 Gordon Donaldson appointed him Head of Year 11, a role he carried out with persistence, efficiency and good humour (most of the time). When Ken Evans retired in 1990 it was little surprise that he was appointed Dean of Studies, a role he has carried out with great skill. Unlike some in the profession, he is not averse to change, and he has been a key figure in the improvements we have been able to make in the operation of the Senior School over the past decade. Like all the best teachers, he is also a learner.

We will miss him, but we wish him well in a somewhat less frenetic lifestyle. No doubt he will keep running (imagine anyone trying to stop him!) but there will be more time for Maureen and their shared interests of theatre, opera and travel. I do hope, however, that he drops in on us from time to time – perhaps on a run? GS