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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
TheTAJ Years
Head of Communications Tracy van der Heiden catches up with Tom James
as he enters his final few weeks at Teddies after 31 years at the School
Tell us about your career before
Teddies?
My first position was as a neuroscientist at
the School of Pharmacy in London. I held a
teaching and research fellowship for six years.
My research involved recording the activity
of single brain cells in the basal ganglia, which
are involved in the control of movement. It
was an exciting and productive time – my co-
worker and I published 30 original papers.
Why did you leave the School of
Pharmacy?
My fellowship was coming to an end and
I managed to secure a sole research-only
position at the Institute of Psychiatry. Looking
at oscilloscopes for 12 to 16 hours a day
can be pretty grim and I was concerned
about the lack of teaching. One night I was
in a pub in Russell Square writing up my
notes when I bumped into my old Biology
teacher – and a different idea was born. I
started teaching at University College School
in my final term at the School of Pharmacy,
so I had a wonderfully wide brief: I would
teach neuropharmacology to third-year
undergraduates and then jump into my little
sports car, a glorious, flame-spitting, Frogeye
Sprite, and charge over to UCS in Hampstead
to teach Biology to Shells. I turned down the
research role and moved to UCS full time.
What made you apply toTeddies?
London day schools are a breed of their
own. The schools are highly selective with
extremely bright children supported and
encouraged by highly motivated, ambitious
parents, and in many ways are relatively
easy places for an ex-university scientist to
teach. After five years at UCS, which was
an all boys’ school, I wanted to broaden my
experience by finding a very different setting
- and I wanted a rowing school. So co-
educational Teddies, with its broad intake,
strong boarding ethos, outside London, with
a beautiful Boat House at Godstow could
not have been more different. I applied, got
the job – and have been here for 31 years.
You must have fitted in a great deal in
that time.
I started as a Biology Teacher and as Master
i/c Shell Rowing. I really enjoyed the rowing.
As is still the case, many Shells hadn’t rowed
before, and I loved starting from scratch and
taking them on to great things. In five years
in the role, we won 2 golds, 2 silvers and
a bronze at National Schools – not a bad