Bob Spooner (14 Sep 1924 - 9 Dec 2005)

An Appreciation by Garth Frankland

If all teachers understood the political and philosophical implications of the methods they pursued, and agreed, if only from pragmatism, to put first the fulfilment of each child's potential, we would see a social revolution that would astonish the world.
Bob Spooner: State Education - What's Left?

Bob Spooner, an important educationalist and lifelong socialist, has died in Leeds.

Bob's career spanned 5 decades and he crammed an enormous amount into them.

He was completely devoted to education. However he always saw education in a socialist context. Most of this time he was a member of the Labour Party and an active member of the NUT. He believed in the comprehensive ideal and constantly fought for it and to improve education for the working class.

Bob was born in Birmingham and campaigned in South Wales for the Labour Party in the 1945 election. He fell into teaching and spent many years as head of a VIth form in Walsall whilst he pursued an active career in local politics in neighbouring West Bromwich. He became Chair of the Education Committee and eventually leader of the Labour group.

His first headship was in Doncaster, but in 1967 he moved to Leeds to become the head of the City's first comprehensive, Foxwood School. This was situated in the middle of one of the largest public housing schemes in Europe with some of the worst deprivation in Leeds. He made the school an enormous success. He put the pupils and the staff at the centre of education. He abolished uniforms, abolished corporal punishment, introduced mixed ability teaching groups, and discussed all major policy changes with the staff, sometimes over his legendary glasses of sherry. The school became a beacon of light throughout Leeds and a model comprehensive. He was a tough Headteacher; he had to be. He took risks by appointing radical teachers and he created a genuinely innovative environment.

He wrote about his time at Foxwood in Lay Stone on Stone (1988, Gerbil Books), and about school life his "Spode" trilogy (Pages from Spode's Diary (1992), More from Spode (1992) and Spode's last word (1994), all published by Gerbil Books). These books were, in his words "designed to ridicule all the major aspects of government policy that have been enacted since 1988". The jokey, light tone is under-pinned by a very serious and learned approach to running a school.

His last major book State Education - What's Left? (1995) was a serious attempt to influence the Labour Party's educational agenda. It was completely ignored by New Labour. However it was very influential among those who wished to defend the comprehensive ideal and provided an important guide for those opposed to New Labour's pro-privatisation approach.

He continued to write books, articles, letters and poetry until his death. He was a contributor to Labour Briefing, Green Socialist and Red Pepper and a regular acerbic commentator on Tribune's Letter Page. Bob's poetry book Last Post, published in 2001, showed sensitivity and talent.

Bob Spooner was formidable and did not suffer fools easily. He was unwavering in his commitment to socialist values and his opposition to the neo-liberal and undemocratic politics of New Labour. Leeds North East Labour Party was witch-hunted by New Labour when it selected a socialist, Liz Davies, as its Parliamentary candidate in 1995. After some of her supporters were expelled from the Labour Party, they contested elections as the Leeds Left Alliance. Bob was expelled from the Labour Party in 2000 for nominating a Left Alliance candidate standing for Leeds City Council.

In his retirement he was able to give more time to his love of Yorkshire cricket and his passion for literature.

Garth Frankland