Terrence lives at Sherrell House Care Home in Chigwell. He is a family man that is incredibly proud of his teaching career and recently sat down with the team to share his life story.
Terrence has had a passion for music since his childhood. He got involved in many extra curricular activities that would allow him to showcase and develop his skills such as being a member of the orchestra and a number of different choir groups. He attended Buckhurst Hill Secondary School before going to Cambridge University to study music.
His time at Cambridge taught him a lot and helped him to develop his musical knowledge and skills. This isn’t a passion Terrence wanted to keep to himself though, he wanted to teach other people all about music and the joy that it can bring, so he started a career in teaching music at Elm Park School.
When asked about his role at Elm Park, Terrence said:
“'It was amazing to have my first students, and I can still remember so many of them now. I realised how much I enjoy supporting young voices and talents in developing their confidence. We played a variety of instruments, and it was just so enjoyable. I worked at the same school in Elm Park for 20 years, which was a disadvantaged school, but being able to give children the opportunity to successfully achieve something through music was wonderful.”
During his time at Elm Park, Terrence also led the school’s annual musical shows which included Grease, Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz.
Terrence then decided to leave his role at Elm Park to support another disadvantaged school in Stepney Green. It was a new challenge for Terrence, especially teaching children who spoke different languages, but he took it all in his stride and loved it. During the 5 years he spent at this school, one of his proudest achievements was securing funds for the school to purchase their own piano. Seeing the opportunities this gave to the children and the joy it brought really inspired Terrence, so he decided to head overseas and make a difference abroad.
Terrence chose Oman in the Middle East and moved over with his wife to become the Deputy Head Teacher of a prestigious school. Terrence enjoyed teaching music to the children too and helping to spread the knowledge he gained throughout his career. During his time in Oman, Terrence said he had one of the best experiences of his career. This was meeting Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip and playing the piano for them as the children sang along.
In 2015, after living in Oman for 15 years, Terrence decided to return to the UK and retire. Despite this, Terrence wanted to remain actively involved in the teaching community, so he became the Governor at Hatton School & Special Needs Centre in Redbridge. He took on this role as he wanted to put his wealth of experience to use and continue helping in any way he could.
“I think teaching has been a great career for me,” said Terrence. “I've enjoyed every moment of it. I have no doubt that I made the correct decision to pursue a career as a teacher all those years ago. It's a fantastic career as you're constantly learning and growing. Seeing so many children succeed was what made it all worthwhile”.
Now living at Sherrell House, Terrence still practices his music and can regularly be found playing the keyboard in his room. Terrence has recently offered to play the keyboard during seasonal events of the year so he can continue to spread the joy of music, as he has done for his whole life.