Honours for former student teachers - gallery (From Worcester News)

Honours for former student teachers - gallery

4:10pm Monday 3rd September 2012 in News By Robert Hale

HUNDREDS of former students returned to Worcester to be awarded honorary degrees, some of them 60 years after their studies.

Students of the former teacher training college, the ancestor of today's University of Worcester , filled the city’s cathedral for two ceremonies on Saturday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Wearing academic caps and gowns, they were made honorary degree holders by the university vice-chancellor Professor David Green.

City mayor Roger Berry and his wife joined the vice-chancellor and senior academics at the Guildhall , High Street, before processing to the cathedral for the afternoon service.

The 1,200 graduates who were given the honorary degrees were all those who had qualified for the Certificate of Education between 1946, when the college was founded, and 1977. About 800 came to collect their certificates in person.

At the afternoon’s ceremony, Professor Green told the alumni that he was proud of the hard work, intelligence and perception that they had displayed, and said he had estimated that just those who had come to Worcester for the ceremonies have taught a quarter of a million children during their careers.

He said the present-day university still enjoys outstanding Ofsted ratings for its teacher training, and it has also achieved excellence in other fields.

“None of this would have been possible without the strong foundations developed by the staff and students of the former teacher training college who gave birth to today’s university,” he said.

After the ceremony, the alumni gathered outside the cathedral, enjoying reunions with old friends and colleagues, before taking coaches back to the university for a reception.

Tom Gray, of Barnt Green, Birmingham, said the ceremony had been very enjoyable. He said: “After college, I went on to be a teacher in Birmingham for 38 years. One pupil who went on to become well-known was a boy called Ronald [Ron] Atkinson. He was the captain of my under-13s cricket team.”

Freeman Windsor, of St Peter’s, Worcester, taught at Pershore High School for 35 years. He said: “It was quite a spectacular ceremony, and it’s nice to get the honorary degree. I think we all deserve it.”

• Click here for our picture gallery from the event.