Tributes to much loved EK teacher
Hunter High teacher was ‘inspirational’
A former teacher who inspired generations of young people in East Kilbride has died.
John Park Robertson spent most of his teaching career at Hunter High School and also coched football teams – influencing the early playing days of none other than local hero Ally McCoist.
He entered the teaching profession in 1956 at the age of 28 after working in the construction industry as a foreman on large building projects.
He specialised in technical drawing and woodwork.
John, who latterly lived near the Village, died on February 19 aged 90 and leaves behind loving wife of 67 years, Margaret, daughter Janet and sons John and Hugh.
The highly-respected teacher worked in Hunter from 1964-1987.
He was an outstanding teacher of technical subjects and served on several committees designing curricula and schemes of work for O-Level and Higher qualifications.
He also served as a housemaster with special responsibilities for promoting educational development and careers advice.
In the 1960s, John introduced a nightschool class in woodwork exclusively for women.
This was an inspirational idea at the time and proved very popular.
Needless to say, the women produced work of exceptional quality and vindicated John’s belief in gender equality.
Paying tribute, his son, also John, told the News: “However, it will be for dad’s voluntary extra-curricular activities that he will be best remembered the most.
“John was passionate about sport especially football - and he firmly believed that active participation in sport was of great benefit in the personal development of young people, both in mind and body.
“He coached school football teams every year and on several occasions led his team to the final of the Scottish school competitions.
“He was particularly proud of Ally McCoist who attended Hunter High School and played in his team.
“In fact, he always claimed to be Ally’s first football manager and he followed his career throughout.”
John Snr also introduced badminton to the school at a time when the sport was little played.
It quickly proved very popular and spread to other schools in East Kilbride and beyond.
He also ran a badminton club for school staff which proved a great success and helped spread the popularity of the sport.
Son John added: “In East Kilbride, dad might best be remembered for running school boating trips to the Norfolk Broads and, later, the canals.
“These trips were organised during the Easter holidays and ran for over 20 years.
“He would hire a fleet of boats, each crewed by school pupils with a member of staff as ‘captain’.
“The pupils learned to work as a team, running the boat, navigating the rivers, operating locks and moorings, as well as making meals in the galley.
“The trip proved so popular that on
several occasions it lasted for two weeks with one crew sailing the boats from the north of the broads to the south during the first week and a second crew doing the reverse trip in the second.
“During the 1970s and 1980s, more than a thousand young people from East Kilbride benefited from this annual expedition and many who are now ‘of a certain age’ will have fond memories of the trips.”
John retired from teaching in 1987, but remained active.
He renovated several buildings, usually old Glasgow tenement properties, and created modern, comfortable homes for young people.
John loved travelling, especially to the US where his daughter Janet lived in Long Beach, California. He also visited Canada and most of Europe.