Peter Harbron started at West Suffolk College in 1997, first as a student and then shortly after as a member of staff. He started teaching in Adult Education and then moved to the relatively new Computing department based in the John Shipston Centre. He later became a full-time lecturer and eventually Head of School for Computing. He has recently retired and has returned as an hourly paid lecturer and exam invigilator. Peter has special memories of the trips his students experienced and seeing his many ex-students succeed in their careers.
What made you join Eastern Education Group?
I started at the college as a student in 1997 studying a C programming course on a Thursday night with Michael Miles (who ran the computer area). Joyce Jones was Head of Computing and Business at the time. As I had just moved down to the region to get married, I was unemployed and also used the free option of a C programming course in Cambridge offered by the Job Centre. It was a short course and at the end, the Cambridge company kept me on to teach the next cohort. Having studied simultaneously in Cambridge and at West Suffolk College, both places were interested in me teaching there. On the back of how I was doing at WSC, Michael asked me to teach.
Therefore, I started at the College as a part time adult education lecturer teaching Practical Computing for Beginners in 1998. Then, Michael asked if I wanted a temporary Tech/Dem role for a month, as the technician Neil Blagden had just left. At the end of the month, they offered me the job full time, and the rest is history. I moved into being a technician for a month in Computing in early 1998 before being taken on full time as a Technician Demonstrator.
In 2001 I passed my teaching qualification (CertEd) and became a lecturer in Computing and Course Director for the level 2 provision. In 2003 I competed an HND in Computing and then completed a PGDMS to level 7. I was unable to complete the full Masters due to staffing issues in the department.
I joined West Suffolk College full time as I enjoyed the environment and found that I had a real ability to teach and manage the students. The first role in adult education led me to understand how much I enjoyed teaching and the joint role as technician meant I was learning something new every day. The college had a lovely family atmosphere where everyone knew and supported each other which just made it a smashing place to be.
Through the years I taught and became the level 3 Course Director before becoming Head of Computing in 2014/15. After 3 years of that I suffered ill health and stepped back to a lecturer and continued as level 3 Course Director. I retired in 2024 but have returned part time to the computing department and am also an exams invigilator. Other qualifications achieved over the period include an A in GSCE maths, various programming qualifications as well as online teaching qualifications. Working at the college certainly helped me to retire at 60. Also, the range of skills and my proven ability has enabled me to return to work in the various roles I currently cover.
What was the Computing department like when you started?
When I started at the college as a student in 1997, the department was relatively new and ran basic computing classes for adults and the level 2 and level 3 full time qualifications as FE. The staff at the time were Michael Miles, Jim Cotton, Govinda Shrestha, Nikki Green and Roy Duggan. The department was located in what at the time was known as the John Shipston Centre which is the building to the far right of the college from the front (the College entrance was Suffolk House then). Michael was effectively the head of school for much of the early years. We had three areas in a large open plan teaching room on the top floor of the building that could hold a maximum of 72 students. The faculty was business and computing as this was the most natural link before computing became creative. The 10 Mb coaxial network employed by the entire college, was very slow and prone to regular sabotage by the students who realised that disconnecting a connector could bring down the whole network segment. My initial years as a technician demonstrator were very busy reconnecting cables!
As a demonstration of how valuable the computer equipment was at that time. In the 1990s, the College computers had their 1MB ram chips stolen one night by some thieves who hid on the top floor of Suffolk House until the college was locked up and then they stripped the machines and escaped out of a window.
Do you have any special memories from your time with us?
I remember the trips we ran to Amsterdam, Prague and Barcelona as real highlights that were very hard work but also very good fun. It was always interesting to see the students interacting in environments outside of their comfort zones and many of the students discovered the confidence to travel themselves to various places on holiday whilst still on the course.
Keeping in touch with many of my ex-students has enabled me to experience their successes in life and watch them develop, grow, have families and careers which has added to the warm glow this job sometimes surprises you with. A number of my initial level 2 students who came to the college with almost no qualifications eventually completed the level 3 and have gone on to successful careers. Indeed, one lad met his future wife on the course, and they are still together and have 2 kids.
Is there a message you would like to share as we celebrate our 100 years of history?
Further Education has been, and is, one of the most important aspects of education in this country. We must work to maintain the opportunities we provide to our community.
Lastly, do you have any advice for future students and staff at EEG?
We give students a chance. Whether they deserve it, work for it or understand it, we give them a chance. The qualifications they achieve with us may not always seem important or be valuable to some of them now, but one day they may get a life changing opportunity because of them. Many of them will not appear to deserve that chance, but that chance may be all they need to one day celebrate their lives.
