Martin O’Reilly 1976 to 1983

“I arrived at St Mary’s in September 1976 from St Stephen's in Welling - the same journey my brother Stephen took in 1982.

“Sadly I soon discovered that l was ill-prepared for the rigours of Grammar school life. The constant testing and exams, fairly harsh discipline and lack of a football team all meant I didn’t thrive.

“I made several friends and I bobbed along in the mediocre category. In those days there was no pastoral care and you were very much left to your own devices.

“Nevertheless, I tried my best and somehow got into the sixth form and ended up getting a place at Southampton to do teacher training. However in one of several sliding doors moments in my life, I failed my A-levels and that was that.

“I joined the Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) in October 1983 and worked in a variety of sections. I married Louise in 1993 and we had two children, Sarah in 1995 and Matt in 1998.

“We were living in Harrow when in 2002 we made the decision to get out of London and moved to Alcester in Warwickshire. By this time, I had transferred to the Crown Prosecution Service in Birmingham.

“In 2011 we divorced and I'm now living in Redditch planning my retirement!

“In an odd coincidence, Matt ended up at Rose Bruford Drama School in Sidcup, so visiting him there after so many years was strange.

“I'm a Manchester City fan and have been for 50 years so the past decade has been amazing.

“I found theatre and particularly Shakespeare in the late 80s and am now a Patron of the RSC.

“I have decent memories of my time at St Mary's.”