21 Nov 2021
Written By Matthew Eastley
‘An outstanding teacher by any standards’
Peter Ribbins, who taught History and Economics at St Mary’s between 1968 and 1972
Of all the many teachers who traversed the corridors of St Mary’s, some stand out for their exceptional ability.
One of these was undoubtedly Peter Ribbins who taught History and Economics at the school between 1968 and 1972.
Tall and bearded, Peter had something of a Midas touch when it came to getting boys into Oxbridge with several going on to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Corpus Christi.
He was very much of the modern, progressive breed of teachers running his A-level classes on a tutorial basis, in preparation for university.
One of the finest scholars to emerge from the school – Patrick ‘The Prof’ Dunleavy – was taught by Ribbins and attributes much of his success (along with Bernard ‘Eccles’ McLaughlin and Ron Hesketh) to him.
Patrick, who was at St Mary’s between 1963 and 1970, describes Peter as ‘outstandingly good’ while Peter Cottrell (1967 to 1974) says: “He was the best teacher I ever had. He was phenomenal. I really enjoyed the way he approached lessons. Some subjects you just get and I got Economics. I loved the way he talked around the subject, bringing it to life and showing why something mattered so much. He just had a way about him.”
Chris Goodrich (1964 to 1971) recalls that shortly after arriving at St Mary’s Ribbins burst into a class of students and told the assembled boys: “I gather you all fancy yourselves as being rather good at History. Let’s see just how good you are. The rest of this double period will be an exam. He had us eating out of his hand thereafter. He made it clear he had high expectations right from the start – and that made us try all the harder.
“He was an outstanding teacher by any standards. Come the sixth year, there was no question but that I was going to do History. At the same time, he started an Economics A-Level course. How could I not do that, also?”
A St Mary’s wedding in July 1969 and one of the great photographs too! Peter Ribbins with his bride Maureen Shoebridge, flanked by four Marist priests, left to right, Fr John ‘Spud’ Murphy, Fr Eric Shorttle, Fr Cyril Trueman and Fr Tony Skillen
Of course, Peter was at the centre of one of the great love stories in St Mary’s history. His whirlwind romance with Maureen Shoebridge in the late 60s was a masterclass in courtship and the stuff of staffroom legend!
Peter later worked in Educational Policy but he has never forgotten his time at the school and says that, with the likes of Dunleavy and Paul Donoghue, he encountered some of the finest intellectual brains in his career when he was at St Mary’s.
May I amplify and concur with above encomia. He enthused me to follow on from his LSE mentor Ralf Dahrendorf of “Das Wirkschaftswunder” to pursue a career in FOREX with HSBC and Raiffeissenkasse and retire at 37, He made Economics a favourite subject and later career.
He was head and shoulders above even my University tutors at Københavns Universitet Niels Bohr Institutet and University of Florida where Economics was below A level St Mary’s 1970 where Peter had given us callow youths University level texts Samuelson and Lipsey for starters and harder econometric or theoretical homework
He treated us as adults which brought out the best , I knew all the above and while their academic achievements greater than mine he enriched all he met .The acme of education, teasing out excellence, what better didactic legacy he truly was a man for all seasons.
In later years as University lecturer speaker and governor I realized his real talent compared to mine and many others to bring enthusiasm to what Carlyle dubbed the called “dismal science” He world class abilities reminds me of Hans Rosling as a superb communicator and consummate academic and gentleman.
John Ronan 1965-1972 Kroměříž Czechia