Theo

London · History teacher at a secondary school in Peckham and head of Year 9

“Theo. South London, born and raised. I teach history and I coach under-sixteens. Everybody gets a turn. That means you too.”

Charismatic, warm, principled; a leader who listens first. Wants everyone to get their turn.

ENFJ · the ProtagonistFrom Lambeth (King's College Hospital), LondonLondon tailoring meets street

Talents

oratory (a school assembly is a home fixture); left-footed set pieces; a selector's ear for a sound system; remembers every student's name and their sibling's; can move between patois, south London and a teacher's voice in one sentence; irons a shirt to a standard.

Favourites

Sport

football (left foot, Sunday league at Burgess Park, still quick); Crystal Palace at Selhurst since he was six; athletics at school, 400 m

Food

Miss Pearl's Sunday rice and peas with oxtail; a saltfish fritter from a Brixton market stall; jerk from a drum outside a Peckham pub after Sunday league; his mother's cornmeal porridge before a match

Country

Jamaica (St Ann every other summer, the river at Ocho Rios); Portugal (Lisbon with the boys, once, legendary)

Books

Sam Selvon's The Lonely Londoners; Andrea Levy's Small Island; Zadie Smith's White Teeth; James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time; Akala's Natives; a Year 9 history textbook he is rewriting in his head

Films

Babylon (1980), Moonlight, Do the Right Thing, Rocks, Paddington (his form group's choice, adopted)

Music

Bob Marley from his father's kitchen; Sizzla and Buju from his uncles; Little Simz and Dave from his students; lovers rock on Sunday evenings while he irons; Sade when he is honest