Local Person - Daryll Chapman

Daryll Chapman is just beginning to get used to a different pace of life. Having retired as CEO of Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust last September, after working at Okehampton College since 2001, he’s enjoying learning new skills - on the building site! 

Born in Kenilworth, Daryll spent his formative years in Derbyshire. A lover of sport from an early age, he spent a year under contract to Derby County FC - ‘a great experience’ - and later played semi-professionally for Crewe Alexandra before making the decision to study PE and become a teacher. 

His wife Jill was also a PE teacher - not surprisingly, their three children share their parents’ love of sport, his two daughters both competing at national and international level. 

Daryll came to Okehampton from a position as deputy head at a school in Aylesbury. 

‘It was a tough school in special measures,’ he said. ‘It was very challenging, but very rewarding. But we’d started coming down to this neck of the woods, I suppose as respite from the job, and we decided to think about getting  post down here. Chris Powell appointed me to be his deputy at Okehampton College in September 2001.’ 

Daryll remembered his first year as being difficult for the school - and the community. The college had suffered flooding, foot and mouth had hit the area badly and a couple of students sadly lost their lives.  

The way education is provided has seen huge changes since Daryll arrived in Devon - first there were federations and now the college now is part of a 17-school academy encompassing primary and secondary education, covering a large, rural area. 

Daryll said: ‘I still think that’s one of the appeals of federations and trusts, there’s a lot we can learn from each other. 

‘At one time we had the money to be much more creative, more imaginative. In recent years it’s been very much documented how schools down here have struggled financially. Devon was languishing towards the bottom of the table, one of the worst authorities in terms of funding for education - it shouldn’t be a postcode lottery and we went through a time feeling it very much was, so we in schools have been very active in pressing for fair funding. 

‘We have been very lucky and successful with a lot of self-help projects, things like the skills centre at the college, the development of the science labs to name but a few. It’s been tough at times but incredibly rewarding for the majority of time.’ 

Daryll said he had ‘absolutely loved’ teaching and drew huge satisfaction from it. 

‘Every child develops but just at different times. You see some youngsters that aren’t quite ready at 16 or 18 but go on to do wonderful things  and I’ve seen youngsters whose practical prowess is spectacular - they just aren’t cut out for the classroom.  

‘You don’t see the outcome of your job until afterwards. It’s not an immediate reward, it comes back years after, when you bump into these youngsters when they’ve developed and matured.’ 

Daryll may have left Okehampton College but he’s still involved in education, providing support to headteachers through the Devon School Leadership Service. 

And a world away from this, he’s helping a friend on a housing development project. 

‘I’m really enjoying learning new practical skills and it’s so different to anything I’ve done before,’ said Daryll, who has recently become chair of Okehampton United Charities (OUC), having been a trustee for many years.  

OUC distributes around £380,000-worth of support to schools, organisations and individuals in Okehampton and its hamlets every year and Daryll is keen to promote the charity as widely as possible. 

‘As a town we are very, very lucky have a charity of that size. So many organisations and individuals are able to apply to it for support and I would encourage them to do so.’ 

Injuries and metalwork in his ankles mean Daryll’s days of playing football and rugby are over - these days he and his wife are doing a lot of walking - they’ve got as far as Portland on the South West coast path; he’d like to do the Saint’s Way and perhaps Hadrian’s Wall. 

And maybe having retired from teaching he will find time to learn to play a musical instrument or master a foreign language - both of which he wishes he’d done when younger. 

‘As I always say, don’t lead a life of “I wish I had” - lead a life of “thank goodness I did” - it’s about engaging in opportunity,’ said Daryll.