It was with great sadness that the course learned today of the passing of Dr Robert Stratford on Saturday, following a period of illness.

Bob was Programme Director for professional Educational Psychology training at Southampton from 1975 until 2009, overseeing 31 years of the Masters programme and  then three years of the subsequent doctorate. In total, nearly 250 ex-trainees will have known him as Programme Director during this period, including four of the current course tutor team. His work in preparation for the transition from the one year masters to the three year doctorate was instrumental to the creation of the bursary system now used nationally.

Bob was a kind and gentle man and will be remembered with great fondness for his encyclopedic knowledge, his enthusiasm for educational psychology in general and for his firm belief in taking a problem-solving approach to EP work (still a key element of the course today, whilst past trainees will likely always remember ‘the four Ps’), also his general calm and of course his love of rugby. He was hugely proud of the Southampton course and of all the trainees who passed through it. His impact on the wider profession goes way beyond the easily measurable. Our thoughts and sincere condolences are with his sons, Mark and Rolf.

If you would like to leave a message or memory of Bob, please contact Sarah Wright sfw1@soton.ac.uk. 

Presenters: Lindsay Elder, Sophie Smith, Alex Hampstead, Beckett Markland, and Cora Sargeant

Special thanks to Dee Yan-Key for the use of the music ‘Peter’s Party’, from the album Fredric would cry.