IT was when a teenaged Peter King was helping out at his local cubs group that the penny dropped about what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

“I didn’t have any aspiration to go to university when I left school at 16 and the plan was to get a job in a bank,” recalls Peter, who has been head teacher at the 320-pupil Corporation Road Community Primary School for the last eight years.

“I did a couple of Youth Training Scheme jobs and it turned out that I wasn’t suited to that kind of back office clerical work.”

But it was helping to run the cubs in his local church that made him realise that he really enjoyed working with children.

This experience spurred Peter on to further studies. “I did A levels at the local FE college in Derby and I began to surprise myself because I was doing well.”

Peter realised that the best way to work with young people was to train as a teacher - and this gave him an all important goal in life.

“Looking back, that was a very useful year. Everyone should maybe take a year out and then go back to college and re-focus. I suppose it is a bit like a gap year,” he adds.

Despite him having no links to teaching - his father was a police constable - Peter was determined to go to university and qualify as a teacher.

“The work experience I had was a massive motivator to get myself into university. I got into Hull University, studied geography and stayed on and did my PGCE.”

His first job was teaching at a middle school in Worcestershire but after meeting his future wife, Debbie, he followed her back to her native North-East.

“I had a year or two teaching in Newcastle followed by a couple of years in Gateshead. I became a deputy head in Stockton then I got my first headship at a primary school for Hartlepool, where I stayed for six years.”

Peter enjoys working at Corporation Road school because he knows he can probably make a difference to many of his pupils in an area which does not have the advantages that other, leafier parts of Darlington enjoy.

“My first school was in a middle class areas where you could learn to be a teacher. The last three or four jobs have been in less affluent areas where there are more social demands.”

“You do have a sense that you are doing some good. I like to think a good few of the children we teach will surpass what their parents have achieved,” he adds.

Peter particularly enjoys that Corporation Road is probably the most multi-ethnic school in Darlington, serving the local Bangladeshi community.

Overall, Peter says the rewards of his job definitely outweigh the negatives but he gets exasperated at the constant changes in education, including the scrapping of SAT tests for 11 year olds, which are very useful in assessing youngsters.

“It seems that they are trying to recreate a system that was working well. It is creating a lot of uncertainty and the changes are going to make it more difficult to measure pupils’ progress through school.”

Q&A WITH PETER KING

Favourite North-East building and why?

The old Earl Grey Bathing House, a cottage on the Northumberland coast at Howick. It overlooks a lovely inlet, where I first visited as scout from Derby in the early eighties. I took my wife crabbing there on a first date too; I am an incurable romantic!

What was your first job and how much did you get paid?

I did a morning paper round for 4 ½ years in Derby where I grew up, £3.00 per week. When I first left school I did a couple of YTS clerical jobs also in Derby for £27.50 a week.

What is the worst job you’ve had?

Working for Midland Bank in Derby wasn’t much fun, but the worst was a temporary summer job in Hull when I was a student, a security guard in Poundstretcher. It was so boring and actually quite a relief when someone stole something. A homeless-looking guy nicked a pair of socks and I chased him as slowly as I could just to be out of the store for a while. All of the early jobs were a blessing though. They shaped me and gave me the motivation when I went back to college to study hard and accomplish more.

What would you cook for me if I came around for dinner?

Probably something stir-fried in a wok. My wife says those student cooking days haven’t moved on any.

What would your superpower be?

The ability to diagnose serious illness through a handshake.

Name four people, dead or alive, who would be at your perfect dinner party.

Brian Clough (the greatest manager who ever lived and brought unprecedented success to my home town team Derby County), Lee Harvey Oswald (for a definitive explanation), Princess Dianna (very beautiful) and my Granddad King (who died when I was very small and was the only one of my grandparents I never really knew).

Most expensive thing you’ve bought – other than car or house – and how much?

We like holidays rather than flashy possessions. Last year we saved up to go to South East Asia and have recently booked flights to the USA for 2015.

Who is the best person to follow on Twitter and why?

I don’t do social media at all. The only time I ever do Twitter is to find out how Darlo FC are doing on a Saturday afternoon. Bear in mind, I’m a terrace season ticket holder at Hartlepool United so I have to do it very surreptitiously.

Favourite book?

I can’t decide between Schindler’s Ark, The Time Traveller’s Wife, and my signed copy of Brian Clough’s autobiography.

What is your greatest achievement?

I feel very lucky with the life I lead and the career I have. I’m loved and feel valued by the people that matter. Not everyone can say that I guess, so that’s achievement.

What’s the best piece of advice in education you’ve ever been given?

Shy bairns get nowt. It’s my favourite North East phrase, and so true.

Favourite animal and why.

I don’t have one.

Most famous person on your mobile phone.

Don King (my dad though, not the boxing promoter).

What was the last band you saw live?

I honestly can’t remember. I like music but haven’t paid to watch anyone live for a long time.

Describe your perfect night in.

It would be a nice quiet evening when I could sit and write in peace. I enjoy writing short stories and novels.

Who would play you in a film of your life?

My mum tells me I look like the roll-neck bloke on Cash in the Attic. A friend says I resemble Andy Coulson. I don’t know if the latter can act, but he could probably do with the work.

What irritates you?

People who drive with rear fog lights on when it’s barely misty! Don’t get me started.

What’s your secret talent?

I mentioned before that I enjoy writing. I always attend the monthly Open Mic Night in Darlington with something I’ve penned. I’m not that talented, I haven’t had any of my novels published for example, but I have had a few short stories published, which was very nice.

In another life I’d be . . .

Just the same. I have a great life. Perhaps I’d be a bit less injury prone though; I enjoy running but the body keeps letting me I’m not indestructible.