Meet the alumni – Joe Barker & Ian Watson

28 April 2026

Can you tell us your name and one interesting fact about yourself?

JOE: My name is Joe. An interesting fact about me is that I lived in China for 4 years and can speak Chinese.

IAN: My name is Ian Watson. An interesting fact about me is that I used to work as an Exploration Geologist on mining projects in Australia, Macedonia and Turkey.

What subjects did you enjoy most while you were with us, and why?

JOE: At school I most enjoyed PE, Music, Art and RE with Mrs Parry.

IAN: I really enjoyed all the sciences, geography and design technology, especially physics. I’ve always been interested in understanding how things work, so those subjects really clicked for me.

Were there particular moments or opportunities at school that helped shape your confidence or opened new doors for you?

JOE: Absolutely, I remember having a great relationship with the PE teachers and enjoyed representing LHS in football, rugby and athletics.

One stand-out memory was winning the 4x100m relay at Leckwith with Mr Trelawny as our coach, what a day!

Another Hall of Fame LHS memory for me was playing drums in our High School band, the Naked Grapes, in assembly.

We practised in the music room after school which opened the door for us to represent LHS at Battle of the Bands and record a short EP in a local recording studio. An amazing experience and one I’ll never forget.

IAN: I remember visiting the school from primary school and seeing some wild science demonstrations with exploding balloons and experiments. This was long before YouTube, so it really stuck with me.

The science lessons definitely helped later on with university and working in mining. The experiments and the understanding of physics, chemistry and biology are genuinely the foundations of studying geoscience.

That said, my favourite lesson was with Mr Floyd, possibly my favourite teacher. He spotted I’d brought my new Ibanez guitar in, politely confiscated it… and then played all my favourite riffs through my amp while we worked.

He’d also helped me build a distortion pedal, which made me realise you can actually make things yourself. This made a lasting impression.

What are you doing now, and how did you get to this point?

JOE: Well, most importantly I have 2 sons, but in terms of work I keep busy with fingers in plenty of pies.

Day to day I am a landscaper but also own two companies, Altai Mountain which specialises in natural supplements and Inflate2Skate, the UK’s first inflatable skate ramp.

We provide introductory skateboarding workshops aiming to bridge the gap between students and access to new sports that wouldn’t usually be included in the regular sports curriculum.

How did I get to this point? It all starts with an idea, and ends in a lot of hard work.

IAN: I’m part owner of Inflate2Skate and currently work as a coach, helping as many young people as possible learn how to skateboard safely and build confidence.

I first started skating in primary school. My first move in front of everyone was falling flat on my back, but by the time I got to high school I’d learned how to avoid that!

Outside of school, I’d spend time skating with friends, building ramps out of whatever we could find. It was always a great way to meet people, especially in new places, so it’s rewarding now to help create that same experience for others.

Did you always know this was the path you wanted to follow, or were there other options you considered along the way?

JOE: Definitely not, no.

Since leaving Llanishen High in 2008 I’ve had plenty of different jobs which have no connection to each other. I’ve worked in call centres, taught English and sports abroad, and qualified to be a tree surgeon and football coach which has somehow led to where I am today – doing none of those things.

IAN: Not at all. My path has been all over the place, including television, geoscience, personal training, solar energy and marketing. None of those roles directly pointed towards what I’m doing now, but you take bits of what you learn and apply them elsewhere.

I definitely didn’t expect to find myself back at Llanishen High, skateboarding inside the school and not being told off for it!

School can feel challenging at times. What helped you to keep going or stay positive?

JOE: Although school was challenging, I often look back on my time there and wish I could do it all over again. I laughed so hard during school, once I laughed so hard that Mr Adey had to remove me from his lesson.

Being surrounded by all my friends every day, it really was the best. You might not believe it, but it’s true! Once you leave school, the responsibilities mount up quickly and the pressure of ‘the real world’ is way more daunting than double science on a Wednesday!

What kept me positive during school was being part of the sports teams, going to band practice and laughing with my friends at every opportunity.

IAN: I remember really struggling with maths at one point and getting 7% on a test. I thought that meant I’d never be able to do anything science-related.

Instead of giving up, I put in a lot of extra work, and over time managed to turn that into an A.

That experience really stood out because I cannot stress how much I didn’t enjoy maths, so to feel like I had conquered it was amazing. Progress isn’t always immediate, but it does come with consistency.

Looking back, what advice would you give to your 16-year-old self about making the most of school life?

JOE: This is a great question. 16 year old me would not listen to advice from anybody, he knew it all. It turned out he didn’t know much at all, so the advice I would have given myself would be similar to some of my school reports and ‘apply myself’.

Make the most of my talents and skills at a much earlier age and always give 100% in anything you do, no matter what it is. Everything you do, do to the very best of your ability, it’s got your name on it after all. Never do things by halves!

IAN: I’d probably explain it like a game, as that’s what I would have understood best at the time.

Try to unlock as many skills as possible while you’re still in the “tutorial phase”. The more you build early on, the more opportunities you’ll have later.

Learn that failure is part of any learning process. Learn to get over it and to try again as quickly as possible.

And finally, what advice would you share with students today as they think about their next steps and future?

JOE: I would always advise you to strive to do your very best and don’t half-bake anything that has your name on it.

Nothing that is worthwhile is easy to achieve or accomplish, if it was, everyone would be successful in life.

Life can be tough, so you have to be tougher! The more challenges you overcome will help to mould you into the person you want to be, so don’t be afraid to fail, it’s just one more step closer to becoming the person you want to be.

IAN: Don’t be afraid to pursue what you enjoy, even if it doesn’t look like a clear career yet.

The world is changing quickly, and opportunities exist now that didn’t before. There’s a good chance you could end up creating something in an area that doesn’t even exist yet.