Valete
Mr John Darmody When John asked me to say a few words at his farewell ‘do’, I felt hugely honoured. I pondered on our friendship and concluded that we get on because fundamentally we both hate the same things!! Especially Newcastle United. Remember that a true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked. We are saying farewell to John after fourteen years; but John is actually retiring from front-line teaching after 43 years, 34 of those as a head of department. From Jarrow to Gateshead, from St Bees to Fettes, and finally to St Peter’s. John has been not just a teacher of art, but also a real inspiration to his students and colleagues. As the great American Journalist Dan Rather once said, The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called ‘truth’. John is always honest, does not suffer fools and displays an uncompromising attitude to excellence. He expects us all to deliver our best and feels that the pupils in his care should do the same. The following is a quote from his Valete from Fettes College: After an unbelievably energetic seven years John`s legacy is an Art department that is indisputably at the heart of life at Fettes. To say that art has flourished during his time here doesn’t begin to do justice to the change in mindset towards art that John`s passion for his subject has brought about as founder and chair of the Schools Aesthetics Committee. John took over our Art department with this same passion for excellence and traditional skills. From superb drawing skills to photography, from printing to ceramics, from painting to sculpture, the work is of tremendous standard. I can only quote ‘Morts’ [Mr Simon Mortimer] who kindly sent me his thoughts from afar on John as a head of department: The fact is it’s difficult to find a bad word to say about working with John. His subject knowledge and painting
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The Peterite 2015-2016
and drawing skills are amazing. I’ve never met anyone as dedicated to teaching art as John - he really wants his students to learn and to develop their skills, and he wants to instil in them his love of art. I’m sure John would go off on one at the mention of the buzz words ‘life-long learners’ but that’s what he’s making in his students. Everyone knows he works hard: extra sessions for exam students, life drawing classes, trips, constantly changing exhibitions and displays (all with the help, of course, of Louise). I know John would have liked to have done more at St Peter’s because he always saw the extra potential in each child, in each class and in the whole school in general. John remembers with great affection Malcolm Thyne, who as Headmaster of St Bees appointed him, and then head-hunted him, when he was head at Fettes. John described him as a man of great vision and compassion who truly loved education in its broadest sense: he was a man who would disagree with you and say so, but who never bore a grudge. John’s contribution to art teaching extends to the work he has done as Principal Moderator, National Coursework Advisor and Presenter for AQA. The work he has done here to promote ISSP and the Whitestone Gallery has been immense and has put St Peter’s at the forefront of Art in schools in the North of England. I think that the secret of John’s success lies in his being busy and having not one, but many interests in life. These include football, which he played semi-professionally in the northern leagues, playing against Chris Waddle and eventually refereeing Gazza as a rather tubby junior. Then of course there is his beloved Sunderland. I still remember John’s beaming smile as he walked towards chapel one Monday morning carrying aloft the Northern Echo with the ‘Sunderland 3 Newcastle 0’ result. His music has always played a huge part in his life – playing in several bands, with his very long hair as a trademark. He was drummer for the great 70s band Prefab Sprout but ended up teaching instead of following a rock star’s pathway!! As we all know he has set up our own school band with fellow rockers Harry, Mike, Nick and Andy. Perhaps stardom still beckons! Sport in the form of rugby also played a huge part in his life from St Bees onwards. He taught the previous England coach Stuart Lancaster at St Bees, where he also coached the U15s, and he was hugely important in helping our U16 side win the Preston Floodlit Cup six years ago. John also shared in the wonderful experience of travelling round the world from Hong Kong to the USA via New Zealand on the 2011 rugby tour; the group of lads we took could not under any circumstances have been described as ‘Angels’; however the Air New Zealand steward’s description of the group served to remind us all what great members of the community we can produce when they are trusted and given space to be themselves:
