15 minute read
FAREWELLS
This year’s
Farewells
We've had some amazing staff come through the WGHS gates over the year, bringing a wealth of talent and experience as well as many happy memories.
Cath Heathcote
Maths Department
Catherine joined the school in September 2008 following a chance meeting, when she was dropping her daughter off at the Junior School, with Mrs Langham, the then Head of WGHS. She has had many different roles within the department over the years including the Key Stage 3 Coordinator for many years and more recently the Pupil Progress Coordinator. One of Catherine’s big strengths as a teacher is that she is always keen to help and support the students who find Maths more challenging and over the years numerous students have benefitted from her patient approach when she has run various support sessions for different year groups. She has also worked closely with Learning Support to provide Maths specific revision sessions.
In 2018 Catherine took up running and soon was a regular at my weekly running club. I won’t lie, I was more than happy to let her run at the front with the real runners whilst I pretended that the only reason I was going slowly was for the stragglers. But running wasn’t Catherine’s only new venture in 2018. In the September she started at York University studying for a degree in Acupuncture. Even though she is part time, this was a massive undertaking and I am always in awe of any of my colleagues who study for extra qualifications alongside the day job. However, even though I am sure that Catherine planned meticulously how she would balance work here at school, studying and family life, even she didn’t factor a global pandemic into the equation. She now had to juggle remote teaching and remote studying alongside supporting her own girls with their remote learning. So to finally graduate last autumn with a 1st is a very impressive achievement. Sadly for the school it was inevitable that she would want to put this shiny new qualification to good use and I wish her every success with her new business. I’m sure there are enough chromebook induced bad backs amongst us staff to boost the client base! Catherine will be missed greatly by all the girls for her calm and kind approach and by Year 10 in particular for her Kahoots. And to be perfectly honest, whilst I’m not so bothered about the Kahoots, I too will miss her calmness and kindness. Despite everything else she had on her plate she was an enormous help to me as I settled into the role of HOD during a pandemic.
When I knew she was leaving I asked Catherine for a summary of what she had done in her time at school, since I can barely remember what I’ve done, let alone anyone else. It was her final sentence that I felt summed up Catherine the teacher best, she wrote ‘But mostly I have loved being in the classroom with the students, teaching them the best subject in the world!!’
Good luck and best wishes in your new venture.
Mrs Rees - Head of Maths
Val Littledyke
Singing Teacher and Choir Director
We wish our fabulous singing teacher and choir director Val Littledyke a long and happy retirement. Mrs Littledyke led singers in so many wonderful performances in concerts and carol services. Her expert musical direction when Cantabile sang Benjamin Britten's War Requiem with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra was an amazing highlight. Her upbeat personality and colourful style will be greatly missed around Willows by both students and staff.
Mrs Bentham - Head of Music
Elizabeth Boid
Junior Section
After 18 years with the school, Liz decided to take early retirement; new adventures awaited. As we gathered in the staffroom for Liz’s goodbye, we learnt even more about some of the remarkable things that she has done. For example, whilst we had discussed her love of travelling to some off the beaten track places, I didn’t realise that she was qualified to fly some of the planes that had taken her there!
Her love for languages led her to coordinate the MFL within school and I hope that she is now getting the chance to practice a few different tongues in situ on some wonderful holidays. One language Liz did have to brush up on was her ‘rural Yorkshire’ when she volunteered to come back to school and help with the Year 4 residential to Malham. It was also in the spring term that I discovered Liz’s talent for baking as she would bring in cakes for the staff on a Friday. Both these things are kind hearted and generous gestures that the many friends she has amongst the staff would testify typifies Liz.
Mr Rowley - Director of Junior Section
Richard Slide
WGSF Joiner
Over a long period of time Richard was the consummate professional. Diligent, calm in his approach and always reliable. If you knew a job was assigned to Richard, you knew it would be a job well done.Technically and aesthetically.
Richard originally worked for the Foundation as a contractor from 1984 before joining as a full time employee in 2001. Since then his talents as a craftsman can be seen all over the Foundation either as a creator of something “new” or as a repairer of something already in place. Either way he approached every job with great care and a real attention to detail.
On leaving the Foundation and “hanging up his tools', Richard will now have more time to spend with his wife Jennifer, his two sons and five grandchildren. He will also have time to enjoy his favourite hobbies of gardening and travelling, including the possibility of doing more scuba diving and paragliding! Whatever Richard decides to do we wish him well. His longevity as a craftsman and as a person are much to be admired. Always pleasant and always with a smile on his face he was without question a credit to the Foundation.
Mr Eggleston - Deputy Head
Jo Blignaut
Admissions Secretary
Jo was incredibly proud to have been a Wakefield Girl! From life as a student (and a tremendously good one I am reliably informed) fast forward just a ‘couple' of years and she has brought all that enthusiasm, dynamism and dedication to her role as a member of staff.
As some of us have experienced, choosing a school for your child is not an easy decision to make, and prospective parents are bombarded with options and opportunities as they try to find the best fit they can. It is with high expectations and sometimes a good deal of nerves that parents make that first enquiry, or come to look around the school. It is to the School’s great benefit that throughout a great many years of dedicated service, Jo has been the initial point of contact consistently making an outstanding job of the first impression that leads to new excited faces in our classrooms. Prospective parents and their daughters have felt informed, reassured and supported on their transition journey and she absolutely made the job her own. Her calm manner, attention to detail and love of WGHS made her an exceptional member of staff.
Colleagues and students will remember Jo’s time with us with great fondness whether it was her unassuming manner and professionalism that made her such a great ambassador for the school or the polite knock at the door followed by Jo’s smiling face entering followed by a curious pair of parents and a slightly nervous looking child! I am sure we can all remember going to action stations as both teacher and class added an extra 50% vim and vigour so as to show off to the visitors! Jo seemed to have a sixth sense for when something interesting was about to happen in a classroom and quietly guided her visitors in and put them immediately at ease. Some classrooms became ‘regulars’ for Jo, as prospective students experienced as much of our wide and varied curriculum as time allowed. Some of you, students and teachers, know you were favourites because Jo always knew you would put on a good show!
But in between the tours and the first nervous arrival of a new student there is also a great deal of unseen hard work and careful and considerate communication. Jo has proven to be such a great ambassador for the school because she knew the school so well and always paid a genuine interest in the family and prospective students. This level of personalisation, and the pride Jo took in demonstrating our values to all of our prospective families, is something I am sure we will sorely miss. Jo definitely leaves some substantial boots to fill. Reliable, fastidious and diligent, Jo had a talent for planning whole school events. She was fantastically well organised, all but guaranteeing that the event would run like clockwork. Colleagues remember the help and support she gave towards organising experience days for Year 5 pupils but the icing on the cake has to be her impeccable leadership on the Open Morning and Sixth Form Information Evening. Personalised packs, registrations, tour routes, student helpers and even plans of Hartley Pavilion as well as risk assessments and still managing a smile when parents and students started to arrive are memories of Jo that are some of my fondest. Both of us, uncharacteristically stressed, and trying to get permission from estates for the STC gates to be left open during an event is also something I am unlikely to forget despite trying very hard! I hope Jo can remember this and have a quiet giggle.
Students remember Jo with great enthusiasm and affection. She remembered everyone’s name and every single new WGHS student can remember Jo seeking them out to check if they were settling into life in their new school. It is this kindness and generous spirit that has made a mark on so many of our students that helped them stay on their feet and to always know there was a friendly familiar face to turn to. She is remembered by the girls as a member of staff who always has a smile on her face, was knowledgeable about everything and as someone who would willingly drop everything they were doing to help you.
Jo frequently went above and beyond, putting others first and leaving grateful colleagues and happy students in her wake. The personal expense of such dedication is not underestimated; even in her busiest times she would be the first to offer ‘well I can do that’ in meetings. I hope that Jo knows how much we all, students, parents and staff alike, recognise and appreciate her consistent efforts and hard work, and how much she will be missed.
I know this phrase has special meaning for Jo, and I hope she continues to remember it fondly as she ventures to pastures new… Once a High School Girl, always a High School Girl.
Dr Rhodes - Director of Sixth Form: Assistant Head
Carolyn Goodwin
Junior Section
After 38 years of teaching, including 19 years at Wakefield Girls’, Carolyn decided to hang up her whiteboard pen and markbook at the end of the spring term this year. The positive impact that Carolyn has had on the lives of all her many pupils, as they have grown through the school and have gone on to be remarkable young adults, cannot be overestimated.
Whilst her work in the classroom and the strong relationships she has developed are an example to others, many of the pupils will remember her fondly for her energy on residentials or the passion she has demonstrated leading the school council. Her leadership with the school council has led to many developments. These have included the introduction of our wheeled PE bags, adding suggestions for school uniform changes and most recently raising money for our school house charities in a Bric-a-brac sale.
Before retiring, Carolyn mentioned Madeira, plus there is also talk of golf in Florida; there will undoubtedly be many other special trips and experiences ahead for her too. As a team of staff we hope that amongst the exotic holidays and exciting trips there will also be some time for visits back to school where she will always be welcome, for she is going to be greatly missed.
Mr Rowley - Director of Junior Section
Gaynor Halton
Junior Section
After more than two decades working in Wakefield Girls’ High School, Gaynor has decided to retire at the end of the academic year. By my rough calculations, Gaynor will have been the form teacher for about 400 girls during that time! It is not just all those girls whose lives will have been positively affected by her dedicated service to the school, but also all the others in school over the years as she has given her time and energy to school pursuits both inside and outside the classroom. She will be greatly missed by all and we wish her the very best for a long and enjoyable retirement.
Mr Rowley - Director of Junior Section
Annette Oliver
Annette Oliver has been a member of the Classics Department for eight years and in that time has brought her ‘can do’ attitude to bear in so many areas of High School life. Within the department she has enthused students with her passion for all things classical, but in particular for the great Roman epic, the Aeneid. She has often brought her students, and indeed herself, to tears when they reach any number of tragic scenes. Her love for the poem is also responsible for the greatest tension within the department: Mr Hargreaves regularly found himself trekking across school, muttering an Augustan misquote (“Oliver, give me back my Virgils!”) as he recovered multiple copies from the Assistant Head of Sixth Form Office.
Her love of Classics has also seen the department’s activities outside the classroom snowball over her time at WGHS. Annette has single-handedly taken on the running and leading of trips in Britain to Hadrian’s Wall, Chester, and to the Warwick University Ancient Drama Festival. We have been marched along a windswept Hadrian’s Wall after a rousing pep talk from Commander Oliver, and been exposed at Warwick University to eccentrically brilliant and captivating lectures. But I am also grateful to Annette for being my most tireless companion on all the memorable foreign visits we have led over the years. Among a band of brilliant Classics trip staff from across the school, Annette has been everpresent and relentless in her pursuit of Classics trip fun although she should never be given a map and put in the lead. When this did happen in 2016 I was slightly bemused to be told over the phone that her group had called in at a buffalo farm in mozzarella country and they would be a bit late back to Sorrento! She was also the instigator of the Pompeii gladiator fight to entertain the WGHS crowd in, or indeed outside, the amphitheatre, and despite agreeing a rule that we would alternate being declared the victor/victrix, I think I was only allowed to win on that first occasion as she was settling into the department.
This friendly but determined competitive spirit has been used to drive her students and colleagues forwards. Her knowledge of her subject is excellent and she encourages passionate debate within the department involving both students and staff. It has always been a joy to be invited to join her class, or for her to appear round the door in Room 19 and to launch into a debate on the merits of Tacitus deciding not to bother using verbs, or whether Caesar was an idiot for not seeing it coming on the Ides of March. Even better is to see how this has encouraged our students to do this among themselves during Wednesday Classics Clinics. In addition to sharing her love of Classics, many WGHS students have benefitted from Annette’s knowledge, care and organisational prowess in her roles as Head of Careers and Assistant Head of Sixth Form. The skills and experience that she brought from the business world have been invaluable in the smooth running of the Careers Convention and similar events that have broadened the school’s connections to the outside world. I know that students value her practical, nononsense approach and are empowered to surpass their own expectations, as we saw in 2019 when one of our Sixth Form students summoned the grit to climb the Acropolis and enjoy both her personal achievement and the fantastic views.
Annette is a much-loved colleague and it is always a great delight to share her company, roaming Britain’s Roman sites and classical museums and exhibitions with our WGHS friends in the holidays, extending our knowledge and always giggling, sometimes nervously as we traversed Hardknott Pass or as she seemed to walk my two young daughters out into the North Sea on Tyneside.
Sadly, Annette leaves us to take up an exciting post closer to home at her previous school with the opportunity to rebuild a Classics Department and also join SLT. Nevertheless, we are determined to maintain close links in our course planning and running of trips, so do not be surprised if you see Annette back at WGHS with her trademark plastic sword tucked into her backpack.
vale & au revoir
