Staff Leavers

Caroline Jiggins

Caroline Jiggins joined Aylesbury Grammar School in November 1996 as a temporary and part-time teacher of Geography before becoming a permanent member of staff

in 1999. Her expert knowledge and passion for her subject, as well as her ability to communicate that knowledge to students of all ages, has been much appreciated over the 22 years of service to the school. When the Head of Geology, Dr Rodgers, left the school in 2010 there were fears that the teaching of Geology as a separate subject might be lost with him. Fortunately, Caroline stepped up and was appointed Head of Department. She has since supported many students gain their GCSE in Geology, with grades amongst the best in the school.

The role of a teacher of Geography and Geology inevitably involves helping to run field trips and Caroline has run many of these in both subjects. She has planned and organised these with great efficiency and thoroughly enjoyed helping students to apply their knowledge in various areas up and down the country. Her desire to see the profile of Geology raised in the school also led to her setting up a Geology club, which has been very popular with students of all ages. Over the past few years, she has also supported a team in entering competitions, which culminated in March of this year with the team being crowned National Champions in the Royal Geological Society Competition, despite being younger than most other entrants.

Caroline has also been a highly successful Head of Year during her time at Aylesbury Grammar School. She was first appointed to the role in 2003 as Head of Year 8, but she has spent her more recent years as part of the Upper School team as Head of Year 10 or Year 11. She has approached the role with great efficiency and enthusiasm and with the well-being of the students in her care as her first priority. It was with great reluctance that she stepped down from the pastoral role which she loved so much, in preparation for her retirement, at the end of 2017 and she continued to offer her advice and support even after leaving the role. Her commitment to the school was also shown in her taking on the role of Staff Governor in 2009, where she was able to apply her knowledge and experience in a different situation.

Caroline retired at the end of April 2018 to move up north and pursue her dream of running a B&B with her husband, her hospitality having already been enjoyed by members of the AGS staff. She will be much missed as a teacher, pastoral leader and as a friend and we wish her much happiness and success with her future plans.

Dr K Smith

Lee McCarthy

When I first join AGS in 2006 I was immediately impressed by Lee and his energy and

passion for basketball. He lived and breathed the sport and this enthusiasm spread to the students he coached. In his time here at AGS he has single handedly led school basketball, coaching teams from U12 to senior age groups. He was instrumental in developing basketball across the county, running the Bucks county cup and thus providing students with more and more opportunity to represent the school.

In 2008 I was lucky enough to accompany Lee to Utah on a basketball tour where we successfully took on the Americans at their own sport and won. We trained on the Utah Jazz court and the squad were pre game mascots for an NBA game. The whole squad enjoyed a once in a lifetime trip which had a huge impact on their lives. As well as his work here at school he has developed a successful and thriving local basketball club which competes at national league level and has provided yet more opportunity for our students to play basketball at the highest level. As a level 3 coach Lee has also coached a small number of students at South England level and in a few cases at a National level. Over the years, Lee has had a huge influence on students, some students arrive at AGS with little or no basketball experience and in a few examples go on to play at the highest level across Europe. He has also provided excellent pastoral support for players, helping them through difficult times, and in some cases acting as a mentor.

Lee is a unique coach who has a style which enthuses and engages students to point where they share the same passion for basketball. In recent years Lee has developed the AGS basketball academy which at its heart aims to provide a high performance culture for students of all ages to enhance and develop the skills and gameplay. The academy has gone from strength to strength with more and more students joining each year and the performance improvement was exemplified in 2018 with U12 basketball team reaching the National finals.

Lee’s contribution to AGS life has been immense and he will be sorely missed, basketball here at AGS will not be the same and that is due to the passion and dedication that Lee has for the sport and the students here at AGS. We wish him success in his future ventures and hope we don’t come across any of his school teams as we will know what a tough game it will be.

Play Big.

Mr N Gibbs