Tom Carpenter
Tom departs the Chemistry Department after eight hugely enjoyable years. A schoolmaster in every sense and involved in so many facets of school life, he has always had the best interests of his pupils at heart. Supremely well organised and efficient with his time, he had the neatest desk in the Department by far! Tom is a gentle, thoughtful individual with a passion for Chemistry. Despite having been involved in so many parts of College life, he is still happiest when devising and refining chemical demonstrations, and whole afternoons have been whiled away in the lab, innovating with chemicals and glassware. Adding variety and a sense of the unexpected, his new ‘discoveries’, such as the ear-splitting methane rocket and Melanie the fire-breathing melon, always made it into his lessons! PSHCE has developed at College under Tom’s leadership and he shared his insight in the devising of the new the FLOREAT programme. Tom’s other passion is sport. As an unassuming individual, it took almost eight years to elucidate all his talents in water polo, cricket, skiing and hockey; few realise that, on occasion, he has been as handy with a bat for the Common Room XI as he is with a hockey stick in the mouth of the goal! He served both boys’ and girls’ hockey throughout his time at College across many year groups and propelled water polo forwards with vigour. Tom has been a stalwart of Newick House since his first day and he cut his teeth in the boarding community as Resident Tutor; a role he undertook with characteristic professionalism and commitment. A teaching laboratory practitioner first and foremost, he has been a strong advocate of innovative ideas in Science education. In addition, he has been a loyal and inspiring colleague and will remain a true friend. His long daily commute will gladly be curtailed as he moves to a new phase of his career at Bristol Grammar School, where he will thrive. He has been a tremendous servant to the Chemistry Department and to College. We thank him for all he has done and wish him well.
Mr John Jones
Nick Hands
The History and Politics Departments wish goodbye and good luck to Nick, a thoroughly nice man. In his short time at College, he has taken the time to get to know staff and pupils alike. He takes a genuine and personal interest in people and wants the best for all around him. Nowhere is this more evident than in his beautifully written reports. The task of learning to become a schoolmaster has been an intense process for Nick but, with every challenge he has faced, he has displayed qualities of perseverance and graciousness. He is a perfectionist, even down to the tiniest of details such as choice of font for worksheets and
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presentations. Nick will be thought of warmly by his pupils but particularly by his tutees. He has provided a great guiding hand to them and has done all he can to get the best from them. Nick has a successful future ahead of him and he has been well set up by his year at College. He moves on from College to work in London, and to carry out volunteer work in Africa. Both places are very lucky to have him. We wish him all the very best.
Mrs Alexandra Eldred
Cristina HernandezMoscoso
Cris joined us three and half years ago as our Spanish Assistant. From Cadiz originally, she bought with her a genuine passion in aiding pupils with their Spanish conversation for oral exams. Her calm and approachable manner has really helped pupils gain confidence with conversing in a foreign language, which is probably the most daunting skill to master! Pupils have really appreciated her flexibility in arranging lessons around their many daily commitments. She will be greatly missed by all at College but most of all by her colleagues in the Modern Foreign Languages Department and we wish her the very best of luck for the future.
Mrs Geraldine Fryer
John Horan
Cheltenham’s renaissance over the past few years, as endorsed in the recent Inspection, which found College to be ‘excellent’ in all areas, owes much to the leadership provided by the Headmaster and his team. Equally, it speaks volumes about the wisdom and the guidance of its retiring President of Council, John Horan. As a parent and then a governor, he knows College well, but his achievements as President ensured that College returned to its rightful place as one of the leading public schools in the country. Taking over at a difficult time, he was not afraid to take tough decisions but all of those were always informed by the strong moral lead he gave and driven by his desire to ensure that the welfare and development of both College and its pupils lay at the heart of whatever Council did. His understanding of the importance of creating effective teams was at the heart of his success. As a consequence, he built a highly effective governing Council, carefully matching its membership to the variety of skills and experiences needed in today’s world when it comes to running a school well. Being a great listener with a keen analytical mind and a very compassionate man, he led the team firmly and decisively so that College now enjoys a stability of governance and policy implementation which is at the centre of its current success.
His well-earned retirement was marked by a Council Dinner in his honour and the presentation of an oak garden bench, made in College and suitably engraved with the words ‘From a grateful Cheltenham College Council’; words sincerely meant but which barely tell the story of his contribution to College’s unfolding history. He will be much missed. Most of us live lives ‘writ in water’ but some create greater ripples and John is one such. I am sure you will all join Council in thanking him and wishing him well in the next stage of his life.
Dr R J Acheson Deputy President of Council
Poppy Hoskins
With her energy, vitality and infectious enthusiasm for the subject, Poppy made an immediate impact on the Chemistry Department. She has always kept her pupils’ enjoyment of the subject alive and their interests at heart and managed to merge traditional academic rigour with innovation and creativity. Poppy’s lab would often be adorned with magnificent crystals, artistic azo-dyed collages of animals (including a stunning Scar from The Lion King) and colourful displays of the chemical elements. She has even been known to ‘wear’ Chemistry in the form of our chromatography T-shirts. Poppy will be greatly missed in the department for her Chemical expertise. However, she is a woman of many talents and, such has been our love of her biscuits and cakes, we hope to see her next on The Great British Bake-Off! Over the last two years, Poppy has become an inspiration to the girls in Chandos and has forged fantastic relationships with them. This year, she has also demonstrated her ability to lead pastorally as Assistant Housemistress. Her academic flair enables her to enthuse the pupils to learn but she balances this with a healthy dose of her love of sport. From making paper chains to revising on the white boards, she is able to adapt her personality to fit in with whatever activities the girls are doing. The Chandos team cannot thank her enough for the way in which she has enabled the House to develop academically. There is no better demonstration of this than Chandos winning the academic shields for both Upper and Lower College this year. As a keen and able sportswoman, her determination and commitment as tennis and squash coach and Head of Netball is evident and the girls are very grateful for all she has done for their sport. Always shining through, Poppy and her indomitable spirit will be sorely missed and we wish her all the best in her new venture as Head of Chemistry at Wetherby Senior School in London
Mr John Jones and Mrs Annette Poulain
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