Valete

considered and then used in her teaching. Being a pupil in her classroom must have been a wonderful experience - indeed my daughter, amongst many, chose to read English Literature at university entirely because of Sarah’s inspirational teaching.

edited the Cliftonian magazine, overseen external exams, and coached netball, swimming, badminton and rounders. For many years she ran the Public Reading Competition and she set up the McTaggart Society.

Sarah Clarke

Sarah joined Clifton in 1986 following a PGCE at Durham and an MA in Shakespeare Studies at Sheffield University. She arrived just as co-education at Clifton was being introduced, and her descriptions of that time are interesting to say the least! In the following 36 years, Sarah has made an indelible mark on life at Clifton as an inspirational teacher, outstanding head of department and one supportive of so many aspects of school life, dedicating herself to the school and her colleagues.

On first arrival, Sarah quickly established herself as a superb classroom practitioner whose knowledge of and passion for literature was boundless. Consequently, she has inspired generations of Cliftonians and fellow teachers with her love of the subject; above all has been her passion for enthusing this in others. This is a rare skill. She has guided pupils through texts with clarity, ease, rich subject knowledge and a huge sense of fun. She has led dozens of trips to plays and productions and always seemed to have another theatre trip planned. Each experience was carefully

Anastassia Myers

Stassia joined the College in 2010 and during her time has flourished into an exceptional teacher and Second in Mathematics. Her level of professionalism and organisation is exemplary and she is always looking to bring out the best in all her pupils. Both her pupils and colleagues have benefited from her warm and supportive nature as well as her exceptional subject knowledge and baking skills. She introduced

Inevitably Sarah went on to run the English Department for many happy and successful years. Her colleagues speak about her in the most glowing of terms and refer to her caring approach and hugely supportive leadership. Her successor described his anxiety at taking over from such an experienced and respected head of department, but his fears were short-lived; Sarah welcomed him with open arms and provided him with every support. In all ways, her primary interest was the English Department, the people in that department and the pupils they taught. This was her legacy. It’s a sobering thought that every English teacher at Clifton only knows a department with Sarah at the heart of it. What a gap she will leave.

Sarah’s contribution to the pastoral life of the College has been enormous. She has been a tutor in five different Houses and she spent seven very happy years as Assistant Housemistress in Worcester House. She has directed school plays, adjudicated House plays, the first Pi Day celebration and competitions at Clifton and her Pi bunting continues to brighten up the Maths Department.

During her time at Clifton Stassia has taken on a variety of co-curricular roles, including imparting her love of Taskmaster to Year 9 Terriers, managing and coaching swimming, and modernising the school’s organisation of activities. She extends her commitment into the pastoral side of education, and has been a valued tutor in

Sarah loved a school trip and none more so than to the First World War battlefields. She became a stalwart of these trips and took part in the first ever one in the early 1990s. Her knowledge of the conflict was incredible and she always argued that she was a frustrated historian at heart; but of course she brought her English teacher skills too - it will be hard to forget the service at St George’s Chapel in Ypres as the Clifton plaque was unveiled or the poignancy of Noel Hodgson’s poem read aloud to an enraptured Year 10 group at the Devonshire cemetery on the Somme at the end of a long day of battlefield touring. She brought to these trips the most irreverent and infectious sense of humour.

It is hard to imagine Clifton without Sarah. She has been such a loyal, kind and outwardlooking colleague who has given so many years of outstanding service to the school and all her pupils. She will be sorely missed and we wish her all the very best for a happy and busy retirement.

Simon Tait

both Holland’s and Hallward’s House. Ever generous with her time, sympathetic, and able to offer sage advice, she has offered support and encouragement to her tutees and others in the House. A truly dedicated teacher, and friend, she will be greatly missed as she leaves Clifton to take on the position of Head of Mathematics at Badminton School

Helen Evans

Llewelin Siddons

Llew joined the College as Head of MFL in 2003 from Felsted School with a degree in Classics and Medieval and Modern Languages from Cambridge University and a Masters from Birkbeck. He brought the department into a new era by introducing so many initiatives. He promoted annual trips and exchanges to France; established festivals to celebrate culture through language; set up debating in a foreign language against Badminton Girls’ School; ran poetry recitations; and even Sixth Form wine tasting, with Llew delivering esoteric tasting notes about “jambes” and “larmes” in French.

Llew taught French and Spanish from beginners to A Level and was always willing to help prepare the brightest Clifton linguists for Oxbridge entrance, especially by sharing his genuine love of poetry with them. Llew’s approach to teaching the Sixth Form is thorough and academic. For example, he produced his own detailed notes on the French Second Empire to accompany his teaching of Maupassant. Llew also took summer courses in Italian in Perugia and then promoted Italian, which became a Sixth Form option. At various times he also taught Latin and Greek. Yes, you read correctly, that makes five subjects.

Llew spent a year in Paris as a professional violinist before coming to Clifton and whilst here he sang for many years in the College choir and still plays in the New Bristol Sinfonia. He was thoroughly involved in Clifton life, coaching rugby, helping with sailing, teaching chess and taking students to teach French at Ashton Gate Primary School. He was also a tutor in Watson’s House, Hallward’s House and The South Town.

Llew has a very friendly, encouraging, supportive manner with students and colleagues. I’ve never met anyone more considered, both in terms of approach to teaching and in words of comfort and wisdom when difficulties arise. I will remember Llew for his calmness, honesty, integrity, hard work and classical music (any visitor to ML31 was transported into a concert auditorium). Llew leaves Clifton to spend retirement with his wife, Pat, and to devote more time to his many interests and especially to long distance walking.

Owen Lewis

Eleven years is not an insignificant time to spend in one role, and Tom certainly made an impact in this period. Tom joined Clifton in 2008 and took over the Classics Department three years later, bringing a fresh and youthful approach, and soon introduced systems and order that he was happy with. He took pride in the performance of Clifton classicists and would always promote their case, whether in the subject choices for Oxbridge potential applicants, or the provision of Latin and Classics in the Prep School. He was passionate about his subject, and took particular pride in exposing students to the ancient world through the medium of overseas trips, and has a reputation as a tour guide of the highest quality! He showed impressive commitment to the co-curriculum while at Clifton, supporting Under 14 rugby, cross country and athletics for many years. He was an accomplished and qualified rugby referee, in demand for top-stream games, and also a strong (and competitive) runner himself. He leaves us to start a new chapter with his family in the United States, and despite the many holes that he leaves here, these are exciting times for him and we wish him well for the future.

Gil Simmons

Sarah Atkinson

Sarah joined us as a teacher of French and Spanish in 2011 with a degree in French and Spanish from Cambridge University and a specialist interest in film and linguistics. She very quickly got involved in Clifton life and became Assistant Housemistress in West Town, Assistant Housemistress in Hallward’s House and then Head of French. Sarah has made significant contributions to the College through EDIB, the Environmental Action group, Pride Society, Junior Debating, Staff Meditation and through her tutoring. Sarah has a very friendly, encouraging, positive manner with students and because of this they adore her lessons; many pupils have told me that Sarah has been their favourite Clifton teacher. Some of these students then chose her subject at A Level and continued it at university because of her. Careful planning is one of Sarah’s many great strengths; as Head of French she is incredibly clear in the way she communicates, leading the department with detailed schemes of work and through resource sharing. Sarah has also run French inter-schools debates and helped run trips to Spain and France.

I associate Sarah with honesty, integrity, laughter, conversations about travel and film, the antics of her beloved cat, live music and awesome taste in shoes. Sarah leaves Clifton to run the MFL Department at St Dunstan’s in London. She will be greatly missed.

Owen Lewis

Jenny Piddock

Jenny joined Clifton as a teacher of MFL in 2015 from Cambridge University with a specialist interest in film and linguistics. She taught French and Latin to the lower school and German to university entrance before taking over the running of the German Department in 2017. Speaking and teaching German is in Jenny’s DNA: both her parents were language teachers so she spent a lot of time in Germany when growing up and still maintains many links with the country. She doesn’t just teach German, Jenny loves the language, the wider culture of the German-speaking world, and the music.

Jenny has always been a reliable and respected colleague. This respect has been earned in part by her careful running of the Clifton in the Community programme which sends 360 students into 23 external organisations across Bristol every week. Jenny also enjoys planning schemes of work, monitoring results, and the logistics of organising overseas trips. She takes great care in her preparation of lessons and has created banks of new resources on every aspect of the new IGCSE and A Level. Her balanced perspective, her passion for developing the department and initiating change, and her brilliant sense of humour will be very greatly missed. We wish Jenny well as she moves to London with her family to teach languages at Halliford School.

Owen Lewis

Louisa Hume

Louisa has been an exceptional member of staff since joining the College in 2012. She is a teacher who puts her students first and always makes her lessons as fun and engaging as possible to ensure that all her pupils are enjoying and progressing well in chemistry. A superb classroom practitioner, her students always speak so highly of her, not only as a teacher but also, quite simply, as a lovely person. Louisa has taken charge of cross country during her time at the College and has worked tirelessly to provide students with a comprehensive range of running sessions and fixtures. The organisation of the Pens whole school cross country race is by no means an easy task, but Louisa has thrived under pressure and has produced some excellent events that will be fondly remembered by many Cliftonians. You could not wish to work with a more positive, enthusiastic, encouraging and supportive colleague. Louisa will be sorely missed at Clifton, but we know that she will enjoy spending more quality time with her husband and daughters, as well as possibly becoming a primary school teacher in the near future.

Matt Deacon

Liam Bull

Liam joined the school in 2015, bringing with him many years of experience teaching EAL abroad as well as in England. During the ensuing seven years, Liam has established himself as a passionate teacher of English Language, primarily teaching English to EAL students.

Students will miss his enthusiasm for the subject and the knowledge and experience he brings to each lesson. Outside of the classroom, Liam is Head of Football; he has been unparalleled in his commitment to students’ sporting endeavours whilst working at Clifton, and I know the students are immensely grateful.

He will be sorely missed by the school community, as well as by the students and staff in East Town (not to mention those of us at 4-5 Worcester Road!) and we wish him all the best in his new role as lecturer of ESOL at Bristol College.

Emily Vicary

Iwan Thomas

Iwan joined Clifton in 2018 from his position as Head of English at Bristol Free School. The author of this valete knows this all too well, as Iwan taught both his children there, and to great effect in each case with two very different learners. This characterises Iwan’s strengths - an outstanding teacher, able to inspire pupils and help them progress whoever they were. He has run a cohesive and forwardthinking English department, working closely with the EAL and LS Departments and leading by example, inspiring excellence in teaching and learning. A passion for his subject imbues each and every one of his lessons.

His work with the Bristol Education Partnership as lead for Clifton was key in forging relationships across the city and helping us to continue modernising our education and sharing and taking on board ideas and initiatives. The mentoring and oracy programmes he has pioneered whilst at the College have reached far beyond Clifton’s boundaries. He has also run Senior Debating at the College, expertly guiding Sixth Form students through a series of challenging and frequently contentious topics and setting the debating bar high. As a Sixth Form tutor in Moberly’s, Iwan has been a highly effective and knowledgeable mentor, inspiring the boys to aim high at all times. His calm and collected demeanour has been particularly successful in encouraging a positive working atmosphere during prep time, and any student who claims not to have prep will be presented with a book!

Backwell School are very lucky to have next use of his knowledge and skills, and we wish him all the best for his future career.

Gil Simmons

Simon Chapman

Simon joined the College in 2016, having previously been Chaplain at Aldenham School. This was, however, just one of his former careers, which included police officer, emergency department staff nurse and a chaplain in the armed services. When speaking in Chapel, Simon has drawn on this rich background and his talks are always at once engaging, interesting and thought-provoking. It is a rare skill to be able to address pupils who can range in age from the Nursery to the Upper Sixth and find a way that connects with them.

During his time at the College he expanded his role, both inside the school and in the wider community. He qualified as a Mental Health First Aid instructor and was then able to train many of our pastoral staff, as well as some of the pupils. He also trained as a cognitive behavioural therapist and a relationship counsellor. Outside of school, he was a Royal Navy Reserve Chaplain, based at the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre and the RNLI Portishead Chaplain. Most recently he became Chairman of the RNLI Portishead Lifeboat Station. In all these outward-facing roles, he has been extremely impressive but perhaps the real strength of a chaplain is the support that they provide to individual members of our community in times of difficulty and challenge. Here, Simon has excelled and I know that many who read these words will have been helped and supported by him.

We will all miss him a great deal but we wish him well as he develops his own counselling practice and continues to support those in need of help. Thank you, Simon, for all you have done for us.

Tim Greene

Matthew Deacon

Matt came in 2018 from Nailsea School where he was Assistant Curriculum Leader for Science, to take on a Teacher of Chemistry role as well as Head of PSHE here at Clifton. It wasn’t long before he started to gather more roles: Head of Chemistry, Head of Science, Assistant Housemaster of South Town, Master i/c Athletics and PGCE Professional Tutor being fairly prominent ones. In all his roles he displayed efficiency and accuracy in his work, and could be relied upon to finish tasks promptly and effectively. As Head of Chemistry and Science, Matt promoted university visits, chemistry competitions and trips

Alex Moore

Alex joined Clifton as a teacher of physics in September 2020. He threw himself into the wider life of the College straight away, taking an active role in the Music Department by leading the Cliftones. He has also reestablished fives and challenged our physicists with some exciting Stretchy Physics sessions and British Physics Olympiad preparation.

He has been a positive and enthusiastic member of the Physics Department, always willing to lend a hand and to different shows. He brought to Clifton many displays covering the Chemistry walls; colourful chemistry posters, history of elements ‘Periodic tables’ of differing types, and chemists and their findings, have all made appearances. Novel demos and other displays have been a regular feature of his department meetings. He has been an enthusiastic and supportive teacher and head of department and will be greatly missed. He will be remembered for his enduring smile, and unusual dress sense, often featuring a bow tie. We wish him the best of luck in his new role at Kingswood School.

Gil Simmons

wanting the best for his students. Alex has also been a tutor in West Town, offering pastoral and academic care to a Fourth Form group. He showed resilience and creativity during lockdown periods, developing resources to inspire, encourage and engage pupils. Alex is moving to London to support his partner to take up a doctorate and has secured himself a role at Kingsdale Foundation School. We wish him all the best for the future and will miss him greatly.

Becca Luker

Tamsin Cardale

In her two years at Clifton, Tamsin has made a tangible difference to the College’s culture and to students’ lives. As Head of the PSHE Department, she has led the PSHE and RSE curriculum, working incredibly hard to develop Clifton’s provision in this area; it is now sector-leading, with superb resources. Such work has perfectly complemented her role as Year 10 Senior Tutor and an EDIB Committee member. As a tutor in Worcester House, she has gone beyond what is required, and she places the well-being and mental health of students at the centre of everything she does. Tamsin is a wonderful role model; she leads by doing, and her involvement in both sport (especially hockey) and CCF have allowed pupils to grow and challenge themselves outside the classroom. In both geography and PSHE, students have benefitted from well planned and resourced lessons taught with enthusiasm and empathy. She has given so much to Clifton in such a short space of time; colleagues have been heard to say, ‘What would Tamsin do?’ when presented with a problem. Tamsin will be missed across the College as she departs to teach geography at QEH. We wish her every success and happiness.

Jonathan Hughes

Johanna Ungersböck

Johanna came from Vienna to Clifton in 2020 to be the German Language Assistant and a resident tutor. Organised and thorough, she has enjoyed taking on the beginners German classes, urging them to learn vocabulary rigorously, and has been willing to track down any student attempting to skip a speaking session. Keen to participate in all department matters, she has kept the German noticeboard updated with interesting news and language facts from the Germanspeaking world, joined in with lessons on German culture, a lockdown Zoom Fasching party, the Easter Egg Hunt and a Third Form zoo trip. Johanna leaves us to return to the University of Vienna to complete her bachelor’s degree in the teacher education programme to become a teacher of English and Geography. We wish her all the best!

Jenny Piddock

Will Stacey

Will, a very talented polyglot, joined the MFL Department in 2021, mainly as a maternity cover for German. He immediately began demonstrating his superior language skills by teaching A Level German and A Level Italian to native speakers as well as Prep School French and Spanish! Students have appreciated his passion for learning languages for the sake of enjoyment and his interesting nuggets of grammar. Keen to participate in all activities, he also supported the Third Form German trip to Bristol Zoo and German Easter Egg Hunt. Outside of the classroom Will has supported the co-curriculum by running the public speaking club and helping to coach tennis. He has been a Sixth Form tutor in The South Town and it is perhaps in his role as tutor that his true generosity of spirit has been the most visible. Will leaves Clifton to teach A Level Spanish at Bolton School. We will miss him greatly and wish him well.

Owen Lewis

Bogdan Dumitrascu

Bogdan joined the Maths Department in 2019, fresh out of university having just received a first from LSE in Economics. As a home grown talent, his mathematical knowledge was excellent and he was keen to get involved in all areas of school life, taking on the position of School House resident tutor and rugby coach from the beginning. After having experienced two of the strangest years of teaching due to Covid, he is leaving us to pursue a career with McKinsey & Company, a Global Management Consulting Firm which will result in him flying all over the world, but keeping Bristol as his base.

Helen Evans

Zhenya Shkil

Zhenya joined Clifton as our teacher of Russian in 2018. Her role was to prepare native speakers for the new A Level and for GCSE. She introduced her students to the Russian Booker Prize nominated novella Sonechka and to Russian history and film. Though teaching Russian was Zhenya’s role, she did far more than teach. She celebrated Maslenitsa (Slavic pancake day) with all the Russian-speaking students and baked countless bliny (Russian pancakes) for students to share. She encouraged her students to enter our poetry recitation competitions and to debate competitively in Russian. She succeeded in creating a space for Clifton students from across the Russian-speaking diaspora to meet and celebrate shared culture. Zhenya was juggling Clifton teaching with running a language school and undertaking interpreting work for the police, and she leaves us to dedicate more time to running her school and to her work helping Ukrainian refugees to settle in the UK.

Owen Lewis

Amy Jenkins

Amy’s year at Clifton has been a delight to lovers of mixed metaphors everywhere: she has risen to impressive heights in the History and Politics Department, having thrown herself in at the deep end in each aspect of her co-curricular life, and used her heart of gold as a tutor in Worcester to support her tutees and other pupils with care. During her short time at Clifton she has helped teach old dogs some new tricks for recall practice and dual-coding, and braved the unchartered waters of A Level teaching with gusto. Not one to blow her own trumpet, I will happily do it for her: her cheery disposition, continuous desire to improve and contagious laugh have been invaluable this year.

Sinéad Lynch

Kimshi De Sa

Kimshi joined Clifton in 2021 as our new French Language Assistant. The year has been a real adventure for Kimshi, who came to the UK for the first time last year, having grown up in Paris and spent the previous two years studying for her university degree from home due to Covid restrictions. As a result, boarding school life was certainly quite a change for her! Nevertheless, Kimshi threw herself into teaching students from all year groups in one-toone speaking lessons. She has really enjoyed learning about UK life and culture, and has shown herself to be an incredibly dedicated teacher, preparing helpful resources and tailoring her lessons with real care. Kimshi has really grown in confidence through exploring Bristol and the surrounding area; having grown up in an urban setting, she was really excited to go for her first ever walk in a forest when visiting Owen’s home in Monmouthshire! We wish Kimshi all the best as she returns to Paris to continue her studies. Merci!

Sarah Atkinson

Shannon Schrijver

Shannon returned to Clifton Prep School in 2013 and was the Housemistress of Mansfield House, where she looked after girls in Years 4, 5 and 6. In addition, she taught ICT and assisted with the sports programme of netball and hockey. In 2017 she moved to the Upper School and rejoined the Business Department where she taught GCSE, A Level and BTEC Business. She has a wealth of knowledge and has been a real inspiration to her students and colleagues. Always keen to put her students first, she put on additional revision clinics and exam technique lessons in order for them to achieve their very best. Shannon also played an integral role in basketball coaching and Fifth Form Business Enterprise, as well as being a dedicated tutor in both The South Town and Worcester. Her experience and expertise in pastoral care was truly valued as she helped guide her tutees through their university applications. Shannon has moved on from Clifton to return to the United States. We wish her the very best in future endeavours, and she will be truly missed here at Clifton.

Kath Jeffery

Julia Folland

Julia has been an enthusiastic and passionate Head of Business. Having joined the College in 2019, she has worked hard to drive forward the department, placing emphasis on the pupils’ experience and their outcomes. She has supported the growth of the subject in terms of pupil numbers, and has worked tirelessly to embed the BTEC as a rigorous alternative to A Level Business at Sixth Form. She has always put the pupils first, and worked diligently in supporting them to achieve their personal best. Julia has been a loyal and dedicated tutor in Oakeley’s for four years and has inspired the girls with her chats on duty, support for UCAS applications and infectious love of all things equestrian. Away from the classroom and the boarding House, she has been the College’s equestrian lead, enhancing this area of school life through passion and enthusiasm. She has also played an instrumental role in the development and implementation of the Fifth Form Enterprise Programme, an initiative which has piqued the interest of a number of Year 11 pupils, encouraging them to choose the subject in the Sixth Form.

Julia leaves Clifton to take up post as Head of Business at Redmaids’ High School - our very best wishes go with her.

Gavin Turner

Hannah Clarke

Hannah joined the Classics Department in 2019, quickly establishing herself as a passionate and devoted teacher of Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation, not only at the Upper School, but also at the Pre. Her enthusiasm, creativity and dedication have never waned, even through the remote learning and hybrid lessons which have occupied a significant portion of her time at Clifton. Hannah’s contributions to the department have been considerable: from redesigning the Year 7 course to helping prepare candidates for Oxbridge; and from celebrating Virgil’s birthday to organising the school’s first residential trip after lockdown, a tour of Roman Britain.

Liz James

Liz joined Clifton from Teddy’s, Oxford in 2021, where she had been a housemistress. Since taking on the role of Housemistress of Worcester in 2020 in the midst of Covid’s reign of terror, Liz has been a bastion of resilience and calm for both the pupils in her pastoral care and in her history classroom. Steering the House through lockdowns, quarantines and distance learning became the norm in her first term, when on one memorable occasion the House was released from lockdown at the start of period 1, only to be put back in by the end of it. Following her son Arthur’s arrival this academic year, Liz leaves us to enjoy a different pace of life with her family. Liz will be missed by her colleagues and we wish her all the best for the future.

Sinéad Lynch

Hannah has made an equally large impact on the pastoral side, starting as resident tutor in Oakeley’s before moving to Worcester House as Assistant Housemistress, a reassuring and reliable presence throughout a time of uncertainty. She is generous with her time for both pupils and colleagues alike, and is always ready and willing to go the extra mile. Social responsibilities feature prominently in who Hannah is and how she engages with the pupils; she brought the groundbreaking Black Classicists exhibition to Clifton, and has been a driving force in the Amnesty and Peer Support groups.

Hannah is heading to Malvern College to be Head of Classics, and we wish her all the best.

Tom Patrick

Ellie Hall

Ellie joined the College in 2021 on a one-year contract to step in and complete the teaching for the GCSE Dance course. Whilst also teaching at St Brendan’s Sixth Form College, and not having taught GCSE Dance for several years, Ellie picked the class up with barely a blink of the eye, and has worked tirelessly throughout the year to ensure that they are well prepared for their exam. Ellie has shown a high level of skill and dedication in the role, always looking to bring out the best in her students, whilst retaining her good-humoured and cheerful demeanour.

Rhian Orzel

Karen Whishaw

Karen joined us for just the Lent Term in the Business Studies Department, bringing with her a wealth of knowledge and experience in teaching both GCSE and A Level and BTEC Business. In her brief time at Clifton she contributed to the resources for the department and offered great assistance and help to the students she was teaching. She has our very best wishes for the future and we could not be more grateful for the support and guidance she gave us.

Kath Jeffery