Goodbye and good luck to our leaving staff! Lorna Hope joined the John Lyon community in 2009 as Head of Art. Down in Art, you will often find a lively and productive buzz. It is like ‘the Department that never sleeps’ and is often bustling with students attending Art Club at breaktimes, lunchtimes and after school. Lorna’s enthusiasm for her subject shines through and promotes a love for learning which has inspired boys for over a decade. Not only has Lorna led her department from strength to strength, she has also been a committed Sixth Form tutor, helping boys through UCAS and being committed to their well-being. Lorna has formed strong professional relationships with the boys, developing a ‘cult-like’ following of students! Students who have left often come back to visit Lorna, which is a testament to how much she is valued, not just by staff, but students too. She has led many exciting school trips and run schoolwide competitions. Her connections with the Art World have meant that boys get the best glimpse into the industry, with inspiring talks from Jane McAdam Freud and excellent life drawing classes for scholars. Lorna’s warmth, wit and wealth of knowledge will be greatly missed. We are sad to see her go, especially without being able to say farewell in person. The Art Department certainly won’t be the same without her and she will be remembered, fondly, tea in hand with her dry sense of humour, which both relaxed and enlivened the department. We wish Lorna, Niall, Bob the Cat and Benson the Dog all the best in their new chapter in Wales. CAB
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Katy Littlefield came to John Lyon as a teacher of Geography in 2013. The boys very quickly warmed to her kind-hearted nature and her endless enthusiasm for the subject. As a tutor in the Sixth Form she worked tirelessly to ensure that boys were fully prepared for university life. In 2019 she moved from leading whole school PSCHE to become Learning Skills Coordinator. In terms of examination success, she should be very proud of the number of boys that she has seen succeed both at GCSE and A-Level. She has also seen countless boys through their HPQ projects to achieve Grade A or A*. Katy assisted with numerous field-trips and school activities, including for the past five years the staff baking competition, always a hit in the Common Room. Even during remote teaching she allowed us into her kitchen as she taught the boys to make cookies and her famous Katsu curry sauce. We are extremely disappointed to see her leave, particularly as there will be many boys that will be unable to say farewell to her. However, we wish her all the success in her new role as Head of Humanities at Bickley Park School in Bromley, Kent. ASL The end of the year sees the Head of Drama Sam Jones depart for pastures new – an exciting opportunity as Head of Drama at Wellington College in China with his family. During his six years at John Lyon he has been an inspiration to many pupils, both in the classroom and through the many successful plays and musicals he has directed. He has been an outstanding teacher, favoured tutor and good friend and colleague to many members of staff. Nothing has been too much hard work for Sam and everything he has done has been carried out with both exemplary professionalism and good grace, with a wide smile on his face. And, after a long week at work, he was often first on the pitch in one of the various garish football shirts in his collection for staff 5-a-side on a Friday evening. Sam understands schools like John