Teaching Valete

Dibran Zeqiri Jan 2011

A recent OW described Dibran Zeqiri as a proper Head of Politics. When asked to elaborate on the word ‘proper’ he said that Dibran had both a deep and obvious love of the subject, and a deep and obvious desire to help those he taught achieve the very best they could. These ‘proper’ qualities helped to make the Politics Department a highly successful organisation under Dibran’s leadership, often achieving stellar grades from students who never though they would reach such heights.

Dibran was a good enough golfer to have won a blue in the sport at Oxford, and he contributed significantly to the many successes Wellington have had over the past few years. His dry sense of humour and laconic wit made him the go-to coach for a number of the best players. He is a fan of Crystal Palace FC, and this never flagged, despite the many opportunities provided by the club for it to do so. As in other areas, once Dibran committed to something, he was loyal and steadfast in its support. We wish him every success in his new school and are now looking elsewhere for the highest scoring Scrabble name amongst the teaching staff.

Nick Carpenter Sept 2011

Nick leaves Wellington to become Head of Mathematics at Epsom College. In his eight years here, he has made the extraordinary transition from eager graduate to experienced and respected colleague, and as 2 i/c in Maths he cemented his reputation both as an outstanding administrator and top-notch mathematician. Kind, creative, and always enthusiastic, he has given enormously to the department, inspiring many students through the department’s extension group, Set Zero, and leading our students to success in many an inter-school competition. More than ready to take on the challenge of leading his own department, there can be no doubt that Epsom will benefit from his tremendous warmth, energy, and brilliance.

Liz Lambert Sept 2012

Liz, who joined the Biology Department in 2012, is the embodiment of a perfect all-round teacher. Throughout her time at Wellington, she has shown fantastic all-round commitment, both in and beyond the classroom and department; she manages to do exactly what needs to be done long before anyone else has spotted the problem. No task is ever too much for her and she has always been keen to contribute to the department and promote biology throughout the school. A brilliant and patient teacher, Liz started the Dissection Club, which has gone from strength to strength under her guidance; popular among budding surgeons, it has been an activity that has encouraged the Third Form into the heart of the academic extension programme. She is an indefatigable hockey coach, full of enthusiasm and encouragement, and her Tutoring in the Wellesley stands is an example of just how much a difference proper mentoring and guidance can make. Not only does she always have time for her young charges, but she also ensures that all of their teachers give them that time too. Woe betide any subject teacher who cannot justify a poor grade and provide a roadmap for instant improvement! Above all, Liz is just a lovely person, full of generosity and warmth and always with a twinkle in her eye. She has been a magnificent servant to College, and we wish her the very best of luck at Bohunt School, where we know she will have a tremendous impact.

David Edwards May 2013

David Edwards has appeared in these pages before. He first arrived at Wellington in September 2003 to teach French and Spanish after several years as an officer in the Welch Fusiliers. After four years of teaching, coaching rugby and cricket, leading the Advanced Infantry of the CCF, and acting as AHM of the old Hardinge, he left in 2007 to take on a Head of Department job in an international school in Abu Dhabi. David enjoyed the added responsibility, as well as the opportunity to play golf in temperatures of 40 degrees every day of the year. However, he was lured back to Wellington in 2013 when The Master needed to appoint a new HM of the Lynedoch. Two years later he moved again, this time not overseas, but to the Picton, a much more suitable location for his growing family than the confined spaces of the West Block. There, David established himself as an excellent Housemaster, balancing with aplomb the apparently contradictory characteristics required in the role: authoritative but sensitive, innovative but with a strong sense of tradition, confident in his own judgement, but always keen to listen to others’ views. At the same time, he brought to the sport, the corps, and his language teaching the same energy and enthusiasm which had characterised his first period at Wellington. Now David leaves Wellington for the second time, this time to become a Deputy Head; for the second time he returns to a place he already knows, but this time home: Wales and Monmouth School, which he last left after five years there as a schoolboy.

James Ellis Sept 2015

Much is made in teaching about aiming to be respected rather than liked, but James has achieved the rare accolade of being both loved and respected by pupils and colleagues alike. Since he began teaching at Wellington in September 2015 (having been a pupil here himself), he’s given heart and soul to the Philosophy and Religion Department, two boarding Houses, many sports teams, and played a leading role in the continued development of WTV. His unique combination of a love of learning and his cheeky wit has made all the difference to those lucky enough to have been taught by him. Quite simply, James is a brilliant teacher with the natural gift of empathy; he manages to make each one of his pupils, whether in the classroom or boarding House, feel that not only are they the most important person in the world to him, but also that they have an infinite capacity to become the best they can be. His imagination and vision are perhaps best summed up by the stunning work he inspired WTV to achieve, most notably on show in the fabled Speech Day entrance videos. He will be much missed for his candour, fortitude, and genuine good humour – as well as for his impersonations (he is a brilliant actor) and spontaneous bursts of song. We wish James all the best as he leaves Wellington (for the second time) to pursue a career beyond the classroom walls.

Jack McGarey Sept 2015

Jack has contributed so much to Wellington, across a whole range of areas and activities. A brilliant Chemistry teacher, he brought the subject alive not only to his Wellington students, but also to a whole host of Year 5 children from local schools, with his famous Chemistry Spectacular shows. A natural in front of an audience, he compared these with great timing and humour. The shows always contained more flashes, whizzes, and bangs than most fireworks displays, as well, of course, as lots of serious knowledge and learning. In fact, they are a natural metaphor for Jack’s career at Wellington. His lessons were always fun, but the extra ‘tricky chemistry’ sessions he put on as part of the academic extension programme and the work he did with his EPQ students marked him out as a serious teacher. A keen sportsman, Jack contributed much to the sporting life of the school, coaching Rugby at Under 14 and Under 16 level, as well as being an integral part of the Rugby 7s staff. He also served with distinction in the CCF as a Civilian volunteer, and was a committed, caring, and most popular tutor in the Combermere. Jack was always kind, positive, and easy to deal with and his sense of humour and musical ability – he ran the Jimmy Higham 10K in bizarre fancy dress and kept Colleagues cheerful during Lockdown with his singalong videos – ensured he was a firm favourite not just among the pupils, but also in the Common Room. We wish Jack all the best as he leaves to teach Chemistry at the British International School in Houston.

Ben White Sept 2016

Ben first joined Wellington to teach Maths in 2012, before leaving in 2015 to pursue a career in Software Development with a Digital Publishing company. The lure of the classroom proved too hard to resist, and Ben joined us again in 2016, where he continued to make a huge contribution to both the academic and cocurricular lives of the school. The Head of Maths had this to say: ‘Ben’s been an outstanding teacher and has really inspired every age group and ability range across the whole school; a large part of this is the honest and kind way with which he interacts with everybody he meets. Ben’s departure leaves a gap in the Department and the school – not just because he is an excellent teacher, but because of all the amazing additional work that he has undertaken to create the reporting app and to help embed a whole range of systems that make our lives easier.’ Ben was an outstanding Assistant HM in the Murray before going on to play a leading role in the academic life of the school as Assistant Director of Performance; his contribution to the algorithm that allowed Wellington to generate its own transparent Centre Assessed Grades was a crucial element of the school’s exam success of 2020. Ben has also played a key role in running Computer Science extra-curricular activities, and in particular the development of Welly CompSci and the creation of myWelly, the one stop hub for both academic and school wide cocurricular information. A fine coach of Athletics and Hockey, Ben will be sorely missed at Wellington, but we wish him the best of all success as he leaves to take up the post of Head of Maths at Haileybury College.

James Clarke Sept 2017

James Clarke joined the Physics Department after a successful career in the City, and brought a real sense of academic excellence to all his lessons. One of his pupils had this to say about him: ‘He was unbelievably passionate about the subject, and even if you weren’t that interested in Physics yourself, for the duration of his lessons he made you feel as if it was the most important thing too. He was kind and helpful and seemed to take it as a personal mission to make sure we all understood every topic.’ That passion and drive was also apparent on the golf course, where he conducted his other main role as Master i/c Golf with the utmost care and professionalism. A fine player himself, James ensured that both recreational and elite golfers were able to flourish and thrive. Kind, modest, and utterly charming, James will be much missed as he heads off to St. Catherine’s, Bramley. We wish him well, and thank him for all he has done.

Rosie McColl Jan 2018

Rosie joined Wellington in January 2018 to serve on the SLT as Deputy Head (Communications) and to teach English. During her time at College, she contributed enormously to the rebranding of the College and the modernisation of communications through social media, print, and visual identity. Under her leadership, the Marketing Department embraced new procedures and her professionalism, her perceptive nature, and the value she has undeniably added to her GCSE pupils, who she generously continued to support post-exams in the review process, added real value to the life of the school. Rosie was always dynamic and enthusiastic in the classroom, and never allowed the standard of lessons or interactions with pupils to slip, however much else was on her plate. In particular, the visible impact she had on College branding and communications and the spectacular weekly assemblies in the GWA she conceived of and orchestrated ensured that the whole community remained firmly on message. We wish her many congratulations as she leaves Wellington to take up the Headship of Brighton Girls GDST.

Tim Grant Sept 2018

Tim joined the College in September 2018 to teach English and will be remembered with warmth, by pupils and colleagues alike, for his commitment to developing intellectual curiosity, and his willingness to embrace creativity and diversity. The new IB specifications could have been made for him, and Tim could be guaranteed to think outside the box and teach the trendiest and most unusual texts, often arguing that modern rap lyrics were as worthy as Classical Literature as a springboard for contextual exploration.

Tim made strong contributions to the cocurricular life of the school, looking after rugby, football, and cricket teams, and his passionate knowledge of popular music and his vast collection of vinyl ensured that his contributions to DukeBox were well received by the younger pupils as part of their Wednesday afternoon service activities. We wish him the very best of luck for the future as he leaves for Brighton with his partner Rosie.

Alistair Wood Sept 2019

Now you see him, now you don’t! Magic words that perhaps best sum up Alistair’s contribution to both Wellington and the Economics Department, which he joined in September 2019. Literally flown in from South Korea to provide cover for a teacher on sabbatical, Ali could not have done more, and was a real breath of fresh air. An outstanding teacher and a technological wizard, not to mention a member of the Magic Circle, his economic memes, outstanding magic tricks, and charismatic personality will be sorely missed. He threw himself into everything from leadership to coaching, from football to championing positive mental health - and even amazed colleagues by creating fire from his wallet during the Common Room Christmas dinner! Ali leaves us to take up a post in Dubai, and we wish him well and thank him for all he has done.

Gabriel Hargreaves

Sept 2019

Gabriel joined Wellington in September 2019 as a postgraduate teacher of History and Politics, having studied at the University of York. He soon became a firm favourite in the classroom, as well as proving to be an outstanding Tutor in the Lynedoch, his willingness to give time, care, and attention a notable feature of his approach. However, it was his contributions to the sporting life of the school, coaching both Rugby and Football, that led to him being conferred with legendary status by his young charges. Gabriel leaves us to study for a History PGCE and, judging by the brilliant year he spent with us, looks sure to be set on a fine career in teaching.

Angeline Biau Sept 2019

Angeline joined the French Department in September 2019, and during the course of the year made a terrific impact on both school and department. Her lessons were always fresh and original and her willingness both to try new ideas and to challenge her students to be the best linguists they could be ensured that she was very well liked by pupils and by her colleagues. Her sense of humour will be much missed, as will Oscar, her beret-wearing, cheese-clutching, Eiffeltower celebrating model skeleton! We wish her the best of all luck as she heads off to North London Collegiate to teach both French and Italian.