Au Revoir to 70 Years of Service

At the end of this academic year we say goodbye to a number of long serving colleaguesMrs Hughes and Mr Jarvis have a combined service of 70 years between them!

It is also important to recognise the work that our support staff do. Many are tirelessly working behind the scenes to ensure our students have the best possible experience. We say farewell to Mrs Dixon and Mrs Pedley, two of our science lab technicians with over 30 years working at the Grove between them, and also to our external exams team, Mrs Humphreys and Mrs McLelland.

We spoke with Mrs Hughes who joined the Grove in 1987. She gave us this insight into her time here and her plans for the future.

What have you enjoyed most about your time here?

I have worked with some amazing colleagues and pupils, and some of those amazing pupils have since become amazing colleagues, including the Pastoral Deputy Head and the Headmaster! It has also been wonderful to work in such a beautiful setting; the grounds really are idyllic.

What are your highlights?

I have some fantastic memories of ventures outside of the classroom: French exchanges with the Lycée Clemenceau in Reims, Lower School German and Spanish trips to the Black Forest and Tarragona, Year 7 outings to Lightwater Valley all spring to mind.

What has been the biggest change at the Grove?

Technology without a doubt, with lockdown being the biggest challenge. I will be forever grateful to my colleagues for their guidance when remote learning was thrust upon me!

Any funny moments?

Plenty! For example, in more recent years, seeing the stunned silence of one of my A-level classes whose studious classwork I unexpectedly disrupted, following what must have appeared like a strange sort of dance from the front of the classroom. They were clearly unaware that a huge spider had landed on my knee and, unfortunately for them, I didn’t have the nerve to choose a particularly discreet way of removing it! Mon histoire de l’araignée is definitely one of those top 10 moments!

What three things would you take to a Desert Island?

I just couldn’t imagine a life without people, but if it had to be things and not people, I’d take my John Travolta film collection (though rather futile I guess, with no DVD player), a survival guide entitled “Living without teenagers” and some writing equipment to write my very own “History of The Grove”.

What are your plans for retirement?

A life without Woodhouse Grove is hard to comprehend at the moment although I won’t miss the long commute - a quick calculation suggests I have covered more than 300,000 miles on my journeys to and from school!

I am looking forward to taking life at a slower pace now and spending more quality time with family and friends as well as some charity work.

Emotionally, I’ll never be ready to move on from The Grove, but physically and mentally, I know that the time has come to let go!

We wish all our retirees the very best and look forward to receiving signed copies of ‘History of The Grove’ by Mrs F Hughes!!

I am Grovian