PUBLISHED 04 July 2024
After 27 years, equalling 81 terms, David Smyth, Senior School teacher of English is retiring at the end of this academic year.
The high regard he is held in amongst both current and past students, their parents and staff was most notable in the leaving speech his colleagues, John Bridges (Head of English) and Phil Hayden (colleague in the English department) gave at his leaving drinks after school on Wednesday in the pavilion.
Following a degree in English from Cambridge, he followed his father’s vocation to teach and after earning his stripes in Burnley, he was appointed by Headmaster of Arnold, Bill Gillen in 1997. During his time at Arnold, and latterly, AKS, he has brought so much more to our community beyond the countless lessons he’s taught. This includes debating, quiz teams, costumed English Department open events, public speaking, cricket umpiring, evenings of spoken English, choir, CCF, school trips, sports fixtures, theatre reviews, book clubs, and pantomime. David has literally done it all.
John and Phil paid tribute to their colleague, friend, confidant and some-time mentor, showing their deep affection and respect for him in a joint speech, littered with stories from their times working together, interwoven with literary references reflecting their joint love of the both English language and literature.
John’s closing words summed up the thoughts of us all, “we collectively applaud your time as a part of this school’s rich tapestry. So, when we each think of our moments with David Smyth, I say we should be steered by the words of the learned philosopher Dr Seuss, ‘Don’t cry because it’s over - smile because it happened’”.