Retirement and Relocations: we wish our staff leavers well!

PUBLISHED 01 July 2020

Heads of Department, Mr Cowlishaw (History); Mrs Burnett (Modern Foreign Languages) and Mr Bridges (English) wish their colleagues all the best as they retire and relocate. They share their memories of working closely with them and their contribution to our school. All will be remembered fondly. We give a heartfelt thank you to all and wish you all the best in the future.

Mr Cowlishaw on Mrs Ward:

"Dawn Ward joined Queen Mary School in 1992 and thence KEQMS in 1999, which merged to form AKS in 2013. To really understand what a great teacher Dawn has been, you need to sit in a departmental meeting with her. She absolutely lit up when discussing the students. She could see so much good in so many of them who were variously, ‘lovely’, ‘wonderful’ and an ‘absolute star’. It is this incredible level of care, compassion, dedication and lack of cynicism which characterises Dawn for me. That and her ‘can-do’ spirit, which saw her gain the love and respect of all that knew her. Dawn, it has been an absolute pleasure. You have been lovely, wonderful and an absolute star."

Mrs Burnett on Mrs Westcott: 

"Julia completed her NQT year with us this year, having trained as a Primary School teacher with MFL. Julia has been an excellent colleague and a real asset to the MFL Department, and we are very sorry to be losing. The pupils have enjoyed her lessons, especially many of the games, which she has adapted from her primary teaching. We would like to wish Julia and the whole family well in their move to Surrey, and thank her for her positivity, hard work and dedication. We will miss seeing your friendly face and chic French style along our corridor!"

Mr Bridges on Miss Lucien:

"Lauren has been ensconced within the English Department over the course of this year as she has sought to complete her ITT year with UL.  Happily for Lauren, this time is now at its successful conclusion and she approaches the beginning of her career in teaching with anticipation as her NQT status awaits.  Over the summer holiday, Lauren will be moving back to her old stomping ground as she prepares to join Walthamstow Academy, a school within the UL group, where she will be gainfully employed from September.

In addition to supporting their year's Year 9 residential, Lauren has also made contributions to English website news items, to Open Afternoon and to lunchtime activities. We all wish her well in the next stage of her teaching career."