Away from the Modern Languages classroom, Nick’s thirst for sharing his passions and own experiences has been diverse and sustained. He was a committed rowing coach and is the longest-serving teacher to have taken part in the rise of DCBC from its humble beginnings in the late 90s. In addition to this, he championed the role that oracy plays in linguistic competency through the Language Leaders award with Dulwich and City Heights pupils and, as a talented juggler and magician, he taught magic to po- tential medics in Liberal Studies for the benefit of children in hospital at King’s. Dulwich has been fortunate that after stepping down as Head of Department, Nick chose to move into the role of Director of Dulwich Languages. This did not mean that he became more distant from the classroom. In fact, he chose to teach languages in the challenging environment of the Isle of Sheppey Academy, where a double lesson was three hours. He also set up the highly successful Shackleton Exchange with Versailles and sought out fund- ing and teachers not only for Dulwich’s taught languages but also for Arabic and Japanese. In recent years, he has played a major role in several national languages strat- egies. He set up the National Modern Languages SCITT programme with the Department for Education. He spoke on multiple occasions to the APPG House of Lords group on Modern Languages and he chaired the Independent Schools’ Modern Languages Association. He also recti- fied the problem of severe grading of Modern Languages qualifications. Above all, Nick was a great Head of Department and col- league, always supportive and looking to find solutions. He was a fantastic mentor and was extremely generous with his time, able to encourage whilst giving carefully balanced advice. It is no surprise that so many of his team have either earned significant internal promotions or have moved onto Headships elsewhere. Many of the Modern Languages teachers wouldn’t be the teachers they are today without him. On behalf of the Modern Languages Department and the wider College community, I would like to thank Nick for his time and devotion and for the lasting legacy that he has given the College in so many spheres. We wish him a restful retirement and the opportunity to spend more time with Camilla, Saskia and Alex, as well as paragliding, cul- tivating the vineyard at Denmark Hill station, and walking the Camino. ◉
Nick’s contribution to Dulwich College’s Modern Languages has not been restricted to the classrooms of SE21. His lasting legacy is a culture of enthusiasm, inspiration and creativity, with a commitment to widening pupils’ outlooks, experiences and attitudes. His belief that overseas trips are not just an adjunct, but a pre- requisite for any Alleynian’s linguistic journey has led to the 16 or more annual Modern Languages trips that pupils now enjoy, with many pupils pointing to the turning point in their language study being their participation in a trip. Nick led by example, always highlighting the important ‘soft power’ of a trip alongside a pupil’s more tangible gain of at least half an exam grade for a five- day trip. His commitment remains undimmed even as he nears retirement, as he enthusiastically volunteered to fly out at short notice to Spain in April 2024. He was great company on school trips, and one former Head of Spanish fondly remembers: ‘On a homestay trip to Jerez – on the second day, not having seeing Nick for the whole morning, we organised a football game for the boys. We were certainly surprised when Nick paraglided into the game in the second half!’ Nick was not just content to further pupils’ horizons and skills by travel overseas; he also made sure that native speaker teachers came to Dulwich. The Erasmus Plus scheme, Confucius Institute, Valencian and Jules Verne scholarship interns were excellent, effective and above all, fun ways to give pupils authentic exposure to the languag- es and cultures of our department. Nick’s can-do approach to language learning and his collaborative style of team leadership led to very strong numbers of pupils actively choosing to study languages. Under his leadership, the breadth and depth of languages learnt at Dulwich widened significantly. Dulwich was one of the first schools successfully to introduce the teaching of Mandarin Chinese, and Nick’s decision to learn the language himself gave him the insight needed to help pupils tackle this new language. Further to this, he oversaw the successful and popular introduction of Spanish as an alternative to French as an option in Year 7, re-invigorated the French teach- ing in the Junior School, and drove the ever-popular annual Modern Languages Drama evening, culminating in an unforgettable Fawlty Towers ‘Don’t mention the war’ sketch delivered in German by the then Captain of School, who would go on to study German at Oxford.
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