Ellie Greenbury BY HARRY DREW
and, more importantly, her compassion and humanity as a form tutor. From the moment they entered her class, her tutees enjoyed her kindness and her wisdom, and we teachers who worked alongside her are better form tutors for the experience. Beyond the classroom, Ellie has been particularly engaged with the school’s charitable mission, serving most recently as the Upper School Charity Coordinator. Whether raising money through a staff football match or delivering crates of supplies to local foodbanks, she has brought the same indefatigable and selfless approach to all of these tasks. The Classics Department, however, will most fondly remember her own personal efforts to raise money for Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy, by running every day for a month, and recording the effects of her efforts by taking photographs of rose-hued cheeks in comparison to the reddest objects she could find around the office – a fast time would leave her as red as the Cambridge Latin Course! Alongside charities, Ellie has also founded a Middle School Classics Society and has led expeditions to Sicily, Hamburg and to Hadrian’s Wall; the last photos of Dulwich students with the beautiful tree at Sycamore Gap stand as a poignant reminder of loss. Ellie leaves us to take up the position of Head of Clas- sics at King Edward’s School, Bath. Her new colleagues can look forward to tales of the various Georges in her life – the name of every member of her family (it seems), except, of course, for her wonderful daughter, Artemis, who was born during her time here at the College. The Classics Department is suffering a great loss both intellec- tually and socially (who will be Birthday Monitor now?), but her legacy will benefit the department and College for years to come. And, with luck, perhaps we will catch snippets of her distinctive (and somewhat spicy) idiolect echoing around the remains of Aquae Sulis. ◉
Walking into her very first class at the College in September 2017, Ellie was faced with a most unu- sual situation: an A-level Latin set that was large, boisterous and, perhaps most importantly at that particular moment, on the point of fisticuffs. Unruf- fled, Ellie soothed the riot, like Neptune calming the seas, announcing herself as exactly the teacher the
department needed. In fact, of the numerous classicists who have stalked these corridors, perhaps none other has combined so neatly empathy and discipline, energy and thoughtfulness, high academic standards and genuine pastoral care. It has been a joy to work with Ellie. Her insight and dili- gence have transformed a number of our curricula; she has refreshed the courses we teach in Years 7, 9, at GCSE and at A level, though she has never quite managed to reach the end of the Year 11 Greek! She served as Head of Department in 2022–23, ushering in a new era with the introduction of the Suburani textbook. Her generosity as a colleague is faultless, coupled with a modesty that belies her ferocious talents; the department’s teaching of both the weakest and the strongest students has been trans- formed by her influence, and we colleagues have equally benefited from her insights and ideas. As Upper School form tutor, Ellie brought energy and vi- sion to the role, also pioneering a paired-tutor approach. Having been lucky enough to share a form with her, I have witnessed first-hand both the efficacy of this innovation,
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THE ALLEYNIAN 712
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