VALET FOR HON OA STAFF
VALET FOR HON OA STAFF
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Richard Oubridge By Tom Goodrich
We recognise those members of Dulwich College staff who retired in 2024 with over 20 years service. All listed below are honorary staff members of the Old Alleynian Association due to their dedicated years' service to the College, we wish them all well in their retirement.
Nick Mair By Robert Baylis
Richard joined Dulwich College in September 1999, starting off his time here as Junior School IT coordinator and Year 5 Form Tutor. Over the subsequent 25 years, he took on a multitude of varied roles with
Nick started at Dulwich in September 1998, via the British School in Brussels and King’s College School, Wimbledon. He brought with him a highly innovative and effective approach to Modern Languages teaching, based upon a personal belief that
Phil Cue By Chris Ottewill
Lisa Hillgrove By Fran Cooke
enthusiasm and diligence. It was during his first few years at the College that Richard became a Junior School Housemaster, and for over 20 years he steered his beloved Grenville through many ups and downs. There was the golden era of back-to- back wins in 2008 and 2009, when Richard could have been forgiven for sensing a long period of dominance ahead; and then the many subsequent years of near misses, before Grenville emerged victorious once again in 2020. Richard has always been a great supporter of the House system, recognising the many benefits for the boys, and harnessing the passion, camaraderie and healthy competition that it affords. Richard himself has organised countless House competitions – both sporting and cultural – and it is easy to forget that he orchestrated and presided over the very first Junior School team-building day, an event that kicks off the Junior School calendar every September to this day. Richard’s love of hockey has been a key element of his time at Dulwich, and it is fitting that in his final year with us – and due to overwhelming enthusiasm from the boys – Richard managed to mastermind the reinstatement of the House Hockey tournament into the increasingly busy Junior School calendar. As Richard looks forward to retirement, the Junior School will not only need to replace a Year 6 Form Tutor, but also a Head of Geography, a master timetabler, a cover coordinator, a hockey coach, a Grenville Housemaster, and above all, an all-round great colleague.
Phil joined Dulwich College in 1997, having previously been a teacher of Biology at St Augustine's High School in Kilburn and chief chunker in a Brazilian pineapple factory. It was evident from the start that Phil had an enormous range of knowledge of all things
Lisa joined the College in October 2000 as part of the Middle School administrative team. This was in the days of handwritten reports and paper registers, when email, certainly on the scale we use it today, was but a twinkle in the IT Department's
languages can come alive for all pupils who are given excellent, inspirational teaching. He is, above all, a teacher who is never content to remain still, and is always looking for ways that pupils can best learn languages, be it by teaching Spanish through blind chocolate tastings, running Year 7 engineering days in French, or simply helping reluctant Year 11s by giving them nuts and bolts to play with in lessons, to help them speak. As a practitioner, he is second to none, with both colleagues and pupils praising his skills. Nick was described by a Deputy Master as a ‘magician in the classroom’, and one former pupil recently noted that ‘walking into Mr Mair’s classroom was like walking into Spain itself’. His commitment to placing pupil confidence and linguistic competency at the heart of his practice allowed him to change the perception and popularity of language learning, within his team, within the wider College and, more recently, on a national level. 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 potential medics in Liberal Studies for the benefit of children in hospital at King’s. Above all, Nick was a great Head of Department and colleague, 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 at all 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.
biological, with a particularly deep knowledge of marine life and birds along with an in-depth knowledge of the reproductive peculiarities of many species. Colleagues report that in any discussion with Phil one knew that one would both learn something as well as be entertained, with Phil often inspired by an evangelical admiration of Richard Dawkins. After eight years of teaching the subject, Phil took over as Head of Biology in 2005. He was known for building up an impressive array of wildlife in the labs: parrots, snakes and spiders, particularly tarantulas, along with the ever-popular chameleons. Phil would give names to all of these, proudly putting them on display in the Lower Hall in Bio weeks. This range of live creatures is reported to have cured at least one member of the department of a fear of spiders, although also led to several searches for lost snakes, one being found by a site officer wrapped around a door handle and several never found, presumably still living somewhere in the Science Block. Over the years Phil organised many overseas trips, including early World Challenge trips to Guyana, Kenya/ Tanzania, Borneo and Brazil. Described by Phil as a safe-guarding nightmare, the trips involved coping with helicopter casualty evacuations, abandoned donkeys, and hospitalisations due to bird flu. Further trips followed, perhaps slightly more luxurious but no less exotic, taking in Madagascar, Indonesia, Ecuador and most recently the Galapagos Islands, with Phil reportedly lighting up enthusiastically in the presence of lemurs, chameleons, Komodo dragons, and marine iguanas, among many. Phil retires to ‘the barn’ in Sussex, along with his partner and exotic animals: no cats or dogs, but a growing collection of reptiles, fish and birds!
eye. There she worked alongside Iain Scarisbrick when he was Head of Year in the Middle School, and he quite rightly insisted that Lisa take on the Lower School Secretary role when he moved into his post as Head of Lower School. Over the course of her time as secretary, the Lower School has undergone extraordinary changes, not only administratively, with Lisa overseeing the shift from paper registrations and reports to an entirely digital system, but also in terms of how we look after the pupils in our care, putting their wellbeing at the very centre of all that we do. Lisa would often be the first person whom many boys would speak to if they were having a difficult time at school or home; she has a great instinct for knowing when something isn't quite right with a boy, and as such has been a key figure in our pastoral work for so many years. She was also a lifeline for parents going through challenging times, often just as a much-needed friendly ear at the end of the phone. After a remarkable 23 years at the College, Lisa retires with our warmest congratulations and best wishes as she enjoys every minute of being a new grandmother, and enjoys going wherever her travels may take her.
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