It is with great sadness that we announce the death of David Matthews – former Head of English.

On his retirement Chris Smith from the English Department wrote in The Nottinghamian:

“Many of you will have enjoyed watching David’s productions, but without realising, perhaps, the enormous amount of hard work, anguish and exhaustion that had gone into them; but all this effort was worthwhile and resulted in memorable productions of, for example, The Crucible and The Royal Hunt of The Sun. David leaves behind him a highly organised Department which has grown used – jokily – to hundreds of memos bombarding its pigeon holes and which has shared his commitment to classroom teaching and to developing friendly, constructive relationships with the boys. In going to Manchester Grammar School, as Head of English, David takes with him organisational skills, a fine record in academic teaching, a reputation for imaginative drama work, and a lot of energy.”

Les Wilkinson – former Senior Master and Teacher of English remembers David:

“David was the first person I met when I came for interview at the High School in 1977, and I felt an immediate affinity with him.  There was no ‘Reception’ in those days, but David had been looking out for me as I walked up from Arboretum Street, and his greeting was warm and personal.  I was very happy when I got the job and knew I would be working with him as my head of department.

I learned a great deal about teaching English – especially A level English – in a very short time from David.  He had a great sense of energy and drive, and a real generosity in sharing ideas.  He made English as a school subject dynamic – and fun, devising an O level syllabus that encouraged wide reading, and providing constant stimulation to those he taught and his colleagues in the department.   Always self-deprecating, he was nevertheless always at the intellectual centre of what was going on.

I also learned a great deal from him about teaching drama and about putting on plays from his production of Macbeth, but especially from his contribution as director of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.  He knew how to encourage the best from his cast and how to give a production shape and energy.

He and Jenny were also great at helping Sue and I to settle in quickly at the High School and offering hospitality throughout the time we worked together, which was, sadly, quite short, as only four years after my arrival, David moved to be Head of English at Manchester Grammar School – but I am grateful for those four years of working alongside him, during which I learned so much.”