Alison Williams-Walker
Guy Howden
Simon Hall
ALISON WILLIAMS-WALKER
It ’ s hard to imagine the Mathematics department without Alison , though I suppose we will soon have to . She has put love , care , and attention into the department , giving wise advice to a large number of teachers starting out on their careers ( whether they wanted it or not ).
Despite being a strong Maths teacher , Alison is gregarious , sociable and fun . She thrives on being around people and solving problems , both of which made her a timetabler sans pareil . Heads of Department have appreciated being able to talk through staff , room , and timetable issues with Alison , and she has crafted first-rate timetables over several years . It is in the nature of things that we don ’ t notice great timetables , but we do notice bad ones . Alison has never produced a bad one , and we all owe her a debt of gratitude because of this .
To me personally Alison has been invaluable . Before school ( and sometimes during and after ) we have kept the local coffee shop economy going with discussions of every issue imaginable , first in my role as Head of Department , then as Academic Deputy . She has been a constant source of support and wise advice ( whether I wanted it or not ). Alison loves the Mathematics department most of all . She , Nick , and her daughters have hosted parties for the department on several memorable occasions .
What will Alison do next ? Honestly , nothing could surprise . She is talking about visiting her daughter in Canada , about getting her pilot ’ s licence , about exploring her many and varied interests in health and nutrition ( among others ). She will of course ski – she and the family are annoyingly proficient on the slopes , regarding black runs as insufficiently challenging .
Her departure is a huge loss to me , to the department , and to the school . We ’ re lucky we had her as long as we did .
Tim Jones
GUY HOWDEN
Guy leaves Sevenoaks after ten years in the Mathematics department , where he has been Head of Department for eight of those years . He is passionate about his subject and the students he teaches , enriching and supporting pupils throughout the school . As a Middle School tutor throughout , he also supported his tutees through the formative Year 9-11 transition . As Head of Department , Guy demonstrated extreme professionalism when dealing with parental queries about setting and predicted grades , and he was a listening ear to staff members . Guy is described as calm and intelligent in the classroom with a dark and funny sense of humour in the office . He could also be found on the football pitches coaching the U14 teams , as well as in staff football on a Wednesday . He has been known to set up goals for staff , as well as scoring a number himself . There is even a rumour that his skills were good enough to play professionally before his teaching career . It seems a maths nerd can be sporty after all ! Guy leaves us to join Tonbridge Grammar School as Head of Department , returning to the state sector where he began his career .
Alanna Hill
SIMON HALL
An Old Sennockian himself , Simon Hall joined the Psychology department in 2013 . Passionate about education , he led by example with his natural curiosity and flair for questioning . As part of the interdisciplinary team for the Institute for Teaching and Learning he undertook the school reporting research project and memorably engineered two exceptionally ambitious and successful Enrichment Week programmes , themed Social Impact and Gen Z .
Simon ’ s personal enthusiasm for adventure and sport would seemingly be contagious : under his leadership , participation in squash quadrupled , with junior and senior teams reaching national finals , and Gold Duke of Edinburgh participation tripled . He introduced new expedition locations as far-flung as Croatia , and new
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