SCHOOL NEWS// STAFF LEAVERS
ED LONG
It is with genuine sadness to write that
Ed Long has left Pocklington School.
Ed joined the History Department in
2010 and it became clear, very early on,
that here was one of the most dedicated
and professional teachers one could
ever have the pleasure of working with.
Meticulous, incredibly and dauntingly
well organised, driven by a pure passion
for the subject and definitely the last
man in any bar to ever open his wallet
to buy you a drink…
Alongside being a fantastic History
teacher Ed has been an U15 rugby
coach, in charge of 2nd XI cricket, Fg
Off in the RAF section of the CCF,
Gruggen Sixth Form Housemaster,
Head of Sixth Form and even a dab
CHRIS THORNTON-HOLMES
Chris Thornton-Holmes joined us
in September 2013. He immediately
engaged with our students and they
responded to his warm personality. His
teaching allowed all students (and staff!)
to sing whatever style of music they
preferred, and walking past his room,
one can hear the diverse strains of
hand at a bit of Geography too. He set
up the Munich trip, has been an integral
part of our many USA ventures and
was a founding father of the ‘History
Boyz’ – the Pocklington School History
Department that developed with myself,
Mr Webb and Mr Hall and latterly with
Mr Braidwood too. It does feel like a
family member is leaving us.
Ed will be hugely missed by the students
and the school in general. He will
be missed even more by the History
Department as both a great teacher and
opera, musical theatre or Ed Sheeran!
In his short time with us, Chris has
achieved remarkable success. Fifteen
of his students have passed singing
diplomas. He has two former students
studying singing at Leeds College of
Music, one student going up to the
Royal College of Music in September,
and two Oxbridge Choral Scholars. Yet
this is just the tip of the iceberg, as he
has inspired countless students to find a
love of singing and performance.
Beyond his time in the Music
Department, Chris has thrown himself
into life at Pocklington. He joined
Dolman boarding house to help cover
Wendy when she broke her leg last year
THE POCKLINGTONIAN
GH
However, there is something poetic and
connected about Ed’s move to Ripon
Grammar School: he will reunite with Mr
Webb (Headmaster!) and with another
ex-Pocklington History Department
teacher in Mrs Fell. The flame keeps
burning and the legacy lives on.
Still much in demand as a singer,
Chris was asked to join the company
of the Royal Opera House at Covent
Garden in 2015 for their production
of William Tell. Chris used his influence
to facilitate a group of senior pupils to
meet several of the principles, and to
visit backstage at the opera house – even
managing to stand on the hallowed
stage. It was an inspirational moment:
Sam Hird, Chris’ protégé, was literally
lost for words.
10
colleague but, far more importantly, as
a friend. It is a pleasure to work with
people you get on with but it is rare to
work with those who you can have that
fortune to use that word with: friend.
and it quickly became clear he was a
natural. In September he started one
night a week and it was clear the boys
really enjoyed his nights. Nicola fondly
recalls one evening: On walking back
into Dolman with the older after prep,
loud music and wailing was filling the
ground floor, on investigation we found
9 prep boys dancing on the windowsills
with blow up microphones singing their
hearts out. After another half hour,
Chris emerged from the common room
and said, ‘I called it a night because
they have just started to get a little
carried away’.
Chris’ bedtime stories will go down in
history. The boys told Nicola Bradshaw
not to read The BFG as ‘she couldn’t get
the voices right’ and she should ask Mr
Thornton Holmes to teach her. Chris
would take on the voice and actions of
each character and the boys would be
spellbound.
Chris has also been a hit with our
boarding parents. When the Hartfields
returned their boys and where
struggling to leave, Chris sat at the
piano and played a piece from the
Greatest Showman; the whole family were