SCHOOL NEWS
STAFF LEAVERS
FIONA LAMBERT
Fiona Lambert leaves us after 28 years of service , during which time she has welcomed , supported , and admitted countless families . She greeted every family with a winning smile and the warmest of welcomes . Fiona was often the face of the school . As the first contact for most of our prospective parents and students , she was amazingly good at putting people at their ease with her friendly , down-to-earth and genuinely interested approach , and would then go on to build a trust and friendship with families as they went go through the admissions process .
At Open Days , everyone got a traditional Yorkshire welcome , and visitors were always happy to put a face to the friendly voice they had been speaking to on the phone . Fiona was a very calm person to work with and was always more than happy to get stuck into anything asked of her – a real team player . Through and through a Yorkshire lass , Fiona was fiercely loyal and extremely proud of our school , and of Pocklington in general . She still works on the farm and is in her element during lambing season . She is a member of the local community in Allerthorpe and engages in all manner of activities in the local village hall – be it the Scrabble Night or making Christmas wreaths , Fiona has done it all .
She is an avid tennis player and plays for the greatest tennis club in the
world – Pocklington Tennis Club ! She enjoys her time both on and off the court , usually in the Plough pub later .
She was without doubt one of Pocklington School ’ s assets .
ANDREW D ’ ARCY
Andrew joined the School ’ s catering department in August 1983 on a free transfer from the Royal Navy from his final berth on HMY Britannia where he quite literally served both Queen and country . He had the privilege of being part of the honeymoon cruise made by Charles and Diana . After 5 years he was selected to be the Assistant Catering Manager , and Catering Manager only a year later in 1989 . He was responsible for the successful merging of the two catering teams when Lyndhurst moved to the West Green site . He has obtained a Certificate in Education . For a while he was also a non-resident tutor in Dolman .
In March 2000 he became the Commercial and Catering manager , subsequently morphing into the Residential and Commercial Manager , and finally he was appointed Domestic Bursar in 2010 responsible for all residential and catering functions , including domestic services , eco and environmental initiatives and waste management . In addition , he was secretary to the Board of the Enterprise Company covering all term-time and holiday , residential , facility and sporting hirings as well as the school shop . This meant that he met the staff , organisers and guests , showed them around the accommodation and the campus , turned out in the middle of the night to solve problems – and locked up after they left and switched off the lights . I know he particularly enjoyed the Japanese Summer Camps , travelling up and down the country from the Edinburgh Tattoo to London and all the tourist attractions . He loved the opportunity to show off the skills of his team at events and catered for balls , concerts , garden parties , the weddings of colleagues , parents ’ receptions , Board dinners , Royal visits and hosting a variety of guests from birdwatchers to orchestras , from drama companies to canal preservers , from CCF dinners to boarders ’ theme nights , from 102 Squadron reunions to the OP Lodge . He thoroughly mastered the Pock 500 series of fund-raising dinners provided from a huge range (!) of
4 THE POCKLINGTONIAN