No. 140 The Trusty Servant
Tim Giddings( CoRo, 09-; HoDo, E, 20-) will miss Jacob O’ Ceallaigh( Co Ro 22-25):“ Grow a moustache. I am thinking classroom control.” The advice from the Headmaster of Bennett’ s The History Boys cannot be the explanation for Mr O’ Ceallaigh’ s facial grooming, for despite his youth when joining the Economics department as a newlyminted graduate of Warwick University in 2022, he has run his classroom with a competence that belies his years.
On joining he slotted into what was then the Marcas machine, helping to run myriad late-night exam-practice sessions and becoming known as the kindly face of the department – the one who might sometimes award a higher grade than a D. He has supported pupils applying to study Economics at university, conducting dozens of mock Oxbridge interviews. And in only his third year of teaching, he has led the whole cohort of over 40 top-years through the Microeconomics side of the course.
He is also full of enthusiasm for a subject sometimes dubbed‘ the dismal science’: faced with a potentially dry piece of economic theory, he brings it to life through behavioural experiments with the pupils as lab-rats. In Freddie’ s, where he has been a superb tutor and then Assistant Housemaster, his Preces have demonstrated this academic passion for all things economic: the financial model of those obviously terrible Zeus-themed video games advertised online; an explanation of why the same weight of pasta in different shapes has different prices.
He spanned the Winchester sporting firmament, from D-teams in football and cricket, to helping to run a canvas, but then he is always ready to take things on. He has run debating with outstanding success, guiding the team to national finals and the Model UN society to a conference which they won( see TS 139). Whenever Dominic Rowland( C, 01-06; CoRo, 16-) plans one of his highly complex charity runs spreading Wykehamists all over the nearby countryside, Jacob always volunteers to run the brutal 21km leg. Perhaps one should expect no less from somebody who briefly kept pace with‘ Hardest Geezer’ Russ Cook during the London Marathon.
Westminster’ s gain is our loss: he will be sorely missed. Of course, labour turnover dynamics are set rather high in the Economics department, so I am hoping that he’ ll soon tire of renting an extortionate rabbit hutch in London and return to country life at Win Coll. But for now, we wish him well.
Ali Harber( CoRo, 22-) writes, in gratitude, of Alison Seymour( CoRo, 22-25): Alison was already a stimulating and supportive presence in College, as many Collegemen will attest, before taking on, in 2022, the official roles of Biology don, Deputy Head of PSHEE and inaugural tutor in Oakeshott’ s, the girls’ official bolthole on campus.
This last role was absolutely crucial to the integration and happiness of the girls. Alison took it all in her stride and just set about making Oakeshott’ s work as brilliantly as it does, without any fuss or drama. And that approach struck exactly the right note as the girls turned up. She has a wonderful blend of calm pragmatism and deep compassion and the girls have benefited so much from that. We also quite quickly faced a Material Change inspection and thanks to her eye for detail Oakeshott’ s passed with flying colours.
As Oakeshott’ s Tutor, Alison was a calm, wise and fun-filled presence who cared deeply for her team of tutees, whether energising us with chocolates for the evening duty, sending frequent messages of support or spoiling us with thoughtful gifts. She was a natural in her nurturing of young professional women at Win Coll, and will always be remembered for her open door policy, her messages of welcome to the new girls, her enjoyable pizza evenings and of course, her eco-friendly ways.
Aside from this, she had a significant impact on our PSHEE provision, injecting a great deal of energy, huge amounts of time in researching and designing resources, equipping the PSHEE team and in teaching. Her team says:‘ She has been at the heart of our PSHEE and RSE provision for several years, demonstrating unwavering dedication to creating the best possible programme for our pupils. Her clear vision is matched by a tireless work ethic and exceptional organisational skills. Quite simply, the programme could not run as it does without her.’
She has also been a Biology don, supervised EPQs and supported pupils with their US applications. Her HoD, Matt King( Co Ro, 18-) says,‘ She is the most serene and calm member of the Biology department by a country mile. She has tremendous reserves of enthusiasm and this comes across in all her teaching. She often has superb ideas for practical lessons which the rest of us steal!’
She leaves us to take up an incredibly exciting post in Arizona: the Founding Science Teacher for Arizona State University’ s new charter school, ASU Prep @ The Levitt Lab.
Laurence Guymer( CoRo, 10-; HoDo, K, 21-) erects a statue to Daniel Reeve( CoRo, 20-25): After Lenin’ s death in 1924, Stalin consolidated his power within the Bolshevik party and state. He learned how to use his position as General Secretary to gain advantages over his main rivals. He prepared the agenda for the Politburo meetings, directing the course of meetings, and he e-mailed parents that they could not take their son out of triple Biology for grandma’ s bat mitzvah. As General Secretary, Stalin appointed new local party leaders, establishing a patronage network loyal only to him. He also organized commendä assemblies and cathedral
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