MIKE GOODWIN
Mike started in September 2000 as Head of Design and Technology as it was then called and immediately brought life and energy to the Department. He did a superb job of attracting pupils to use the workshops.
Mike joined G House as a tutor before moving over to Faulkner’s where he has tutored for the majority of his years at the College. He has looked after future generations of G, F and E House boys with calmness and fairness.
Mike was always there to be counted upon when needed, particularly in a crisis. He helped during the village flood over a decade ago and a more recent snow-in, when he managed to get his Land Rover to the local supermarket to buy enough food to feed 150 pupils for two days. He was always able to give TLC to those who really needed it and organize social events for those in his care.
Mike has always looked for new adventures at Bradfield and ran the Army Section of the CCF for seven years, supported the DofE and latterly has become a major influence on College Golf. So many pupils have benefitted from his desire to make golf as good as it can be and his presence on countless tours and training programmes will be missed. He played a crucial role in the development of the indoor performance centre which has proved an excellent addition to the College’s golf offering.
Mike is a person of conviction, openness and honesty, someone who puts the pupils first and his experience and calmness has helped smooth the pathway for many young Bradfieldians as they have embarked on their journeys here.
We wish him the very best and look forward to seeing him on the Golf Course soon.
JEMIMA WALSH
Jemima has been a much-loved member of the Languages Department. She has always been a caring teacher, enthusiastic about the French she taught and someone who strongly believed in sharing good teaching practice. In meetings she would often stand her ground for what she believed in which revolved around what would enhance the Department’s way of teaching to ensure pupils would benefit.
Always willing to collaborate and share resources within the Department, Jemima would often go above and beyond when it came to finding different ways of teaching language and culture to her pupils. One recent such experience saw her arranging a dinner for Upper Sixth IB pupils so that they could experience an evening enjoying good food and good company, exactly the way French culture works. It was primarily in preparation for their forthcoming exams as she always had the pupils’ best interests at heart. It is surely a night that will live long in the memory of those French IB pupils, particularly since they were robbed of the opportunity to utilize these experiences in their exams.
During her Bradfield career Jemima also spent time as Acting Head of Department and the pupils were always her priority. She ensured the Department worked as one and really looked after the Foreign Language Assistants, something she continued to do even after her time as Acting Head. Her support was greatly appreciated by the Assistants and they all felt well looked after.
Jemima will be missed for her professionalism and her shared enthusiasm for languages among colleagues and we wish her all the best.
KERENSA OGBE
Kerensa joined the College in September 2011 and was a central member of the Science Department teaching over 20 lessons a week. She has played a full role in the Department over the last nine years and could often be found providing booster sessions late into the evening. Pupils would attend her Anatomy and Dissection Society in their numbers to study squid, pheasants and river snakes, experiences which will stay with them for life.
Kerensa liked using her musical ability in her teaching and would often use videos of her playing piano and singing a scientific parody song which she had written to help the pupils remember the topics she was teaching. Kerensa really enjoys her subject and has particularly relished teaching on the IB where she can really delve into the Science.
During the pandemic, Kerensa volunteered at her old research lab, selflessly giving up many hours to help test NHS workers for COVID-19. We would like to thank her for that same dedication and her caring attitude towards the pupils and wish her well as she moves on from Bradfield.
POLLY CAFFREY
During her time at Bradfield, Polly has shown a vast amount of commitment to a variety of academic, co-curricular and pastoral roles. These include Teacher of Latin and Greek, Head of the Classics Department, Co-ordinator for Fencing, Director of three Bradfield Greek Plays, Head of UCAS, Head of Oxbridge and House Tutor.
As Head of Classics, she has done so much for the Department, making it more accessible for the pupils with the care and attention she has given the subject. She has been a dedicated Head of UCAS where her energy, patience and attention to detail have never failed to impress. Her willingness to discuss options with pupils who cannot decide what they want to apply for or where to go always resulted in the perfect crafting of a Personal Statement, something which has been invaluable for the College.
As Head of Oxbridge she really sharpened our process, ensuring that the pupils applied leading to a superb conversion rate. As the Stevens House girls will know, she has been a brilliant personal Tutor. Her care knows no bounds.
Polly ran fencing for seven years, growing the sport, developing the fixture list and enjoying notable success at the Public Schools Championships.
The Greek Theatre is a magical place and any member of staff taking on responsibility for the triennial Greek Play is helping to carry on a Bradfield tradition that started over a century ago. Soon after her arrival she helped direct Sophocles’ Antigone in 2014, the celebratory year of the Theatre’s reopening, where she did a stellar job of helping pupils to learn Ancient Greek phonetically as only one of them studied the language. She went on to direct two more, Persae in 2017 and Alcestis in 2019.
Polly’s attention to detail was evident in the care taken over the music, the choreography, the dressing of the skene, the costume design, the masks, the props, and the programme notes, not forgetting, of course, the initial translating of the text.
We wish her luck as she heads to the next stage of her career and hope to see her back in the Greek Theatre very soon.
