The end of term signals the end of an era as Senior Teacher Keith Irvine hangs us his timetabling talents after 23 years dedicated Service to the College.

Keith joined the College as Head of Geography from Bedford School in 1997, one of his claims to fame being that he was Headmaster John Trotman’s first official appointee – even before Mr Trotman himself had officially started his tenure as Head.

From the start of his time at the College alongside his role as Head of Geography, Keith helped to run the College Duke of Edinburgh programme and had the honour of training a combined 3/4th hockey team alongside the hugely gifted David Hopper, a partnership he felt privileged to learn immensely from.

Keith has accompanied numerous school trips across the globe, having stood on the Equator in Ecuador, kayaked in Greenland and skied on the slopes of Europe. A highlight of his geography field trips centred on the annual new year trip to the North East, accompanying pupils to the beaches of Flamborough Head and steel works around Helmsley. Memories from this trip are numerous but a post-breakfast outdoor giant Jenga competition between three Oxbridge candidates remains one of his most vivid, alongside the curriculum compulsory brewery tour that always wrapped up the trip.

Early in his College career Keith took on the mind-boggling role of the organisation of the College timetable, calendar and Management Information System (MIS). If you ever wanted to know what was happening, when and involving whom in the College, Mr Irvine was always your first port of call. Alongside his further responsibilities for the School Post system and the overview of educational visits Keith gave up teaching responsibilities in 2017 to concentrate on his growing organisational responsibilities – activities that were a vitally important component in the smooth day to day running of the College academic provision.

Campus OS events were scheduled using Keith’s finely tuned skills of being able to find suitable gaps within the busy College calendar to host such events with the additional vital support of the provision of willing and able pupil tour guides to show OS around the College campus. His weather predicting talents became legendary and never failed to ensure that appropriate precautions were taken to suit the weather conditions throughout an event day. 

Keith has been a friendly and hugely efficient support to all members of the College Community over the past 23 years, he has taught numerous pupils himself but has also ensured that all others could study their chosen subjects within timetable constraints. His cheery disposition and impeccable attention to details has eased colleagues through good times and those more challenging, none perhaps more so than the vast re-timetabling arrangements involved in the current covid bubble system.

It will be of no surprise to those that know him that Keith is looking forward to an active retirement, skiing and walking are high on his agenda. He had planned to join the Ski Club of Great Britain in January 2021 managing ski rep’s in Switzerland but unfortunately Covid has delayed that opportunity. An accomplished skier he will be back on the slopes as soon as he can. Travel to Scottish islands is another ambition he is looking forward to satisfying –relishing the opportunity to travel in term time for the first time in decades!

We wish Keith an enjoyable and fulfilling retirement and thank him for his dedication over the past 23 years to teaching, extracurricular activities and trip and of course to ensuring the smooth running of the College lessons and events.