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Staff Leavers

up-to-date knowledge of teaching resources, and his organisation of our subscription to Dr Frost Maths allowed for efficient and effective use by students. His love of puzzles inspired him to establish the weekly Junior Maths Club, which has grown over the last two years to a merry band of committed young mathematicians. Being a local boy and a lover of football made Josh quickly relatable to the students in his care. His tutor sessions have been varied and fun, and I know his group were disappointed to return to School in September to find that their indoor curling kit had gone missing over the summer holidays! Josh has been a great addition to the football coaching staff at Merchant Taylors’, despite being unfortunate enough to hold a Chelsea season ticket. This year the 1st XI had arguably their most successful season, and some say that Josh was the tactical brain behind the operation – he was very much the Michael Beale to Mark Fothergill’s Steven Gerrard. Josh is also responsible for the now infamous biannual staff football fixture against Watford Grammar School, and it was certainly pleasing (and somewhat cathartic) that his final appearance saw MTS staff finally gain a victory over their fierce rivals. Less pleasing is the fact that he could not find the back of the net, although his xG statistics make for good reading! Josh leaves Merchant Taylors’ half the man that started here, literally! During lockdown, he took up running; the bug quickly bit and less than two years later he was running the London Marathon, for which he raised in the region of £4,000 for PHAB. Since then, Josh has run several marathons and half marathons; he displayed an impressive level of organisation to complete his training runs around planning and teaching lessons. Unfortunately, the itch to travel has struck again and Josh is leaving Merchant Taylors’ for the exotic West Island School, Hong Kong with his partner Sarah. Our loss is certainly their gain, and we wish him the very best of luck in his new venture. I have no doubt that when he chooses to return to London there will be a job waiting for him. Mr A. S. Miller

Beyond the Department Stacey spent a year as Assistant Head of Upper School and became the go-to teacher for a number of Sixth Form pupils who appreciated her openness and perspective. She served as a UCAS advisor, led Model United Nations and helped with Athletics and Cross Country. A much-loved Walter Tutor, she will be very much missed by all her pupils; just as her colleagues will quickly note with sadness her absence from her favourite stool in the SCR and its accompanying teacup and conversation. We wish Stacey

Michael Hetherington Apocryphal stories abound about ‘Dr H’: students talk about a fierce academic rivalry with Philip Hoyle, or that all his furniture – tables, chairs, even bookcases – are made of books. The truth is a little less fantastical, but all tales are woven from profound inspiration; and inspire everyone he did. Michael’s expansive intellect, along with several wheelbarrows full of books, landed in EN36 just as the summer leaves were on the turn in September 2020. Arriving from St John’s College, Oxford, where he had worked as a lecturer and researcher for five years, Michael quickly settled in, doing his best to take the chill off 1930s plumbing with his good humour, collegiality and the warm glow of learning that emanated from his classroom. In possession of a sharp wit, Michael adheres to the Henry James epitgram that one should ‘try to be one of those on whom nothing is lost.’ Those among the boys or Common Room who have come up short in this respect have experienced the singular pleasure of being on the receiving end of one of Michael’s delicious darts, so subtle that one barely feels them sliding home. A more prolonged pleasure is to sit in on one of his talks. His Christmas Lecture on the wider context of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure will live long in memory, as will his presentations at The Herrick, where he embodied the Renaissance attitude in both

all the very best for her new role as Housemistress at Sherborne Girls. Mr. R. C. Garvey

Joshua Coren Josh joined Merchant Taylors’ School in September 2020 from the British International School in Kuala Lumpar. At a challenging time for education in the middle of the pandemic, and having only communicated with Josh via Zoom prior to his employment, it was with great relief that the much-heralded mathematics teacher appeared on the first day of term; he quickly lived up to his reputation. Josh’s teaching has been first rate; he taught with the sprezzatura typical of a long established Taylors’ teacher. Josh brought

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Taylorian 2023