goodbye mrs wall

Mrs Wall retires today, and we would like to share some of our memories with you. But firstly, we would like to say goodbye on this, our last day of the year, to a number of cherished staff members who also leave us today:

Mr Elston

Mr Elston is retiring this summer after serving an amazing 25 amazing years at UGS. An inspirational linguist, he was appointed Head of Modern Foreign Languages and spearheaded our successful bid to be awarded Language College Specialism status. Mr Elston also established and headed up our exchange programme with schools in Lille, and, more recently, with Mr Bridge, our Swiss school exchange; this is in addition to our many school trips to European destinations. Mr Elston was also a long-serving member of our Senior Leadership Team; and, as well as being a passionate classroom teacher here at UGS, who always champions our students, he is also an Advanced Skills teacher for languages across the North West and conducted extensive training for teachers for professional development. He is also a published author and has produced multiple articles on MFL for TES.

Mr Elston will be greatly missed by all, but we wish him all the best for a lovely retirement and for precious time with his family and brand-new granddaughter, currently over from Australia.

Ms Langham

Ms Langham is leaving us to take up a leadership position at another school and she has contributed enormously to UGS during her time here. Starting as a part-time teacher of Music, she progressed to heading up the department, and was subsequently also appointed to the role of NQT/ECT Induction tutor and to lead for Staff Development. Just one of Ms Langham's contributions to our Performing Arts enrichment programme was to introduce the wonderful Year 7 Let's Sing event, now a fixture on our school calendar, as well as developing our Staff, Senior and Junior Choir, and orchestrating some fabulous Festivals of Christmas. Huge thanks to Ms Langham for everything, you will be missed, with very best wishes for your new appointment.

Ms McMahon & Dr Murphy

Ms McMahon will be leaving our Maths department to take up a teaching position in Dubai, and Dr Murphy is leaving our Chemistry department to take up a position at another school, after providing an extended 2 years of Maternity Leave cover here at UGS. Both have been wonderful and contributed enormously not only to their departments but to our whole school community. Huge thanks to both and we wish you the very best of luck with your next steps in your careers.

Mrs Wall

We simply haven't got the space here to publish the huge amount of personal messages and tributes from staff, students, governors, former colleagues, parents and carers in our UGS school community that have been presented to our Head, but we would like to share just some as we bid goodbye.

Co-Head Mr Kennedy-Fowler

Mrs Wall has been an inspirational headteacher and colleague since I joined Urmston Grammar in 2019 and I have many fond memories of working with her. In my first year at UGS, we barely had 6 months of ‘normality’ before news reports began emerging of a mysterious new virus in China. Little did we know that within weeks anything we thought we knew about school leadership would be turned on its head as remote learning, centre-assessed grades, mass testing and contact tracing would all become new norms in school operation. During this entire time, Mrs Wall barely batted an eyelid. In her usual focussed, dedicated, unflappable manner, she calmly led our whole community through this challenging (and in hindsight completely surreal) phase in our school’s history. I genuinely believe Urmston Grammar did a fantastic job in supporting students and staff in what were at times impossible situations, and this is down to Mrs Wall’s leadership. As well as this ‘once in a career’ event, I will also miss the glorious everyday – the informal chats, coaching and guidance from someone who I see as a role model and friend.

I am very excited to be taking on the role of Headteacher of Urmston Grammar School in September, but extremely fortunate and thankful that Mrs Wall is handing over a school in such a strong position due to her hard work and commitment over the last 20 years.

Nick Crowther Chair of Governors (on behalf of our Governing Body)

The Governing Body would like to thank Mrs Wall for her 20 years of service at Urmston Grammar, which has included a terrific 12 years as headteacher. She has faced some massive challenges in her time in charge (such as COVID) and has dealt with them all with sensitivity, passion and her personable demeanour with everyone at the school. She leaves UGS in an excellent state, and we send her our very best wishes for her future plans and retirement.

Assistant Head Miss Lowe

I'd like to say thank you to Mrs Wall for taking a chance on me and then giving me the freedom and opportunity to try things out without fear of making mistakes; this is so, so important to someone who is starting out in a new role, and it's something that I hope I can do for others in the future. It's clear how much you love this school, and the mantra of always doing what is best for the students is something that I'll always strive for in my career moving forward. We will miss you so much, but your impact will be felt for a long time to come!

Head of Business & Economics Mr Kearns

I have been fortunate enough to work with Mrs Wall here at UGS for most of my teaching career. Above and beyond all the usual characteristics associated with a successful Head: organisation, drive, resilience, focus, dedication etc, two attributes stand out from my own personal experiences. The first is Mrs Wall’s ability to be pragmatic in finding solutions to problems, be that at a whole school, departmental, or teacher/subject level: her eye for detail, clarity of thought and directness can cut through the fog surrounding an issue to find appropriate, workable answers, with a drive to find the best possible outcomes for all concerned.

The second is compassion, empathy and understanding, which may, at times, seem at odds with Mrs Wall’s directness and pragmatism; however, whenever I have needed support (including during my wife's extended hospitalisation following brain surgery and again when I was hospitalised with COVID), Mrs Wall has always been there, applying that same directness, that same ability to see straight to the heart of the matter, and that same clarity of thought, easing the burden and alleviating anxiety and stress. And for this, amongst many reasons, I will cherish and be grateful for the time that Mrs Wall and I have worked together.

The Maths Department

We just wanted to say a big thank you to Mrs Wall from all of us. You've always been so supportive, whether it's helping us get the Bletchley Park trips off the ground for Year 12 and 13, or backing new ideas like the Primary School Days for Year 5s.

Through all the ups and downs that come with school life, you've been a calm, steady presence and always a friendly, smiling face in the corridor. We'll really miss that.

Thanks for everything!

Head of D&T Mr Barber

Mrs Wall has been a fantastic head! Always fair, kind, patient and very supportive whilst doing an incredibly challenging job. Also, very funny! I'll miss her end-of-year speeches especially! Best wishes for a very happy retirement.

The English department: 

We wish Mrs Wall a very happy and restful retirement. She has always championed the importance of reading, and we will always be incredibly grateful for her unwavering support. We hope her retirement is filled with reading for pleasure! 

LRC Manager Ms Longden

I will be forever grateful to Mrs Wall for the opportunity to join UGS and to develop along the way; and for all the professional and personal support over the years, not to mention her boundless enthusiasm and energy that sweeps all in her orbit up and along, contributing so much to the whole school community experience. It has been a privilege, a pleasure and a learning journey to work for and alongside Mrs Wall on recent projects such as TARA with the students; you will be greatly missed and never forgotten, but the very, very best of wishes for a fabulous retirement and for adventures still to come.

CEIAG Co-ordinator Miss Marshall

I'd like to thank Mrs Wall for being a wonderful headteacher. You have been incredibly supportive of me and my role, valuing and championing Careers, and your curiosity, energy and drive have made this school a pleasure to work in. I started working at UGS a year after yourself, and one of my earliest memories is of you bringing me a photograph that had been taken of me on a sponsored walk. I have appreciated the constant kindness and encouragement you have always given me, including supporting the school in achieving Careers Awards, and our lovely conversations. You will be greatly missed, but I know that we will keep in touch, and I wish you all the best in your well-deserved retirement.

Senior Prefect Team

We would like to thank Mrs Wall for all the hard work she has put into her time at Urmston Grammar School. We speak for everyone when we say that both students who started in Year 7, and those who started in Year 12, have been influenced by her positive impact on the school community and on our education. Mrs Wall has been a supportive member of staff who always greets you with a smile and her priority is ensuring that students feel valued in our community and make the most of their education. We wish Mrs Wall all the best in her retirement and future plans, and we hope to see her again soon!

Mrs Wall, you will forever be a part of UGS and our community; the hugest of heart-felt thanks for everything, and enjoy every moment of your next chapter!