John CARLETON (retired in 1998)

The retirement of John Carleton marks the end of an era for the Haberdashers' Aske's School, since he is the last serving teacher who taught in the School whilst it was still in West Hampstead and who moved with the entire establishment to the Elstree site in 1961. For the rest of us, the Haberdashers' Aske's School, Elstree is the only one that we have known and for all but a handful, there have always been the two schools here - the Boys' and the Girls' school - side by side. Over four decades both schools have grown and prospered. Staff have come and gone, Headmasters and Headmistresses have changed and thousands of boys and girls have arrived, studied (a little), flourished (a lot) and moved on; but a thread of continuity, an awareness of place, a sense of purpose and tradition has been maintained by teachers like John, whose entire career has been devoted to this School. How did this all begin?

Appointed to the School in 1960, John quickly established himself as a superb teacher of chemistry. His knowledge of his subject and his enthusiasm for it are second-to-none. If passion for one's subject is the mark of a first-rate teacher then John is just such a person. It is this above all else that makes him such an outstanding classroom practitioner, earning the respect of the boys and such high esteem amongst his colleagues in the department. Whether teasing out greater understanding from an 'A'-level student or coaxing the best from a reluctant fifth former, John will always make time for an individual pupil. No opportunity to talk chemistry is missed, be it in the classroom, in the office or over lunch and John has that instinctive ability to pitch the discussion at just the right level for the person he is talking to. As a young teacher joining the staff, I (and many others like me), have benefited enormously from John's wisdom, support and guidance.

To return to my chronicle, promotion first came in 1966, following the tragic death of Roger Dawtry, then the Head of Science and Chemistry, who drowned whilst on a family holiday. John Bausor, the Head of Physics, became Head of Science and John was asked by Tom Taylor to take over as Head of Chemistry. It was a particularly demanding time. The circumstances of the appointment were difficult enough but in the same year, John and Janet were expecting the arrival of their first child, Andrew, and John was fully involved as School Liaison Manager with the contractors who were constructing the new Phase II building. Since it was to be the new science block, John was also responsible for all of its fitting-out and equipping.

Further promotion followed in 1970, when John Bausor was seconded to work on the development of the science curriculum. John became acting Head of Science and, in 1972, when John Bausor was appointed to the London Inspectorate for Schools, John was confirmed in this post. Under his tutelage, science in the School flourished with John, as always, leading from the front, yet never imposing and constantly encouraging the development of new ideas and the adoption of new methods. He ran the Science Sixth and was form teacher for a number of outstandingly good 6S Science groups until the end of the 7th term entry to Oxford and Cambridge.

Running the Science Department did not stop John from assisting John Welbourne with the organisation and administration of public examinations, nor of establishing, with David Griffiths, the course on Personal Relations that is now incorporated into our P.S.R.E. programme. John was Common Room Secretary 1968/9 and Chairman of the Common Room 1971/2. He was responsible for up-dating the Common Room constitution and he was the representative on the working party established by the Governors to steer the School through the transition from direct grant to independent status in 1976. He played no small part in ensuring that this took place without disturbance or disruption to the education of the boys in the School at the time.

In 1982, W.F. "Dai" Barling retired as Second Master and John was appointed in his place. He was Bruce McGowan's right-hand man for five years, and, in 1985, when Bruce's duties as Chairman of H.M.C. frequently took him away, John was effectively running the School. Bruce retired in 1987 to be succeeded by Keith Dawson, who, despite having previously been Head of History at the School, benefited enormously from John's support, knowledge and friendship. John's fourth Headmaster, Jeremy Goulding, arrived in 1996.

John has been a Second Master of unsurpassed quality. He has been unshaking in his desire to see the School maintain its position amongst the top ten schools in the country and has worked unswervingly to sustain the highest standards of personal behaviour in the boys and professionalism in the staff. Whilst society at large seems to be succumbing to a general "dumbing-down" John has been determined to see that this makes as few inroads as possible on standards in the School.

Administrative ability is another of John's strengths. The routine life of the School runs like a well-oiled machine (John is also a 'mean' motor mechanic). Few of us are aware of the care, the balance, the extensive consultation and the attention to detail that goes into the production of all the calendars, rotas and schedules that are always ready on time. But we do recognise, on those big public occasions, how John's thoroughness, common sense, energy and awareness of protocol, ensure that all runs smoothly whether it be a Royal visit, a Festival Hall concert or a service for two thousand in St Paul's Cathedral.

Outside school, John has been a long-serving member of the Association for Science Education's safety committee and has been involved in a large number of their publications, which establish the ground rules for science departments across the country. This does mean that many safety inspectors, architects, subject advisors or other "experts" have discovered to their cost that they had better know what they are talking about if they try to impose their ideas about how a laboratory or a science department should be run.

Whilst chemistry may be his first love, John is also extremely knowledgeable about classical music and he and Janet are season ticket holders to concerts at the Festival Hall and the Barbican. They are also both francophiles, with extensive knowledge of the country, its people and its fine food and wines. Self-taught, John is also one of the School's I.T. experts, learning to use Microsoft Access in order to produce a relational database for handling all the work placements. Sceptical of the use of technology for its own sake, John can nonetheless extract the best from the new technologies and perhaps will now have more time to evaluate the merits of surfing the Internet.

A dedicated family man, John sees the whole school as a family too, making no distinction between teaching and non-teaching staff. He knows everyone on campus, cares greatly for all, goes out of his way to help in times of trouble and always seems to find the appropriate word to praise, to encourage, to console and to thank. Many colleagues have benefited from his advice, not least on matters financial - his command of the detail of the Teachers' Superannuation Scheme is encyclopaedic. His departure will leave a huge void that will be extremely hard to fill. We shall miss him for his wisdom, his humour, his incomparable knowledge and, above all, for his humanity. We wish John and Janet a long and happy retirement together, knowing they will enjoy more time for travelling and for being grandparents.