David Cooper (left in 2000)

Entering a classroom immediately after a David Cooper lesson is like moving into a slightly different universe from the one that most of us inhabit. The furniture is cleared out of the centre of the room to create a large space in which an enormous creature can move safely without damaging more fragile beings. There is often a strange smell, resembling a mixture of sweat, bananas and satsumas. Pieces of paper and occasionally an exhausted boy or two lie strewn around the room. A mighty force, perhaps a hurricane (or something slower-moving but equally devastating), has clearly struck the room and laid waste to every person and thing therein. David Cooper has made an enormous impression at this school since his arrival from R.G.S. Newcastle in 1988.

He has commanded respect from colleagues and pupils alike for his intellectual qualities and his commitment and diligence. Boys who found him an exacting taskmaster always knew they were being stretched and developed and introduced to higher standards than they could ever have envisaged. David gave boys a clear appreciation of what is involved in genuine scholarship. All of this without losing sight of the more mundane requirements of teaching: rarely has a teacher combined such academic breadth and curiosity with the discipline and focus needed to deliver an examination subject.

Teaching History was David's principal function and interest - he even found the time to write two books about the 19th Century - but his role as a schoolmaster extended far beyond his subject. He was the most caring and assiduous of form-teachers, Head of General Studies from 1994, and master in charge of chess for more than a decade.

But it is David Cooper the personality who will be most sadly missed. His self-deprecating sense of humour, gave colleagues and boys seemingly endless enjoyment. It has been enormous fun to be around him. His departure diminishes the History department, in particular, even if it also makes the History office seem larger!

Those of us who have seen David teach know what we have lost. His Oxbridge lessons were almost literally stunning, so great is his intellectual range and ability to bring bright boys with him on an exciting voyage of discovery. Tonbridge School, to which David goes as Head of History, is gaining a marvellous teacher and unforgettable character.