|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UPDATED EVERY FRIDAY
Last Update:
Friday 28th January, 2005
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All content ©
New Journal Enterprises, 2004.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By RICHARD OSLEY
and JONATHAN ALLEN
|
|
Goodbye to schools boss who made pupils Albert Hall stars
|
Well-wishers pay tribute to education chief
for boosting student achievement
|
Bob and Helen Litchfield, front, with, from left, Dame Jane
Roberts, Moira Gibb and head of Camden music Peter West
Schools boss Bob Litchfield with, from left, musicians Emma
Montier, 16, Rosanna Lowton, 16, and Mat McCann, 18
|
HE is the quiet man at the Town Hall who came up with the loud
idea of hiring the Royal Albert Hall for Camden’s music students.
But the council’s respected director of education Bob Litchfield,
who retires tomorrow (Friday), is now looking forward to a bit more
time with his family, a few more hours gardening, museum visits
and a spot of travelling.
He has, however, insisted on being invited back to all future Royal
Albert Hall concerts.
Colleagues, councillors, headteachers, governors and pupils turned
out in force on Tuesday night for a retirement bash with a difference.
Talented students staged a concert at the Camden Centre in Judd
Street, at one stage leading a ‘Drunken Sailor’ sing-a-long.
Later, at a champagne reception, Mr Litchfield, 61, who is also
the council’s deputy chief executive, was described as self-effacing,
generous and committed by a series of speakers.
Chief executive Moira Gibb said: “The fact that there are no
embarrassing stories or funny memories is a measure of how serious
Bob has taken his job. He was welcoming to me when I first arrived
in the job. He did everything he could for people.”
She told how, during his teaching days, Mr Litchfield sat next to
his wife, Helen, at home, marking books.
“It shows he has always had a problem with his work-life balance,”
Ms Gibb added. “He is so committed to getting it right.”
Mr Litchfield thanked colleagues and reserved a special appreciation
for his wife, who was handed a bouquet of flowers.
Mr Litchfield, who joined the Town Hall in 1994, has overseen one
of Camden’s most successful periods in education.
Pupil performances have gone from strength to strength while Camden
has enjoyed a series of glowing Ofsted inspectors’ reports.
Council leader Dame Jane Roberts said: “He has shown enormous
commitment to raising educational achievement for all our children
and young people, to give them the best possible start to their
lives. That remains his abiding passion.”
In strained times – such as a schools budget crisis in 2003
– he took the campaign to lofty places, such as Downing Street.
“I went to Number 10,” he said. “It was larger than
it looked from outside. It was a good experience doing things like
that but the lasting memories will be the student achievement.
“Just going into schools has been rewarding. And, of course,
the Albert Hall.”
He recalled how he came up with the idea of staging a biennial show
at the Royal Albert Hall.
“They thought ‘he’s really lost it this time’,”
said Mr Litchfield. “We went there a few months before the
first one and I sat there and thought: are we really going to fill
this? What are we doing here?”
Mr Litchfield later told the New Journal: “I have loved working
for Camden. There are challenges for the future but I think Camden
is in a good position to meet them.”
He will become a grandfather for the first time next month and will
use his retirement to spend more time with his family, including
visiting one of his two sons who lives in South America.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
