A Hale Barns school is to bid farewell to a popular physics teacher who is retiring after an incredible 46 years in the classroom.
Born and educated in Gibraltar, Frank Azzopardi taught in Kent, Gibraltar and Liverpool before joining St Ambrose College 31 years ago.
Before that he had trained with the Royal Navy as an electrical technician before being sent to the Chatham Training Base in Kent and ultimately studying physics at London South Bank University.
At Ambrose, he was head of year and published a seminal A Level textbook, ‘Accessible Physics’, which has been a teacher’s reference book for two decades and is still used worldwide.
“I am surprised how often I still get communications from Russia, Sweden, Africa, worldwide really, asking me about the book,” Azzopardi said.
“It took me two and a half years to write and was designed to aid the delivery of a complex subject at all ability levels.
“A teacher has to know their stuff, but they must also be incredibly well organised. It’s also important to have a sense of humour and to be able to motivate the pupils.”
A passionate advocate of keep fit and a healthy mind in a healthy body, Azzopardi held weight training sessions for pupils up until two years ago and has also run a popular film club for the last 10 years, often filling the school’s lecture theatre with both blockbusters and classics.
A father of five, with two of his children living in Australia, the 69-year-old now intends to spend his retirement fishing, rowing and perhaps writing a novel. “Many of us want to write a book and I have many ideas, but we will see if I am good enough or have the discipline.”
He continued teaching beyond the standard retirement age because of his love for the job – and the difficulty the school have had in replacing him.
“What I have really loved about St Ambrose and why I have stayed so long is the attitude of the boys. One of the qualities of St Ambrose pupils which has always impressed me, is their caring behaviour towards each other.
“The stronger, more able, more confident boys look after the more vulnerable and I think that really is a product of the Catholic Christian ethos.”
The college’s principal, James Keulemans, said: “Frank is the archetypal senior professional and has been a much respected and valued member of our school. So many teachers, especially newcomers, gravitate towards him to pick his brains, and ask for advice and guidance and he will be greatly missed.”
