College hours long serving teacher - New building opened by Lord Andrew Adonis
Posted on Friday 30 September 2005
Farnborough Sixth Form College has honoured one its longest serving teachers, Laurence Whitehouse, b
Farnborough Sixth Form College has honoured one its longest serving teachers, Laurence Whitehouse, by naming its new state of the art building after him. The Whitehouse Building, housing the country's first purpose built e-assessment centre, was opened by Lord Andrew Adonis, Minister for Schools, on Wednesday 21 September at 12 noon.
Laurence Whitehouse joined the College in September 1971 to teach economics, having already taught for 4 years in Nottingham. In his 34 years service at the College, Laurence was promoted through various roles to Director of Faculty, responsible for the Social Sciences, Business and Languages, leading his faculty colleagues to two outstanding Grade 1 inspection results.
In December 1998, Laurence was on one of his frequent world travels, this time to the Yemen, when he and his wife were among a group of British tourists taken hostage by terrorists; tragically, his wife, Margaret, was killed in the gun battle. (See, for example, the following links for a selection of web-pages referring to Laurence Whitehouse and Yemen Crisis, Dec 1998/Jan 1999)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/246037.stm
http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/artic/gdn33.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/245698.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1-1124689_2,00.html
Despite this horrific experience, Laurence returned to his post in College and continued to lead his faculty with energy and vision. Two years ago he retired from his full-time post but he has continued as a part-time teacher of Economics. In early September, typically, he undertook a sponsored cycle tour in Russia to raise money for the National Deaf Children's Society.
Schools’ Minister Andrew Adonis said, “I want to congratulate the staff and students of Farnborough Sixth Form College not only on their state-of-the-art new building but on the loyalty and enthusiasm the college engenders from such a dedicated member of staff as Laurence”.
College Principal, Dr John Guy, said, "The naming of the building after Laurence Whitehouse is a fitting, but inadequate reflection of the honour which he deserves as an excellent and committed teacher".
Simon Jarvis, Vice principal, said, "Laurence is somebody who has endured some of the most extraordinary tragedies and yet he has risen above them. His resilience and his ability to deal with what life throws at him, and respond positively to it, is not only an example to students - but he's an example to me".
Dr Guy added, "No one has contributed more to the success of Farnborough Sixth Form College than Laurence Whitehouse".
