Paul Vines

We remember Paul / Mr Vines as a warm, engaging and kind-hearted teacher and colleague, who had a great sense of fun, alongside a serious and committed Christian faith.  He arrived in January 2014 as Head of French and inspired many students with his enthusiasm and extensive knowledge of the language and culture. He didn’t need technology to be a fantastic teacher; he could create a lesson starting with one word on a whiteboard. He never gave up answers easily; you had to think hard and puzzle it out. It was not enough to only half-understand in his lessons; he took care that every pupil could improve and felt supported.

Paul led multiple trips abroad to France to share his love of French culture and language. He always made sure students heard and spoke as much French as possible, even giving groups of Year 8 students a few Euros to impress him with a purchase from the market stalls in Boulogne, improving their confidence in speaking French in the process. He had great fun judging the novelty entries and choosing the most original purchase as the winner.

Paul’s organisation was legendary; he accomplished a huge number of tasks and still managed to have the tidiest and most minimal workspace of everyone. It became a bit of a game amongst some colleagues to slightly move one item on his desk to see if he noticed. He always did and always took it with good humour. We were secretly in awe!

Paul went on to become a pastoral lead as Deputy Head of Upper School where we valued his cool, calm and practical ways of dealing with any situation and doing everything he could to support the students in his care. His assemblies were memorable (he even ate cat food in one), full of stories and they always held a deeper message.  Paul remained passionate about his faith in Jesus until the end and no one who knew him was in any doubt how much it meant to him.

We send our deepest sympathy to his wife Julie and the family.  If you would like to share any stories or memories of Paul Vines, then please forward them to paulmemories2026@gmail.com so that they can be compiled into a keepsake book for his family.

Memories from a colleague:

In 2018, Paul joined the St Helen's Phab team for two days with me. He had wanted to do this for so long and when an opportunity arose, he was able to give his time during the Easter holidays to help Sixth formers take disabled children away to give their parents respite care. Together with the St Helen's and Merchant Taylors' Phab Team, Paul successfully organised the iFly trip to Milton Keynes ensuring all the Phab guests and the Sixth formers were able to take part in the activity and enjoy the experience of sky diving. There was also the opportunity to ski and use the facilities in the Snow Dome.  The ski lifts and snow contraptions for the disabled were brilliant for the guests and Paul worked so hard to make sure everyone could try skiing.

Paul was an absolute star! He took over the whole timing process and divided the larger groups into smaller ones. He had this gentle way about him where he could calm the guests down and make them really relaxed, while at the same time spurring them on and encouraging them. Our last day of skiing was spent coming down the ski slope all together and Paul really lost control flying down on a sledge, which made us laugh so much.  

Paul was a gentle, kind soul who always gave his time to speak to people with good intent and warmth. It was awesome to have him on the Phab team!

 Andrea Cawthorne