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Other lives : Language teacher who encouraged his pupils to connect with other peoples and cultures
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Education — Wendy Ross
My husband, Andrew Cole, who has died of brain cancer aged 60, was an inspirational teacher who sought to enthuse young people not only to learn foreign languages but to connect with the people and cultures that languages make accessible.
The walls of Andy’s classroom were covered in idiosyncratic French objects ranging from football programmes to supermarket advertising posters. Before retiring in 2023, he let it be known that students could come and claim an item of their choice one break time and a long queue formed outside the door.
Andy was born in Dartford, Kent, to David, an engineer, and Jill (nee Cope), a housewife. He attended Gravesend grammar school and then Liverpool University, where he studied French and German, and met Alison Williams, who was studying maths and who became his first wife. After graduation they spent a year living in Paris, where Andy studied at the Sorbonne and consolidated his love of all things French.
On their return he undertook teacher training and they moved to the north of England, arriving in the 1980s in Newcastle upon Tyne. He worked first at George Stephenson high school in Killingworth and then Whitley Bay high school. He became involved in staff training and played a role in the school’s development of a national reputation for innovative teaching. Staff training sessions could involve anything from lying in a bed on a stage to throwing custard pies, but there was always an important point to be learned.
Alison died age 39 of cancer, leaving Andy as a single parent of two small children. Friends stepped in to help him learn to drive (successfully) and cook (less so). He and I met in 2006 through our children’s involvement in the Woodcraft Folk and we created a blended family where everyone was made welcome. We married in 2017.
Outside work he loved football, playing in goal until spinal surgery a few years ago made it impossible to continue, and following Fulham FC and his local team, Heaton Stannington. Everywhere he went he made friends in his own quiet and unassuming way.
After retirement he redirected his creativity to the back lane behind our house in Newcastle, turning it into a treasure trove of found objects with plants growing out of everything from old kettles to handbags, and forming a focal point for the community.
Andy is survived by me, his children, Rosa and Reuben, stepchildren, Kirsty and Becky, father, David, and sister, Julie, and by a nephew, Harrison, and niece, Hannah.
The walls of Andy’s classroom were covered in idiosyncratic French objects ranging from football programmes to supermarket advertising posters. Before retiring in 2023, he let it be known that students could come and claim an item of their choice one break time and a long queue formed outside the door.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Wendy Ross. Published 4 Sept 2026, 04:38 pm.
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