STAFF and students have expressed shock and sadness at the sudden death of a former headteacher of Wensleydale School.

Graham Parker, 50, died on Tuesday while out walking with his family, just weeks after resigning from his post at the Leyburn secondary school.

His widow, Alison, said: "Graham was an exceptional person.  He had tremendous integrity, intelligence and enthusiasm; was kind, witty, and always ready to put everyone ahead of himself.

"He truly and completely believed in the ability of everyone to achieve whatever they desired in life, and his life’s work in education was all about inspiring and enabling so many students - and staff too - to do this.

"It seems so spectacularly unfair that this happened at a time in his life when Graham had made the decision to move on from his highly-pressured Headteacher position and was looking forward to spending more time with us all."

She added that there will be a memorial service in the next few weeks.

A spokeswoman for Wensleydale School and North Yorkshire County Council said staff were shock and saddened at the news and sent condolences to Mr Parker’s family for their tragic loss.

She said Mr Parker was a well-respected colleague and very liked by his students, who described him as a “caring, inspirational, enthusiastic man’.

Before taking up headship at Wensleydale School he was North Yorkshire County Council’s lead schools adviser for English; respected as an independent thinker with an excellent grasp of his subject, and well thought of by schools and colleagues as a motivational adviser.

Previous to his advisory post he had a long career as an English teacher and deputy head in schools in the region.

“Graham was a very caring man who had the very best interests of his students at heart”, said Pete Dwyer, North Yorkshire’s corporate director for the children and young people’s service.

“Our thoughts are with Graham’s family at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are also with the school, his colleagues and students who are greatly saddened by this loss.”

Before his untimely death, a group of sixth formers at Wensleydale School felt moved to write to the Darlington and Stockton Times letters page to praise the positive impact their teacher had on their school, following his resignation last month. 

David Raw, Beth Tyrala, Fionn Kirton, Lauren Bottomley, Amy Leetham, Hannah Cloughton, Ellie Payne and Courtney Jackson said: “Mr Parker taught year 12 A-Level English language and literature at the school.

“All of us in his class believe that he should be shown as having a much more positive impact on the school.

“Exam grades, while important, are not the only thing that show how good a school is; inspiration staff, care shown from the staff to the students and the attitudes of students are just as important.

“Looking away from the school’s exam grades, Mr Parker is a caring, inspirational, enthusiastic man who greatly helped improve many individual students’ outlook on life, their attitudes and as people generally.”