Jeff Holland

After 40 years in the teaching profession, Sixth Form College Principal Jeff Holland has retired. He has taught Maths to a whole generation of Blackpool pupils, beginning with the boys Grammar school, then the 11-18 High school and latterly at the 6^th Form College.

Born in Warrington, he attended Thomas Boteler Grammar School and admits to a fairly undistinguished school career. He played football, cricket and rugby and won the Sportsmans trophy one year though his preferred game was, and still is, Tennis.

After gaining his degree at Nottingham University, he taught for 2 years at Long Eaton Boys grammar near Nottingham before coming to Blackpool Grammar School in 1966.

He taught Maths to O level and A level, including A level Further Maths, becoming Head of the Department when Ernie Makin retired. Outside the classroom, Jeff & Ernie coached and ran the school tennis teams for many years.

In the 80’s, he became Deputy Head of the 11-16 school then, in 1987, the 6^th form was split from the 11-16 school. Jeff was appointed 6^th form Deputy Principal, finally becoming Principal in 2000.

Outside of school, he played Tennis for Moorland Tennis club in the Fylde First division until an ankle injury prevented him continuing at that level. He also played Badminton with Fleetwood Badminton club, for the simple reason that they used the 6^th form sports hall in the evenings.

Jeff always believed completely in the 11-16 school and sent both his children to Collegiate. Deborah works in the Pathology lab at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and Christopher is a computer programmer. They are clearly very career minded as Jeff is still waiting for his first grandchild!

Another side to Jeff is his love of Alsatian dogs and he has always had at least one at home.

As for the future, Jeff enjoys a game of Bridge and is looking forward to having the time to improve his game. He and his wife Ann are also keen walkers and spend many weekends hiking in the Lake District. They like nothing better than hitching up their caravan and setting off up the M6. So if you are ever stuck behind a caravan, remember it could be Jeff enjoying his well-earned retirement. On behalf of all his former pupils, the website pays tribute to the tremendous contribution Jeff has made to the school over many years.

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