As many of you will know, Ray Metherell was an inspirational and much-loved part of the JKS community. Ray joined the Junior King’s School in 1989 as Head of Religious Studies and stayed there until his retirement in 2008. Throughout his time, he contributed significantly to the life of the School and had a huge impact on many young people. 

Ray instilled such confidence through his inspirational and carefully tailored teaching of Mathematics, RS and History, and nurtured generations of young minds.  Ray also provided an outstanding level of pastoral support as a form tutor, particularly to pupils who needed extra encouragement and guidance during examination time.  Ray believed in each and every one of them, and was instrumental to their many successes. 

Ray’s other passion was sport; he was a fine sportsman himself and, over the years, took charge of several major games' teams: Colts Football, Cricket and his beloved tennis.  His success record in all sports was outstanding.  Ray was particularly pleased to be part of the inaugural tennis tour to Portugal!

Ray was always fair and generous in his praise of others, and this was well-received by all members of the school community: pupils, parents and colleagues. His popularity amongst the community was particularly evident when his retirement was celebrated at Speech Day.  Secretly, the parents had raised enough money to present Ray with a car as a leaving gift.  As he left the Sports Hall, he was completely overwhelmed by the community’s generosity; he was quite simply bowled over!  Throughout his retirement, Ray remained an active member of the JKS family, attending events and staying in touch with colleagues.

We are incredibly honoured that Ray chose to support JKS with a gift in his Will.  After much discussion with his family, and in recognition of his time at Junior King’s, the School will be replacing the cricket nets in the beautiful grounds of Milner Court. Ray’s generosity has made these much-needed replacement nets possible for one of the School’s flagship sports, and in doing so, will benefit every child that passes through Junior King’s for generations to come.

It is fitting that a man who inspired so many pupils both as a teacher and a sports coach, will go on to inspire new JKS generations with his legacy. We are incredibly grateful to Ray and his family for this wonderful support and will honour his generosity in due course with an unveiling ceremony and a memorial plaque.  We hope to involve both past and present pupils in this event; further details will be shared in due course.

JKS Deputy Head, Amanda Scott-Kilvert writes:

Ray was a dear friend and colleague to so many, and I feel hugely privileged to have worked alongside him at the start of my career at Junior King’s.  The impact he had on pupils was matched by the impact he had on colleagues; many of us still reminisce about the stories and experiences we shared with him over the years.  Ray’s contribution to the school community was selfless; he has left a legacy for us all to follow.  Ray inspired so many people over the years and a word that is often used to describe him by former pupils, parents and colleagues is ‘legend’: I couldn’t agree more.  By making this generous donation to Junior King’s, Ray’s kindness and thoughtfulness will continue to positively impact the lives of many young people.  Having spent time with his brother, Stephen, during the years since Ray’s passing, we are confident that Ray would be delighted with the upcoming plans for the development of the cricket nets, and the opportunities that these will provide for Junior King’s pupils.

If you would like to share a message about Ray, we would love to hear from you and pass these on to his family. Please email them to Bryony Dutta, b.dutta@kings-school.co.uk , 01227 595613. Thank you.