A tribute to Ian Little, 1949-2026
We are sad to announce the death at the age of 76 of former English teacher Ian Little.
Ian Little joined Chetham’s in 1973, as a newly qualified teacher, not long after the School started its life as a specialist music school. He was for many years Head of English, and was immersed, in the early days, in the extra-curricular life of the School, putting on plays and collaborating in whole-school music productions. He was a keen and talented amateur pianist, and was involved in boarding for many years. He retired in 2014 after an astounding 41 years of full-time service to the School.
Ian was resplendent and revered in his role as a thoughtful sage, slightly iconoclastic and certainly anachronistic. He was a staunch defender of what he considered to be right, and he held such importance within the School that, on our move to a new building in 2012, his chalkboard was duly taken down and refitted in his new room!
To colleagues and students alike, he was a lovable eccentric and there are many happy memories. When he had marking he would eschew the confines of his classroom whenever he could, to find solace in the Chetham’s Library, or a local coffee hostelry, rather like the Parisian intellectuals of the Enlightenment. Indeed, coffee was his elixir and a leitmotif. He was even known to send a student out to the coffee shop in the station on an errand when the need arose. On one occasion a spillage occurred. Ian’s prime concern was not the mess created, but the fact that his cup was half as full as it had been!
He had a literary quote for all occasions: I recall when on canteen duty, he wrily quipped ‘They also serve, who only stand and wait’! He was the intellectual backbone of the staff, and refreshingly for many, had a healthy scepticism for trendy educational initiatives which history would duly confine to the scrapheap within five years.
Ian did not court the limelight, and shunned unnecessary fuss, to the extent that on his retirement the Head was genuinely concerned that he might not show up to his final Prize Giving ceremony, during which she had intended to formally mark his contribution to the School! Student search parties were hastily despatched to his various local haunts to find him. When one group returned with their prize, it was clear that, uncharacteristically, Ian had every intention to attend after all, as he was wearing a suit – an extremely rare occurrence!
Ian was held in high regard by his colleagues, but Ian’s greatest fans were undoubtedly his students. He was their Mr Chips: they adored him, and he opened their eyes to life and passions beyond the stave. As one former student said, ‘he made you think’. He had the wonderful gift of captivating the imagination of every year group, and he was a worthy Dean of the academic division.
We were and are all the richer for him and his astounding service.
