It is very difficult to express the sadness that I felt when I heard the news about Chris who started his time in KC as a young Marlowe student in my Yr7 BAH tutor group. ”Vale la pena” (it is worth it) was one of Chris’ signature sentences in Spanish, and with this saying and his infectious enthusiasm, Chris encouraged his classmates to participate and have a go speaking the language. In those days, competition between Chris and Harry to be the top Spanish student was fierce, both brilliant and talented linguists. Chris’ wicked sense of humour allowed us to enjoy many memorable moments in lessons from year 7 to 11. The Spanish Department will forever be grateful to Chris for his legendary “Figgis Law”: a rule he created in year 9 to explain the conjugation of some quite complex irregular verbs. To this day, I proudly continue to use the “Figgis Law”, as we named it then, to explain this element of the grammar in my lessons. The photo here was taken during one lesson when we made Gazpacho, which Chris did rate very highly as he was not the most adventurous eater in those days.  Chris will continue to be honoured in my lessons… Another of his favourite phrases to finish: ¡Qué pena! (what a pity!)

Bea Alonso