Memorial Service for Barry Sanderson 1946-1996

24 February 2016

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Barry Sanderson sadly passed away on Monday 12^th February 1996. In order to remember Barry a service was held in School on Friday 12^th February 2016.

It was so lovely to see the amount of people who came along to celebrate Barry’s life. Elaine, Barry’s wife and his daughter Paula came along and there were also past and present staff, students, Governors and friends.

Barry was a teacher at Balshaw’s for more than 20 years. He was a very popular man who was known for his patience, fairness and understanding. Barry taught Mathematics and was also the Head of Clayton House.

The service began with an introductory prayer from Jeff Fearnley and then the congregation joined together to sing ‘Lord of All Hopefulness’. Our Head Teacher Steven Haycocks read Psalm 23. Barry’s friend and colleague Keith Woodcock read a very moving poem entitled ‘Mr Sanderson: A Poem’ that was originally written by Emma Bracewell who was a Year 10 student the year that Barry passed away. This poem was read at his funeral. This was followed by ‘Barry Sanderson: Reflections on a friend and colleague’ that was read by our former Head Teacher Jo Venn. The closing prayer was read by Jeff Fearnley. After the service everyone stayed to reflect and give thanks for Barry’s life and share their memories of Barry.

In February 1996, a special edition of the Balshaw’s magazine ‘Mega-Mag’ was written and dedicated to Barry and these lovely words were included ‘We will never forget this wonderful man and there will always be a place for him in our hearts’. You can see the front page of this edition of Mega-Mag below.