Former president of the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland
Born: February 25, 1936;
Died: March 5, 2017
DUNCAN Penny, who has died aged 81, was a former president of the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland and a robust and campaigning head of Vale of Leven Academy in West Dunbartonshire.
Heading up a large school such as Vale of Leven in an area not without its socio-economic problems was a serious challenge, but Mr Penny took to it with innovation and humanity. He introduced breakfasts at the school for those who were not receiving them at home, and was at the forefront of the IT revolution, ensuring his school was at the front of the queue for computer funding from Strathclyde Regional Council and beyond.
He grew up in Sandyhills, Glasgow, the son of William and Catherine Penny, and brother to Sadie and Elspeth, and, after school at Eastbank Academy, graduated with a BSc from the University of Glasgow. He then attended Jordanhill College for teacher training before starting work at Uddingston Grammar in 1958.
He made good progress through the school teaching ranks, becoming assistant headteacher at Clydebank High School, and then head at Vale of Leven Academy in 1981.
He was widely known as a teacher and a sportsman, who distinguished himself as a tennis and hockey player and a golfer. A teacher in Larkhall for a time, he also played hockey for Eastbank FPs as a tough but fair centre half and took up marathon running, completing four marathons between 1982 and 1985, each time raising money for the school, which became a resource centre for the local community.
He took up the position of president of the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland in 1993.
His son, Jonathan, told the large congregation at Mr Penny’s funeral in St Leonard’s Church in St Andrews, that one of the most telling statistics from his father’s time as a headmaster was that in excess of ten teachers, who worked for him at Vale of Leven Academy, went on to become headteachers –“and that this speaks volumes for his leadership and mentorship”.
Jonathan Penny said his father had much to be proud of. He was a sportsman, an athlete, and a great friend and colleague to many. But the temptation to boast, or to brag, was anathema to him and he was engagingly humble.
Colleagues at Mr Penny’s retirement dinner in 1994 spoke with genuine affection for a good man, who had done so much, and in their words, retired far too early.
However, Jonathan Penny said: “With the benefit of hindsight, I don’t think this proved to be true – my father had a wonderful retirement.”
Mr Penny and his wife of 56 years, Elma, also a teacher, travelled extensively, initially on their own, and latterly on cruise ships, seeing the world. They made great friends in St Andrews and became involved in the local community.
They were visited often by their children, Alison, Duncan and Jonathan, and enjoyed family holidays with them and their grandchildren, Stuart, Alex, Isabella and Grace, on Arran.
Elma worked at Elmwood School in Bothwell and the Pennys were married and moved into their first house there. He met Elma while playing tennis, and later became captain of Thorn Park Tennis Club in Bearsden and president of the West of Scotland Lawn Tennis Association in 1986. He continued to play tennis and took up golf, at which he was a natural.
Mr Penny also taught his family to play golf, at Shishkine Golf Club in Blackwaterfoot on Arran, where the flag was flown at half-mast on the day of his funeral.
He had a fine sense of humour and was a dog lover and keen gardener, who enjoyed detective programmes and Westerns on television.
Sadly, he was afflicted with dementia in later life and it was a great sadness for his family that he was not present in 2014 to see his elder son, Duncan Jr, take silk to become a QC.
At his father's funeral, Jonathan Penny quoted the US politician Hubert Humphrey, who said that the test that we must set for ourselves is not to march alone, but to march in such a way that others wish to join us. Jonathan said that was the kind of humility which summed up the way his father had lived his life and was “a hugely important part of the legacy that he leaves to us”.
During his illness, Mr Penny was looked after by Elma and a dedicated band of friends, former colleagues and carers.
He lived variously in Uddingston in Lanarkshire, Cardross in Dunbartonshire, and Blackwaterfoot on Arran.
He is survived by Elma and their children and grandchildren.
BILL HEANEY
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