It is with sadness that Rydal Penrhos has learnt of the passing of Mrs Aine Walley, who has died recently after a short illness.

She would have been known to students of Rydal School, and subsequently Rydal Penrhos Girls Division, as Ms Bourke. Aine taught English in both schools from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s.

After reading English at Cambridge, Aine trained to be a teacher at the Institute of Education, London University. She was a highly-respected teacher in the Rydal English Department and Head of English in the Girls Division, she also taught in Howells School, Denbigh.

Aine was a particularly sensitive and empathetic person and students appreciated her wise counsel and innate kindness. Throughout her career students responded to her teaching and enjoyed her lessons.

After Rydal Penrhos, Aine moved to London to take up a post as Head of English at South Hampstead School for Girls. She worked here for a number of years, before she went to live in Frome in Somerset and completed a postgraduate M.A. in Irish Studies at Bath University.

It will come as no surprise to learn that after many years as a teacher, Aine decided to follow a new career path. She trained as a counsellor and psychotherapist, working in Bristol, supporting women who had been trafficked into the UK from Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

In so many ways, her final career anticipated how she interacted with students showing respect, listening to them and offering her wise counsel.

Aine’s death will come as a shock to former colleagues and students who will remember her fondly. We send our sincere condolences to Clive, her husband, to her sisters, Kathrine and Deirdre and her brothers, Michael, John and Richard.

Thank you to Denis Lavin for preparing these words. 

Aine’s Memorial will take place on Monday 23 September at 13:00. It will be held at Rise, Whittox Lane, Frome, Somerset, BA11 3BY. If you wish to share your tributes or messages, please email alumni@rydalpenrhos.com.