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Káren Fernandez

May 12, 1962 - April 11, 2021

The administrator of this page is Rebecca McIver

Káren was a colourful character. She was an excellent teacher with a passion for Literature and had high expectations of all her pupils. She cared ferociously for her own family, her children and her grandchildren and devoted her life to caring for Chai after losing her son, Ben. She never suffered fools gladly and she lived by her own rules. She will be greatly missed by all her friends and colleagues.

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  • 2021-05-06 15:31:15 View / Comment (0)
    Rebecca McIver

    Rebecca McIver

    Rebecca McIver

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    Tutor group Prom photos. 2016

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  • 2021-05-03 22:29:12 View / Comment (0)
    Alex Rees

    Alex Rees

    Alex Rees

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    I met Karen on interview for my first teaching post. She was chatty, funny and had a great presence. When working together, I admired her care for students and her passion to support those who struggled academically or with pastoral difficulties. Karen always had time to chat and I appreciated this as a young 22 year old away from home. Together with Becks McIver, we had many laughs along the way as we juggled the demands of teaching. I saw Karen a few years ago in town and she met me with the same bright smile and her chatty nature. I am truly saddened to hear that she has passed away and would like to send my love to her family.

  • 2021-04-28 10:38:37 View / Comment (1)
    Heather Mitchell

    Heather Mitchell

    Heather Mitchell

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    Karen was assigned a year 7 tutor group when she started at Melksham Oak and she was just the right person for the job. She was warm and kind, compassionate and caring and made the year 7 camp an enjoyable experience for her tutor group and for all the adults who attended. She wanted nothing but the best for all the young people she worked with. Karen would notice the small things; something not quite right, someone struggling, someone in need of support and she would always do what she could to help. She was a force to be reckoned with and will be missed xx

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  • 2021-04-25 21:44:36 View / Comment (0)
    Amanda Dewar

    Amanda Dewar

    Amanda Dewar

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    Karen was my Head of Dept at Melksham Oak for three years. She was so kind, caring and generous and she was always giggling about something! She was so supportive if I struggled with naughty kids and she always had my back. I was very sad to hear about her sudden death and I know a lot of people will miss her terribly. Love to all her family and friends at this sad time xxx

  • 2021-04-23 10:23:33 View / Comment (0)
    Kate Harrold

    Kate Harrold

    Kate Harrold

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    I met Karen the day she interviewed me and immediately knew that working with someone that mad would be an amazing ride! She helped usher me from the primary phase into the world of secondary teaching with kindness and encouragement; I am forever in her debt for this. She was fun, thoughtful, crazy, frustrating, hilarious, determined and inspiring. The world is poorer for the loss of her. Forever in our hearts.

  • 2021-04-23 00:29:42 View / Comment (0)
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  • 2021-04-22 21:33:42 View / Comment (0)
    Debbie Steer

    Debbie Steer

    Debbie Steer

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    Karen and I started MOCS on the same day, as a nervous new teacher she was supportive and immediately put me at ease. She was kind, caring and had a great laugh! Rest In Peace Karen

  • 2021-04-21 20:30:52 View / Comment (0)
    Martina Liggins

    Martina Liggins

    Martina Liggins

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    I will remember Karen with a smile when I think of a middle leaders conference. I was SO nervous and she was so reassuring and kind. She was really enthusiastic and made me feel totally at ease. She was such a bubbly person. I am sure her strength of character and love has been and will continued to be felt by many.

  • 2021-04-21 14:51:27 View / Comment (0)
    Scott Drew

    Scott Drew

    Scott Drew

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    Karen was an amazing, funny and caring soul who always found time for me, no matter how many other pressing concerns she had. Her down-to-earth approach to everything and anything really helped bring important perspective to many things when badly needed. In an age of narcissism, cynicism and self-aggrandaisement in many schools and in education generally, Karen really stood out as someone who genuinely cared for the kids she taught and the colleagues with whom she worked. She will be missed greatly for her inspirational attitude to life, the universe and everything.

  • 2021-04-21 13:44:06 View / Comment (0)
    Grahame Goodchild

    Grahame Goodchild

    Grahame Goodchild

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    I will remember Karen for the empathy she consistently showed me during the whole of her time as my Head of Department. She clearly recognised the importance of family and supported me to be able to do the same. For this I will always be grateful. Rest in peace, Karen.

  • 2021-04-21 12:52:07 View / Comment (0)
    Rebecca McIver

    Rebecca McIver

    Rebecca McIver

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    The Globe Theatre 2011

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  • 2021-04-21 12:49:18 View / Comment (0)
    Rebecca McIver

    Rebecca McIver

    Rebecca McIver

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    I met Kàren during teacher training in Swindon when we were introduced to each other as neighbours as we lived a road apart. We shared a slightly inappropriate sense of humour and completed our training together, both getting our first teaching jobs at Bradon Forest school. When down to the final interviews, we sat in the waiting room, hysterically laughing at all the things we shouldn't say when called in. I cried on the way home when I got a job and she didn't but it wasn't for long as she was offered one shortly after. We shared lifts and built our careers together with Kàren moving on to Melksham first and then ringing me to convince me to apply for a vacancy that had come up. She was to be my boss! Over more than twelve years, we laughed, cried, hugged, bunked off, had successes, lunched, made rude jokes, swore, worked hard, gave people nicknames, argued, supported each other through difficult times and although life got in the way in the last couple of years, Kàren was always a huge part of my teaching life. She was formidable, creative, kind, stubborn, colourful and mad as a box of frogs. Her family meant the world to her and she would fight with everything she had to protect them. Goodbye, my friend. Taken too soon. You will be the brightest star in the sky - probably a purple one if you can manage it. Deepest sympathies to your lovely family. Becks McIver Xxx

    • 2021-05-04 10:18:25 wrote:

    I first met Karen as a fresh-faced and naïve Uni grad, with rose-tinted dreams of teaching. I was only at MOCS for a 2 week taster before applying for Uni and after 2 days I was seriously reconsidering my life choices, until she swept me into her classroom and gave me the terrifying opportunity to team teach her year 7 class. She guided me through a plan, pointed out any potential pitfalls and praised any good ideas I gave; and then she let me loose with them. Whilst I have never been so scared in my life, not once did I feel like she would have let me fail, and that feeling continued right through the years I spent with her as a colleague at MOCS. Even when she was busy or stressed, she never turned anyone away who asked for help. She was an absolute individual from her continuously changing hairstyles that matched her equally colourful language, and she taught me that it was ok to show that bright, unique side of yourself in teaching - and that Doc Martens are a truly acceptable footwear choice. She will be greatly missed, but her memory will live on not just with her family and those who knew her, but in the many students whose lives she enriched with humour, knowledge and kindness. Goodbye, Karen xx

    2021-05-04 10:18:25 wrote: I first met Karen as a fresh-faced and naïve Uni grad, with rose-tinted dreams of teaching. I was only at MOCS for a 2 week taster before applying for Uni and after 2 days I was seriously reconsidering my life choices, until she swept me into her classroom and gave me the terrifying opportunity to team teach her year 7 class. She guided me through a plan, pointed out any potential pitfalls and praised any good ideas I gave; and then she let me loose with them. Whilst I have never been so scared in my life, not once did I feel like she would have let me fail, and that feeling continued right through the years I spent with her as a colleague at MOCS. Even when she was busy or stressed, she never turned anyone away who asked for help. She was an absolute individual from her continuously changing hairstyles that matched her equally colourful language, and she taught me that it was ok to show that bright, unique side of yourself in teaching - and that Doc Martens are a truly acceptable footwear choice. She will be greatly missed, but her memory will live on not just with her family and those who knew her, but in the many students whose lives she enriched with humour, knowledge and kindness. Goodbye, Karen xx

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