Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Headmaster went on to set up charity for schools in Africa
Alasdair Hogarth, who has died aged 67, was the former headmaster of the Archbishop’s School in Canterbury who went on to establish a charity to raise money for schools in Africa.
He was a highly regarded educator who set Archbishop’s on course to become an outstanding school.
Mr Hogarth was born in July 1950 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, and went on to a teacher training college in Staffordshire. He worked at schools across the UK before becoming the headmaster of Archbishop’s in 1984 at the age of 33.
Over the next 25 years he transformed it from a non-selective school with no A-level provision into a comprehensive. In 2005 inspectors from Ofsted gave the school an outstanding rating in all facets including leadership and the support of pupils, a principle he held especially dear.
Mr Hogarth made a point of knowing the names of all his pupils, with more than 4,000 passing through the school in his time. He also introduced Latin as subject and taught it up to A-level. From 1994 he offered pupils the opportunity to go abroad in their Easter holidays with Greece chosen as the first destination. Further trips saw pupils go to countries in Asia, Africa and South America. After a visit to Kenya in 1996 and encouraged by his pupils, Mr Hogarth raised money to build a new school. He raised money to build another two, one in Kenya and one in South Sudan.
In 2007, the year before he retired, he formally set up a charity, the Kajo Keji Educational Trust Africa. The charity supports schools in Kenya and South Sudan and provides Uji, a type of porridge, to more than 1,000 children a day.
It is supported by the parents, friends and alumni of the Archbishop’s School. In 2008 he was named Kent head teacher of the year at an awards ceremony in Gillingham FC’S Priestfield Stadium and retired from teach- ing that year. He became more actively involved in St Dunstan’s Church including writing the history of the church and being the chairman of Friends of St Dunstan’s.
He was also churchwarden from 2008 until his death.
Mr Hogarth held other posts including chairman of the Streynshams Charitable Trust, which provides housing and financial support for people in need in St Dunstan’s parish, a trustee of Pilgrim’s Hospice from 2012 to 2017, chairman of the Diocesan Board of Education (Canterbury), a school governor at the Abbey School in Faversham and chairman of governors at the John Wallis Academy in Ashford.
He survived by his wife Mary and his daughters Laura and Clementine.
His funeral will be held at St Dunstan’s Church, Canterbury, at 11am on Monday, September 18. Everyone is welcome and donations are welcome to the Kajo Keji Educational Trust Africa or Pilgrim’s Hospice, care of Lyons Funeral Directors, 70 Military Road, Canterbury.