The school community of Forfar Academy has been rocked by the devastating loss of popular depute rector John Vannet.
Mr Vannet died suddenly on Monday, just days after celebrating his 60th birthday.
He had been away from school due to ill health, but the suddenness of his passing has shocked family, friends, colleagues and pupils.
Academy rector Melvyn Lynch led special assemblies at the school this morning as colleagues and pupils flooded social media with messages of respect for the highly-respected geography teacher who rose to become part of the Academy’s senior management team.
Mr Lynch said the loss of “a true friend and a kind companion” was a “sad day” for everyone at the school.
In paying tribute to his colleague and friend, the rector commented: “The words Forfar Academy and John Vannet go hand in hand, they are forever interwoven.
“When I think of the school I think of John, who contributed so much to the school community and the people he served.
“Today is a sad day for all of us. We have lost a valued teacher, a true friend and a kind companion.
“As depute head of the school, a position he held since 1993, John touched the lives of everyone and the school has been inundated with messages of condolence and fond memories of a colleague, a friend and a wonderfully warm human being.
“He had the utmost respect for the children he worked with and the community he served.
“As a former pupil tweeted last night, he was ‘the backbone of the school’.
“John was, in the truest sense of the word, a gentleman and a gentle man, who went about his business quietly and without fuss,” said Mr Lynch.
Mr Vannet, whose wife, Val is deputy rector at the High School of Dundee, had been spearheading a project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the current Taylor Street building which falls in September next year, as well as a 2015/16 session programme to mark the bicentenary of the old Academy in Academy Street.
In online tributes, Mr Vannet was described as a “great teacher” and “an inspiration”.
Mr Lynch added: “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this saddest of times.
“John is written into the history of Forfar Academy and the town and we will miss him so very much.”