Remembering Ian Hall McCallan – a servant-hearted leader

Mr McCallan was born in Carrickfergus, educated at Belfast Royal Academy and graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a first-class honours degree in Mathematics. In our modern era, when postgraduate degrees are classified, a degree awarded in the swinging sixties requires contextualisation, as only twenty per cent of students were awarded honours degrees. A first was the mark of a true scholar!

It is little wonder that the Board of Governors at Regent House School in Newtownards snapped him up as a young recruit to the Mathematics department. If a teacher’s first appointment is seminal to their later professional life, Mr McCallan took from that phase of his career a capacity for making deep and enduring friendships, a passion for communicating his subject and a lifelong belief in the value of extra-curricular activities within a school community.

His move to Wallace saw him entering middle management as he was appointed Head of Mathematics. His close friend from Regent House days, Harry Morrow, became Head of the English department in the same period. Mr McCallan often referred to himself as “a teacher of hard sums” and his reputation as a classroom teacher was exemplary. Pupils in his classroom were challenged but always supported, and he is remembered by many past pupils for his willingness to offer individual help as needed. Such was his love for his subject and sense of responsibility towards his class that when he was appointed Principal he asked the Board of Governors for permission to complete the second year of the GCSE course. Sadly for both pupils and Principal-to-be, permission was refused, but the class passed to the safe hands of Bill Wilson, allowing the pupils the bragging rights of having been taught by two Wallace legends. Probably no one ever dared to reflect on which one was the better teacher!

Following promotion to the role of Vice-Principal, Mr McCallan began to establish a framework which he would build upon as Principal. Before the phrase “pupil-centred education” became fashionable, Mr McCallan placed the pupils and their welfare at the heart of everything he did. The school’s current pastoral care systems are almost unchanged from the system he put in place and his understanding of what later became known as “positive behaviour management” was intuitive. To quote current Vice-Principal and ex-pupil, David Cleland: “Mr McCallan ruled with humour… despite being tough he got on with everyone. He was a big fan of the troublesome characters and that was reciprocated.”

Mr McCallan succeeded Mr Noel Gilpin in 1988, becoming the fifth Principal of the “modern era” in the school’s history. In many ways he can be seen as the first “modern” leader of the school, or perhaps as a figure who blended the traditional and the modern. In common with his predecessor, Mr McCallan had a clear and well-developed vision for Wallace and he set about making it a reality. He was ahead of his time in anticipating the Department of Education’s focus on STEM and he oversaw development, expansion and refurbishment of the school’s facilities in all three science departments, Technology and IT. He effectively modernised both our curricular offering and its delivery. Perhaps one of his greatest accomplishments was the building of the Sixth Form Centre in the early 1990s. Supported by the school’s governors and trustees, Mr McCallan employed a professional fundraiser who exceeded the target sum. The excess funds were successfully invested and provided core funds for later investments in sports facilities.

Much has been, and doubtless will be, said about Mr McCallan’s interest in pupils as individuals. He was renowned for his ability to name pupils, to recognise them and to remember details from their January report when pastoral staff were discussing the June report. He was a huge fan of school sport both because of his love for the games themselves and because he believed they were invaluable in building character and cementing bonds between pupils. Every Saturday morning he would be found watching teams and in summer terms he was even known to leave his chair, open the office window and check on the progress of a cricket match at the front of the school.

Cricket was undoubtedly a great passion and many a hapless member of staff attempted to discuss a knotty problem with Mr McCallan while he practised his leg-spin bowling action with the cricket ball that always sat on his desk. He also enjoyed practising his batting action. Our former Bursar, Robert Burns, affectionately recalled his first “business” meeting with Mr McCallan when he found himself wondering “if I was expected to bat, bowl or field.”

Mr McCallan was the school’s leader but he was its servant. From playing Eric Morecambe in the staff pantomime, to seeing pupils off in the early hours to their Pyrenees expeditions, to making a point of speaking to individuals after games on Saturdays, to visiting after-school clubs, to designing the PTA treasure hunt route, there was nothing he did not do to show his interest in the pupils and the life of the school. He was utterly dedicated to Wallace life in all its facets. This was his public face, but in some respects his private face was perhaps the truest reflection of his servant-hearted leadership. In times of difficulty, grief, illness and tragedy, Mr McCallan demonstrated compassion, dignity, empathy and the “generosity of spirit” attributed to our founder, Sir Richard Wallace. He never failed in what he understood to be his duty to the school family and the support he offered was purposeful and sincere.

In the copy of Esperance that celebrated his career, Alfred, Lord Tennyson is quoted:

“Come, my friends,
‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world”

(Ulysses)

Following his resignation in 2000, a new world was exactly what Mr McCallan found. He put his professional experience to good use by contributing to the PQH (Professional Qualification for Headship) programme, he expanded the time he could devote to his private interests such as music, theatre and travel, and he remained a concerned supporter of, and advocate for, those less fortunate than himself. The greatest evidence of his seeking “a newer world” came with his marriage to Betty in April 2001, when he became a devoted husband and stepfather to John, Jill and Lisa. In the fullness of time he embraced the role of grandfather to a brood of eight. Over the last quarter-century his affection for, and pride in, Wallace High School never diminished. Until very recently he remained a familiar spectator at rugby matches, always standing in the purists’ position (behind the posts), and he was overjoyed when Wallace finally won the Schools’ Cup on Saint Patrick’s Day 2025. Such was the affection in which he was held, he was given the honour of holding and seeing the cup in his own home. Rumour has it that tears were shed, but if that’s true he only joins the majority of Wallace veterans who wept on that legendary day!

Mr McCallan was both a man of his time and ahead of his time. He was simultaneously a pragmatist and a visionary. He was tough but always kind. The phrase used most amongst ex-staff to describe him is “a true gentleman.” To his friends, his family and his trusted trio of ex-Vice-Principals the school offers its condolences. To the memory of the gentleman himself we offer an adaptation of his own oft-heard greeting:

“Well done, big son!

Thank you to H. Gracey for composing this moving tribute to Mr McCallan.