THE Principal of an Arnold school has paid tribute to a teacher that died while on a ski trip in Austria.
Jonathan Taylor, 44, was an IT teacher at Christ the King school and fell from a wall while on a visit to the Austrian Tyrol.
The school trip was cut short and the pupils returned home yesterday evening.
In a statement, principal Carlo Cuomo said: "Naturally the sad events in Austria have left students, staff and governors devastated at Jonathan's untimely death. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, family and friends as they begin to deal with this tragic loss. The school will of course offer what support it can.
"Jonathan was a popular teacher. In the year he was with us he contributed much to the life and ethos of the school. The testaments to his popularity and loss have been voiced by students themselves on social networking sites. We will, at the appropriate time, take the opportunity as a school to reflect on our loss and celebrate Jonathan's life.
"Our priority at the present time is to support the pupils in school, particularly those who were on the trip and those in Jonathan's tutor group, to come to terms with the loss. We would ask to be allowed the time and space to do so.
"Whilst the circumstances surrounding the events in Austria are still not clear, we can confirm that no students were present at the incident and that they were under the supervision of teachers at the hotel at the time."
