A TEACHER who did his utmost to help foster the Welsh language while teaching in Cwmbran died at the age of 77.

The family of Philip Griffith Jones have paid tribute to him following his sudden death on April 27.

His daughter Mari Jones described him as a “truly remarkable teacher”.

Mr Jones was born in Rhymney on October 27 1937, and attended Upper Rhymney Primary School and later Lewis School for Boys, Pengam, where he did well academically and discovered a talent for rugby, representing the school usually playing in position, blind-side wing forward.

On leaving school, Mr Jones served two years of National Service in Paderborn, Germany with the Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, a cavalry regiment, where he learnt to drive tanks. He also represented the regiment in rugby, athletics and cricket.

After completing this, he trained as a teacher at Caerleon College, majoring in geography.

On Boxing Day 1959, at a dance in Rhymney, he met Eirwen Owen, a primary school teacher. They married on August 3 1963 and went to live in Cwmbran.

Mr Jones was then teaching science at Father Hill Secondary Modern School, Newport. Shortly afterwards, he was made Deputy Head of Brookfield Primary School, Cwmbran, where he taught the eleven-plus class.

His daughter, Dr Jones, said he had an extraordinary gift for understanding exactly how to spark enthusiasm among his pupils.

Mr Jones encouraged pupils at Brookfield to run and print a school newspaper and to set up a tannoy system for a school radio as part of their study of communication; during their work on transport across the ages, pupils were shown how to use papier maché to make scale models of a Viking ship and a Concorde; they also made puppets and put on regular shows for the other classes. Such creative work was frequently cited by school advisors as examples of what children of all abilities could achieve if their imagination was properly fired.

This led to Mr Jones becoming the youngest headteacher in the Rhymney Valley when, in 1974, he was appointed at Machen Primary School and, later, to his secondment to advise probationary teachers.

Although Mr Jones was brought up as a native speaker of Welsh, the language had already started to lose ground in South-East Wales during his youth. He did his utmost to foster his native tongue and helped establish Cwmbran Welsh School. The school began with just two teachers but today is a flourishing school.

He retired in 1994 and he and his wife moved back to Rhymney. He loved choral singing and rejoined Rhymney Silurian Male Voice Choir. The Silurians paid their last respects to him by singing at his funeral at Penuel chapel, Rhymney on May 15.

Mr Jones was an avid reader, and enjoyed walking and travelling during his retirement. He also had a commitment to his community and took part in local activities including obtaining a grant for a community garden in Princetown, speaking at a public enquiry about the dualling of the A465 Heads of the Valley, and writing in protest against a proposal to build a waste incinerator at Brig y Cwm.

Dr Jones said he had a generous spirit and always delighted in helping others, so it is fitting that the generous donations given in lieu of flowers at his funeral are now paying for Save the Children to build a brand new classroom in a less economically-developed part of the world.

Mr Jones is survived by Eirwen, his daughters, Mari and Sioned, and grandchildren, Lowri and Dewi.