STUDENTS fought back tears as they paid an emotional tribute to their head teacher who died in November.

Nottingham Academy pupils sang Nigel Pickard's favourite songs and read poems.

Mr Pickard, 45, died at home following a short illness, just months after becoming headmaster.

Teachers and students, past and present, went to the memorial event in the hall at the academy's Ransom Road site.

Songs included Yesterday by the Beatles and Wonderwall by Oasis, and Year 9 student Hammaad Arshad read out a poem on cricket – one of Mr Pickard's favourite pastimes.

Year 11 pupils Alisha Farooq and Chiquita Dodsworth both gave tearful tributes.

Alisha said: "Only one word comes to mind when we hear his name. Happiness.

"Whenever we saw him in the corridors, classrooms and even in his office, he would always say something amusing, always putting a smile on our faces, no matter what mood the person would be in.

"He was different from the rest of the head teachers. He was the smile of this school."

Chiquita said: "When we were down, there was always one teacher we would go to, the one we all admired for his sense of humour.

"Mr Pickard was appreciated for his amusement throughout the school.

"Without him, we wouldn't have been able to discover our talents and express our emotions. That is something he did extremely well, he found something special in all of us and he made it noticeable.

"Mr Pickard, you'll never be forgotten. We hope we've made you proud."

Mr Pickard started teaching at Ilkeston School in the early 1990s.

He became deputy head at Hadden Park School before moving on to Nottingham Academy.

He was appointed head of school at Ransom Road, – which caters for Years 7 to 11 – last summer.

His former colleague Martyn Turner, now executive principal of Greenwood Academies, which runs the Nottingham Academy, spoke of working with him at Ilkeston.

He said: "I can not remember one bad word between us, ever. He was driven, he was creative, he was playful, he was unconventional, he drove you up the wall, and we loved him to bits for it. He got results."

Henry Kulaya, acting head of school at Ransom Road, finished the service with a similarly emotional tribute as several students bowed their heads and wiped away tears.

He said: "We can make the difference. We can go out there and improve their [students'] community, improve their life chances. That was Nigel's vision.

"If we pull together, his name will live on, his vision will live on, gone but not forgotten."

Barry Day, chief executive of Greenwood Dale Academies Trust, said afterwards: "It was a fitting tribute.

"The students wrote the pieces themselves and showed off the creativeness that Mr Pickard taught them."