Gavin Moir, a maths teacher at Elgin Academy in his post-probation year, has died suddenly aged 31 from Type 1 diabetes.
Gavin had been teaching at the Moray school for only eight months following his probation year at Wick High. The son of a veterinary surgeon, he was born in Aberdeenshire but started school at Sheuchan Primary when the family moved to Stranraer. When he was six, they moved to Kirkmichael in South Ayrshire where he said he received “a great education” at its two-teacher school.
His first two years of secondary were at Carrick Academy in Maybole, South Ayrshire, where he learned to play brass. The family moved again, this time to Milnathort, in Perthshire, and Gavin attended Kinross High, where he excelled in science, maths and graphical communications, as well as playing the cornet and euphonium in the school band. He was also active in the Scout movement.
Gavin developed Type 1 diabetes just before he went to Glasgow University to study naval architecture. After his degree, he realised that his condition would prevent him from going abroad to work in that particular field, so he worked in various jobs in Scotland using his maths and information technology skills.
He became a keen cyclist at this time and played the guitar. His flat in Glasgow overlooked Glasgow Green, ideally located for the Barrowlands Ballroom, which he described to colleagues as “the best venue in the world” for hearing his favourite bands.
He worked for several years for ScottishPower and then applied to Jordanhill for teacher training in 2007.
Gavin joined the staff of Elgin Academy as a full-time teacher of maths last August and made an enthusiastic start to his teaching career. He regularly volunteered to assist with after-school study classes and was particularly assiduous in working with pupils one-to-one. Every week, he would put up on his blackboard problem-solving maths puzzles, which were invariably challenging for both pupils and teachers alike.
Gavin had intended to train as a trail cycle leader so that he could take pupils mountain-biking as an extra-curricular activity. Visitors to his classroom would often hear music from his favourite bands - the Icelandic band Sigur Ros and Eels - playing in the background, a sign of the importance of music to him.
He lived alone and when he failed to turn up for work last month, staff contacted the police who found that he had died during the night as a result of his diabetes.
Pupils set up an impromptu Facebook page, entitled RIP Mr Moir, where they expressed their sadness at the loss of their young teacher.
