My father, Derek Hardy, who has died aged 95, was an enthusiastic science teacher; he also had a second career in politics, serving as chair of education at Essex county council.
He spent his teaching career at the Royal Liberty school in Romford, Essex, where he became head of science. Always keen on new developments in technology, he was delighted when the Royal Liberty became the first British secondary school to install a computer, in 1965, and, under Bill Broderick, he was involved in early forays into computer-assisted learning.
