My father, Phil Taylor, who has died aged 81, was head of several secondary schools in Greater Manchester and regularly appeared on television and radio in the 1990s to chastise successive education ministers for their meddling and lack of support.
His first headship was South Manchester high school in Wythenshawe. He was a charismatic leader whose first acts as head from 1988 were to ban uniforms and the daily bell. The school also housed a farm that saw peacocks wandering around the corridors. One of his pupils was Jason Orange of Take That, who later told family members that Phil had been a positive influence on his life.
