THE death has been announced of James Howarth, the former Principal of the Hathaway Academy in Grays.

He passed away on Tuesday, 23 April after a long fight against cancer.

Mr Howarth was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and fought a hard battle during the last ten years.

A statement from the Academy says: "Our thoughts and prayers are with James' wife, his children and other family members at this saddest of times."

Mr Howarth drew thousands of comments and views of two emotional and inspiring videos he recorded of speeches at Hathaway, where he became Principal in 2013 after working as a Vice-Principal within Harris Academy schools in London.

The first, embeded as our main feature, was in 2015 when he confirmed his cancer and that he would be taking a break from school. He spoke about how he was going to battle on - and of his faith, love and commitment to his students and staff.

He returned to Hathaway and received a memorable ovation from students when delivering his end of term message. His second video is above.

The third (above) came two years later when he had to again step away from Hathaway, this time for the last time. He continued to work in education as an advisor but passed on the baton at Hathaway to his team.

Someone who came to know Mr Howarth well is Thurrock councillor John Kent - who lives close to the school and whose two sons were educated there. He has also been a Hathaway governor.

Today (Thursday, 25 April) he said: "It is so sad to hear of the passing of James Howarth.

"He was a truly inspirational teacher, a great head teacher and a lovely guy.

"He was the head of the Hathaway Academy for a while when our sons were there. Illness cut his career there short but he laid the foundations for the improvement of the school and I am sure he would have continued to do great things there.

"He has battled this awful illness for ten years. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time."

Mr Howarth's successor as Principal, Fatima Rodrigues, had previously paid tribute to him, saying: "James is one of the most inspirational people I have ever worked with; day in, day out his only concern is providing the best chances for the students he is responsible for, through ensuring that they receive the best education possible.

"He is courageous in his approach to decisions that impact on the students, putting them at the forefront always.

"His bravery and inspiration is clear for all to see."

There have been many tributes to Mr Howarth on social media, among them this from Danny Andrews: "He helped me through so much while I was at school and I was talking about him earlier this week on a podcast while sitting at the very school he taught me at all those years ago.

"It's rare to find a teacher, a life coach, a person, a mate like him."

A true gentleman and legend. Rest in peace, mate. I wouldn't be where I am today without you ♥️