My grandchildren have recently begun their new schools. They have taken the transition from infant school to junior school. I myself can’t believe how fast time has gone and wish them ever so well. It was wonderful to see how much planning they received to help them prepare for their new school. This all came through months in advance. In August they spent a great deal of time meeting their new teachers and seeing what the school would be like. This prepared them for their first day as they knew what to expect ahead of time.
All of this, takes me back in time to my days at Longwood Junior school. I basically had no transitional preparation. There never was any planning, you just woke up on your next day of school in September and had to show up. I remember just turning up at Hartford School. Mrs. Mercury was the headteacher at the time and she greeted us as we all stood huddled together in the hall. It was so scary, but even worse once Mrs. Mercury decided to split the children up. She would give each of us a piece of paper and a pencil. She would then state that she would be separating the stupid from the not so stupid children. I ended up in the stupid children section, directed there by Mrs. Mercury.
I did not want to be there, I was missing my old junior school. Even though I was caned on a regular basis by head teacher, I longed to be back in my comfort zone and would gladly move back there. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Hartford School. I was just sad for leaving.
In my day children were seen and not heard. Nobody would have taken any notice of an unhappy child like me at Hartford School. I was missing my favourite best teacher in the world Miss. Deirdre Gough. Mrs. Gough was indeed a lovely teacher. She was always kind, caring, considerate and never lost her temper. In fact her beautiful smile said it all.
She would look at me with great pity whenever the headteacher caned me. She would find me amusing while other teachers found me irritating. I never knew my mother and I would ask her about my mother as they were around the same age.
Oh how I loved Miss. Gough and I will never forget your warm personality and your caring ways.
Yes, you were the best teacher ever thank you Miss. Gough.