Margaret It is, isn’t it, quite impossible to sum up Margaret’s character, and the many thoughts and memories that her friends and colleagues have of her, in only a short time. I am not here just with my own thoughts but here trying to represent the thoughts of those people she touched during her working life. I have been fortunate to receive so many stories, memories and feelings from children, parents and staff members. Thank you! It would be impossible to repeat them all today. I can merely provide a taste of what Margaret meant to so many and to me. Perhaps you may think that, as a former head teacher I am not the person to speak of Margaret for she was not always keen to listen to head ‘teacherly’ words. In fact it was Margaret herself who told me, not long after we met, how one day when she was working in a school with a very dynamic head, she had a message to go and see the head at the end of school. Margaret knew that she had displeased the hierarchy in some minor way so to avoid what she thought might be a difficult interview she escaped through the classroom window. I don’t know whether she ever felt the need to climb out of the window to avoid me but there were times I’m sure when she smuggled her posse of children past my office on some mission of which she thought I might disapprove….…. But they were always schemes that would provide great excitement and fun for her children. Reading the children’s memories it’s amazing how many recall raiding the staffroom for cakes and biscuits. Like everyone here I suspect, I have a clear memory of my first meeting with Margaret, in my case some 20 years ago. On the day of my interview for the post of head teacher of the soon to be built Mountfields Lodge, all of the candidates were led to Lodge Farm to meet the staff and spend time in classrooms. In most rooms we entered, a quiet and easily manageable activity had been arranged. … Not in Margaret’s nursery. The nursery was awash with trays of bright blue finger paint and glue. So there, in turn, in our interview finery, Margaret put us through her own interviewing test. I don’t know how the others performed but I know that I felt it relieved the tension of the day, for a while at least, and that the children enjoyed seeing how widely the blue and glue could be spread…. Neither do I know if I passed Margaret’s test but what an experience we will have provided for the children. (I don’t think I ever got all of the colour from my suit.) In many ways this memory illustrates some at least of the many sides to Margaret’s character. As we will all know, Margaret, loved the unorthodox and would question what she thought were unnecessary restraints, particularly on the range of exciting activities for children. And this is the overwhelming theme that comes from so many of our memories. Parents, children and staff all focus upon the wonderfully exciting environment that she created. I can’t begin to retell all of the stories that I have received. Perhaps the best way is to recreate some of the pictures that have come into our minds when thinking of Margaret over these sad days; for the pictures are not sad and Margaret would be the last to want our sadness. We all share pictures of Margaret sitting barefoot on the floor, surrounded, almost covered by children wanting to be close to her, while she told or retold a story that had the children eager for every word. Or perhaps she is singing a mischievous song intended to shock the children into giggles of excitement. One person who worked with her described her unique approach to teaching; a view I think shared by us all. This was an approach that had a huge influence on others, the life and humour which her colleagues cherished was built upon a conviction that at all times children must feel valued. Another picture in our minds is Margaret, at the back of a staff meeting room, wishing she weren’t there and endeavouring to find the humour in every occasion, even in the joys of the Foundation Stage guidelines. She gives lots of whispers and looks to keep up others spirits, often saying and doing, in one colleague’s words, things that she shouldn’t say or do. I know, as I suspect all of those sitting at the front of those meetings knew, that despite her individual ways, Margaret was the most supportive and encouraging of friends for those working around her. She was, someone wrote, an exuberant life force, leaving mini whirlwinds behind her. Often for others to clear up. She may have been an administrative nightmare when it came to the dinner book or to collecting trip money but we all knew that she ensured that children did not go without, that we were working with an inspirational teacher. And despite what I have read from her accomplices, I have to say that I never saw Margaret throw the first Brussels sprout during Christmas lunch………. but I’m sure she did. Margaret was so often the first real contact parents had with school. Many have told me of just how approachable she was for them. Those first steps into the wider world that children take when the begin nursery or school provide such fears even for the most confident of parents. The ease with which they could approach Margaret helped enormously. I know from things that I have been told and from what I was able to observe just what an influence Margaret had on children’s parents. Several have described how she boosted confidence and provided solace at difficult times. Many became continuing friends, a group who would know that they had Margaret’s ear whenever they needed support… or a trip out. Things might not always have run smoothly. Margaret rang up one mum to ask if her daughter had her hair cut in a fringe when the day started. The mum replied that she did not. ‘Well she does now,’ Margaret told her. This could have been the start of a major row but the mum believed in Margaret and, no doubt when she got over the shock, she did not feel the need to write to the head or chair of governors with a complaint. Parents got to know Margaret as well as anyone in school. They knew that Margaret was providing in one parents words, ‘an amazing start to school life. And so to children, the heart of all of our work, despite the guidance, initiatives and sometimes necessary constraints. What do they think of Margaret? Another picture comes to mind of Margaret standing over a slightly abashed boy or girl while another adult looked on. “ Who is your favourite teacher?” Margaret is saying. The children didn’t need convincing. I have lots of letters to Margaret telling her the answer. Margaret made them laugh and sometimes cry with emotion. She provided just that touch of fear and danger that children love when they know that they are in a safe place really. (The availability of lunch at 9:30 and the promises of biscuits were not necessary but they helped too.) I don’t know for example what his mum said to the little boy who wrote about his Halloween experience of delving into cold spaghetti for sweets but I do know what the boy said. It was, ‘the best thing he’d ever done,’ ………well that day anyway for other excitements would follow. Or the little girl who was feigned dismay to find her teddy tied, by Margaret, to the ceiling. She knew that really it was for fun and that her bear would be safe. Several people have mentioned to me the saying that everyone remembers their favourite teacher. Well Margaret didn’t really have to ask. For so many of the children who she cared for, Margaret will be that most remembered and favourite teacher. And for many parents and colleagues too. One family sent in a poem which sums up their thoughts on Margaret and which I would like to share A special smile, A special face, A someone special we can’t replace. My last picture and one I know many share. Margaret is standing with paint splattered children attached to arms and legs and a slightly mischievous grin on her face. Margaret was, above all, a great friend to many people. Her work with children was only part of her influence on of those whose lives she touched. We all are thankful to her family who shared her life with us. I’m confident that the many very happy memories we have of her will, eventually, provide a balance to our current sadness.