Written by Katy-Jane Mason
“From as far back as A ‘Level’s I had always had a keen interest in education & perhaps one day becoming a teacher. As a younger woman, I always loved learning & imparting any knowledge I had if asked & or if useful.
Don’t get me wrong, my actual school journey was not a pleasant one. Having moved to the South Coast of the UK when heading into Year 9, I was quiet & reserved having come from a small Catholic school to a vast Comprehensive. This made me a perfect target for the bullies, which they took advantage of for the next three years.
However, in amongst this, I did find favourite teachers & hardly surprising, they were mostly in English & one in particular, Miss Ferris.
Miss Ferris was my O’Level (GCSE) English teacher & she was utterly brilliant. Eccentric, engaging, passionate & to the point, she not only made English enjoyable, but she had a natural ability to make English accessible.
My connection to English teachers/lecturers followed through into my A’Levels & Miss Constantine (she was also one of my Theatre Studies lecturers) Miss Constantine was a flame haired bundle of brilliance, passionate, dynamic & 100% committed to her subject.
Miss Constantine helped us delve deep into our texts bringing the inner workings of the likes of Shakespeare & Golding to life, whilst also helping us expose their deepest & sometimes darkest meanings.
It was Miss Constantine who pricked my interest in the Gothic & set me on my path of discovering some of our greatest Gothic writers & falling in love with the most tragic characters in Dracula & Frankenstein.
It was only fitting them some 20 years later when I finally took the plunge & started to train as a Teacher of English myself, that Miss Constantine became my mentor at my first school placement.
I am keenly aware that not everyone has the best relationships with teachers & having been a classroom teacher for nearly ten years, I also know that for some, school & education is the ultimate challenge.
With this in mind I have asked some of the members of the Virtually Smart Ltd team to share their stories of their favourite teachers in celebration of World Teachers Day 2022.”
Joseph Churchill. Administrator Virtually Smart Ltd
My favourite teacher was my high school Science teacher “Mrs S”. An utterly inspirational woman who refused to give up on my scientific education even when I myself had given up on it.
“Mrs S”. stayed with me after school for hours to make sure I would get through my GCSEs. She inspired me to pursue a career in Science which led to my completion of two degrees (BSc & MSc) in Ecology and Evolution (and soon a PhD – to which I give her most of the credit).
We remain in contact and she is now teaching at different all girls’ schools around England getting young girls enthused in STEM subjects, a truly inspirational teacher and what the world needs more of.
Helena Parrott. Director Virtually Smart Ltd
My form tutor when I was around 14 was Mr Anderton & he was a funny guy – quite unlike my other teachers. One day I went into class with a Beatles badge on my blazer and he jokingly said, “I bet you don’t even know their names”, which of course I did, as I’d been a fan for many years.
The next day he came in with an album for me, to keep, it was The Doors – Waiting for the Sun. The album remains one of my all-time favourite albums and got me into The Doors.
I’ll be forever grateful to him for that gift and often think what a lovely thing to do for one of your students.
Owen Newton. Virtual Assistant – Social Media & Design, Virtually Smart Ltd.
I was never a huge fan of school and by 13-14, I felt more out of touch with it than ever. In my first year of Upper school, I fell into taking ‘textiles’ instead of ‘food tech’ simply because the class was full.
Having had no real previous interest in fashion or textiles my teacher Miss Ewing was the first teacher to show attentiveness towards my creative side and she really inspired me to pursue creative outlets outside of pencil drawings.
Written by Katy-Jane Mason for & on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd.
