More Memories Of Stapleford School

A Memory of Stapleford.

I attended this school from about 1956 till 1959. We left Stapleford when I was ten years old. I don't remember much about the school, but I remember a lot about one particular teacher, her name may have been Mrs Swan. She was an older lady who must have grown up during the Edwardian era and in the years before the First World War. She taught us about the Phoenicians. She explained how they lived in cities called Tyre and Sidon and made purple cloth. She told us that the ancient Egyptians irrigated their fields using a device known as a 'shadouf', which was a kind of bucket apparently on a weighted balance. Why did she teach us these things instead of the usual Tudors and Stuarts? I really don't know, but it was fascinating. Then she went on, bless her, to read us a book called The Wouldbegoods, by that delightful Edwardian writer for children, Edith Nesbit. I can only think that she enjoyed hearing this story read to her when she was a child and jolly well thought we ought to enjoy it too! It was magical! Without question it was the most inspirational experience of my entire schooldays. That dear lady gave me a love for history and literature which has remained a treasure all my life. There were some marvellous teachers around in those days. They knew something important. Teaching is not just about knowledge and technique. It's even more about the person you are.
Peter Macartney Queensland Australia.