Teachers

All the male teachers had walking sticks, although it was quite obvious they could all walk perfectly well without them. Entering the school through the Coombe Road gate meant that they had to cross the playground. I suppose the stick gave a bit of a boost to their ego or something, especially as the boys obeyed the golden rule that you must not run across the path of a teacher, or risk jostling him in any way, but you must stand 'respectfully still' as he passed by.
Sid Manville - Everything Seems Smaller

Miss Knight was my first teacher in the new school. Miss Knight taught us sewing and knitting, but when it came to my knitting she passed me by, saying that she couldn't teach anyone knitting who was left handed. I went home and threw myself in the armchair, completely miserable. My other memory of Miss Knight is that she kept a large sweet jar on the shelf in her cupboard. If you did something well, you got a reward.
Ruby Dunn - Moulsecoomb Days

Another teacher was Miss Williams who was very tubby. If she had been given the chance she might have been a good teacher. She was not trained, but had come in to help out during the war years of 1914-18, and stayed on. The classes were far too large, also of a great age range. She had to my mind a too great love of making us sing part-songs and duets, pairing us with the most unsuitable partners, usually someone to whom we were not speaking at the time. Her favourite song was 'On Yonder Hill There Stands a Beauty'. The boys would sing, 'On Yonder Hill There Stands a Beasty'.
Doris Hall - Growing up in Ditchling