Margaret Hall, you absolute beauty!
February 28, 2019•273 words
From 1974 until 1979, I was at St Francis infants and junior schools in Kensington. I have very strong memories of some of the teachers there, and as you can imagine, some stand out more than others.
In around 1978 or so, there was some kind of inter-school quiz event, and I remember Margaret Hall - who was then either deputy head or head, but I can't remember that - popping into our classroom with a final "ooh, if this comes up, then this is the answer!" moment.
The question in question was "what is the capital of South Africa?", and the answer was (something along the lines of) "well, that's a complex one, because it has more than one!"
Over the years, I've imagined that it might not have been really true - there was no internet back then, and international politics wasn't really at the forefront of anyone's thinking (unlike now...)
But somehow it came up in conversation this morning on the drive into work, so I thought I'd have a quick check: the bottom line is, as I'm sure you can imagine, that it has three, according to Wikipedia: Bloemfontein, Cape Town and Pretoria.
So... she was right all along, and with hindsight, I suspect she was right about a lot of things.
And while I don't remember all of the things she was right about, I absolutely and massively remember that she was a passionate and inspiring teacher, and she changed my life for the better.
So, teachers, while you may be underpaid and mistreated by your employers, you have an enormous positive impact, and I personally am grateful.