Page 45 - She's One Crazy Lady!

but we idolised him. We had to find out who this girlfriend was and what she looked like so, one day after school, we followed him and hid behind bushes in a field opposite to a house he went into. When they ventured outside, we saw ‘her’. She looked very smart and glamorous, and they were laughing and smiling as they walked along holding hands. Would life ever be the same we wondered? We were quite heartbroken. At school, the next morning, still feeling subdued, we were to see a different side to our lovely teacher. Shortly after registration he pounced on us: “Nuttall, Hooper, Stand Up!” Every eye was on us; he never called anyone by their surname. Being young and naïve we just couldn’t understand why he was being so horrible and
ultimately made the situation worse when had a fit of nervous giggles. At the end of the day, having had to stand ALL day, we were told to stay behind. Mr Kemp stood in front of us. Telling us to look at him he said:
“NO ONE SPIES ON ME!” That was all. Nothing else.
Our hearts sank, our tummies turned, our faces reddened. We’d been seen! We were embarrassed, (still heartbroken) and frightened, lest he told our parents. Shamefacedly, we apologised and promised never to do anything like that again – but it didn’t stop our schoolgirl crush on him, and we giggled, almost cried again when we were out of earshot.
In 1991-2, when I worked for the Education
Advisory Service, Barton Seagrave Primary School
was one of 70 schools that I had to monitor at Key
Stage One when the new National Curriculum had
been introduced and implemented in schools. Mr
Kemp was still there! I was invited into his class, and
he introduced me as a special ex-pupil – I blushed
then, as I did as a ten-year-old for he still possessed that certain charm. I told his children what a wonderful teacher they had but gave no hint as to how Susan and I felt about him when he was our teacher! Moving on a few years, I was at a retirement party for a teacher colleague, and he was there. This time, his wife was with him (who we’d seen years ago, of course). I had only just finished chemotherapy, so what happened next can only be put down to a chemo-brain moment, for, in front of them both, I confessed my love for him and the crush I had on him when I was in his class.
His response was to kiss me on the cheek!!!
Back in 1964 it was the norm for children of my age to take the 11+ to determine whether you went to a High/Grammar school or a Secondary Modern. Like the SATs of recent times, Mr Kemp taught us the skills and knowledge we would need to help us get through the 11+ and we sat frequent mock tests that were purely maths and English based. However, shortly before I was due to sit the exam, Mum and Dad
“Our hearts sank, our tummies turned, our faces reddened. We’d been seen!
”
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