Teacher set to say goodbye
Teacher Heather Nicholls has liked every single child she’s met in more than 40 years of teaching.
Nicholls, who retires from Eltham Primary School in three weeks’ time, started there as a newly-fledged teacher in 1975.
Apart from a short break when her daughter was born and a year off travelling, she had been there ever since.
‘‘In all these years there has never been a child that I didn’t like and I’ve never had a problem with a parent or community member,’’ she said.
A lot has changed in her job over the years, but not the children.
‘‘It’s such a great job because it’s never boring. It’s interesting and rewarding seeing the kids moving forward with their reading, seeing them excited and wanting to learn.’’
Nicholls started out teaching Sunday School as a child in Kaponga, then followed her mother into a teaching career.
‘‘I had this thing where I just loved kids. I don’t think I ever thought about doing anything else. My passion is the love for the kids and that’s never wavered at all,’’ she said.
She had taught many children of previous students and felt it was time to leave before the grandchildren of past students began showing up in her class, she said.
As well as ticking off places on her travel bucket list, she was looking forward to spending more time with her father, who is 89, her grandson Cooper and her daughter Kirsty in New Plymouth.
‘‘I’m really lucky, I have fantastic health so I plan to keep doing relieving as well,’’ she said.
She would miss the children the most, although the school staff and her regular beforeschool coffees with friends were close behind, she said.
Nicholls and her class made world news in 2016 after the class teddy bear was taken by a guard at the Vatican as she was taking a photo of it to show her students.
Although some of the children wrote heartfelt letters to the Pope asking him to send the bear back, there was no reply from the Pontiff.
However, bear makers and members of the public had sent a lot of new bears to the class to take the missing one’s place, so the story ended happily.
Sun: The summer solstice falls on the 22nd, marking the Sun’s most southerly position in the sky and our longest day. An annular eclipse of the Sun on the 26th is not visible from New Zealand.
Moon: First Quarter is today, with Full Moon on the 12th. Last Quarter falls on the 19th and New Moon follows on the 26th. Meteors: The Geminids shower, from the 7th to the 17th, is often rewarding. Look to the right of Orion, towards the bright star Castor, after 1am. This year, moonlight will interfere with viewing at the shower’s peak date of December 14th.
Planets:
■ Mercury is in the morning sky but lies too close to the Sun to be easily seen.
■ Venus sets around 11pm throughout the month and will be readily observable from sunset. Look just south of west for a brilliant star.
■ Mars remains in the morning sky, rising around 3am. On the 23rd, the crescent Moon is about eight degrees to the planet’s left.
■ Jupiter is drawing closer to the Sun and will be visible against the evening twilight for the first few days of December. On the 28th the planet reaches conjunction with Sun before passing into the morning sky.
■ Saturn sets about three hours after the Sun at the start of the