Preschool teacher to retire after 40 years
Children rush to hug Adrienne Winnicott – they want to say goodbye to a teacher they love for her ‘‘funny jokes’’.
After 40 years, Winnicott is calling an end to teaching at Christchurch’s Cathedral Grammar preschool.
In that time, she has watched people she taught return with children of their own.
The preschool is housed in Winnicott House, named for the woman who arrived in 1975 two years after Grammar’s preschool started.
Winnicott, who is head teacher at the school, says she never expected to ‘‘ever leave’’.
‘‘It’s a see you soon. I wouldn’t like to lose touch completely.’’
She has promised to do the floral arrangements for next term’s open day.
‘‘As a staff member here, you don’t just teach preschool, you’re involved in the whole school life.
‘‘You get to see them from the age of three, right through to when they leave in year 8. I love it when we have prizegiving and we see the preschoolers that we’ve taught trotting across the stage to receive prizes and you think ‘we contributed to that’.’’
When Winnicott started, she was the sole teacher-in-charge of 12 children. The roll is now 30 with a four-strong teaching team and part-time staff.
The February 22, 2011, earthquake was one of the biggest challenges in her career.
The preschool moved out of its building for six weeks and to St Mary’s, Merivale, where Winnicott was a parishioner.
‘‘We felt it was really important to provide something stable for the children until this building was repaired.’’
In farewell letters, she was thanked by parents and children for ‘‘keeping us safe on that day’’.
The style of teaching has changed ‘‘dramatically’’ since 1975, she says, with more regulations to follow.
‘‘It’s fun. You don’t do this job unless you’ve got lots of energy and enjoy children and enjoy having lots of fun.’’
Dressed in their best party dresses for the farewell celebrations, Evie Casey, 4, Elisabeth Bedggood, 4 and Aubrey Dony, 4, said they would miss Mrs Winnicott.
‘‘I like her when she tells funny jokes,’’ Evie said.