Mary Merlin

When I was just eight years old and had moved on from the Infants’ Department at school, I realised that some teachers were very good, and some were not. Learning poetry, tables and spelling was easy for me, but I observed others who found it difficult, being punished. Boys were even strapped by some teachers at the time. It was something I never saw at home, it shocked me. If I was to be a teacher, I decided then and there that I would become a good one.