Brentwood Preparatory School Magazine

13 Brentwood School Preparatory Valete Teresa Woodford Mrs Woodford (or Miss Huggins as she was then) started teaching at the Prep School in September 1989 and, right from the very beginning, involved herself in a whole range of activities, primarily within the realm of sport being, at that time, Head of P.E. and later Director of Sport. Still a boys’ school there was obviously not the range of sports played as when it became co-ed a few years later. Under her enthusiastic and knowledgeable leadership, teams representing a wide range of sports gained local, county and national awards, one of the most successful being the gymnastics’ squad over a number of years, coached by Mrs Woodford with many early morning sessions. Her military precision in organising sporting events was highly regarded and inevitably ran extremely smoothly. Who can ever forget the annual House Cross-Country or House Sports’ Day. However, even Mrs Woodford failed to control mother nature on occasions! But, as you might expect, contingency plans were always in place. At an early stage in her career at the Prep, she took over the running of the school ski trips, these being very popular. Bleary eyed children (and staff) would gather in the cold and dark early mornings waiting for the coach to transport them to one of the local airports, from there to fly off to France, Austria, Italy or Switzerland. These were wonderful experiences for the children, both on and off the slopes – from warm sunny conditions to, on at least one occasion, a raging blizzard where warmth was restored to freezing limbs by copious amounts of hot chocolate! Not satisfied with the ski trips, Mrs Woodford also organised activity holidays during the summer holidays, each location ensuring that the children not only enjoyed themselves away from home with their peer group but also were stretched to the utmost by the activities on offer at the centres. The children often overcame their ‘fears’ and uncertainties with determination and an iron will to succeed. Their confidence definitely increased as the week progressed. Throughout her time at the school, Mrs Woodford has enjoyed taking a form class in both Year 4 and latterly Year 5. High expectations of the work ethic and behaviour were at the forefront of her interaction with the class and she always took a deep interest in the well-being of her form members. This, I know, was greatly appreciated both by those in her charge and parents. To counter the teaching of P.E. and Games, she greatly enjoyed teaching Mathematics where, again, her eye to detail was much in evidence – in terms of both the actual teaching and subsequent marking. Mrs Woodford has contributed so much to the life of the school it is impossible to mention everything but she is widely respected by the children, staff and parents. They all saw the end results, not the hours of preparation and organisation that go into planning any event. The school has much to thank her for. After 28 years, Mrs Woodford has finally decided to ‘retire’ from the hustle and bustle of school life. She always said that when her son had left university and her daughter had left school and started university, this would be the time to ‘make the break’. That time arrived in 2017. We all wish her a happy and fulfilling retirement with her husband, children and, not least, walking her beloved Jack Russell companions! Mrs Woodford, you will be sorely missed. Staff