Back to school – at 100!

Home news

Mar 28, 2012

It will be back to the classroom for former headteacher Miss Isobelle McGregor as she visits Askrigg Primary School, where she taught for more than 12 years, to celebrate her 100^th birthday.

On Friday 30^th March, Miss McGregor and staff from Care UK’s Terrace Care Home, Richmond, will visit the school in Yore Bridge and meet pupils old and new, including current teaching assistant Julie Fawcett who attended the school when Miss McGregor was headteacher.

During the visit she will take part in a tree planting ceremony, view her old log books and meet children who have birthdays near her own on Tuesday 3^rd April.

Miss McGregor started her career in Middleham where, on several occasions, she met a young stable boy and jockey called George Formby. Later she taught at a school in Kirklington.

Activities Coordinator at the home in Maison Dieu, Sylvia Payne, said: “Everyone is looking forward to the celebrations. As well as the visit to the school, we are planning a party here with some cake, wine and, of course, presents.”

Miss McGregor said: ““I am very happy to visit the school and to let them know how things were when I was a teacher. I am also very interested to see how the school has changed and if it has grown in numbers”.

Miss McGregor was one of two children. In the month she was born, the Titanic sank, and Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. Miss McGregor’s father worked on the railways and her mother was a housekeeper in a large farmhouse in Redmire. Unusually, her grandfather taught her to read and write before she started school, and she credits him with instilling in her a love of learning and literature.