I distinctly remember 2 particular teachers, for slightly different reasons. One was Dr. Wood, who was the best Geography & Geology teacher you could ever hope to have. He had been there, seen it and done it and was so full of stories and knowledge that his lessons were a minefield of information that made it a joy to learn. It helped that I got on with him I suppose, and he fought my corner when I was told by the school that I couldn't do GCSE Geography as there weren't enough spaces and I had to do History instead. I was absolutely rubbish at History and he argued my case for me and I ended up being allowed to do it as long as I was in his class. He was teacher who we all had the utmost respect for, he never had to raise his voice or shout, and he could control the bad/naughty kids without an effort, and in all his time at the school he never gave out a detention because he didn't need to. Move onto A-level Geology, where I was 1 of 2 girls in a class full of boys. He again used to fight our corner and regularly used to tease the boys that said girls would be rubbish at Geology, and helped us prove them wrong as we both got A's! I blame him in a nice way for my false start at University. He was so good at his job and made learning so interesting that from the age of 12 when he started to teach me I wanted to be a Geogprahy and Geology teacher like him, and wanted to inspire and teach others as he had me. It was all I ever wanted to do throughout my teens. But once I got to University, it was a more than a bit different. So I changed to do nursing. And in doing so, I believe I have found my vocation. I kept in touch with him for a while but not any more which is a shame. But I guess times change and people move on. My second inspirational teacher was my Physics teacher and incidentally the person who taught me to sail. He was a good Physics teacher, although that isn't the main reason I remember him. Over the course of my school life, through Physics lessons and sailing, he became a friend and a mentor. We used to sail racing boats together as we are a similar size and he would always shout at me for being too enthusiastic and reckless (not my boat!!) and capsizing all the time, but we got on like a house on fire. Sounds sad I know, but there aren't that many teachers who will let you skip an A-level Physics lesson after you've run into the Prep room in floods of tears having just found out your boyfriend has been sleeping with your best friend (ha!) and not ask any questions or pry, and then spend his whole lunch hour with a weepy 6th former sat on the floor of his office so she can be out the way of the rest of the 6th form, eating his chocolate biscuits and drinking his tea whilst debating the fact with his assistant that said boyfriend is a t**t and best friend is a cow. I used to get teased about how well we got on, but even at the time I didn't care, and I wasn't the only one who got on well with him. He says now he stayed at the school until I had left because he wanted to finish teaching me my A-level physics, and see me succeed and thanks to him I did. He has since called me the daughter he never had. I am 25 now and I still count him amongst my good friends. And he still shouts at me when we're sailing. I try and point out that I'm not 16 anymore, but some things never change.