Jackie Calverley

Jackie Calverley was born in Haverfordwest in January 1942 but returned to Cardiff, to the family home, in the summer of 1943, where she lived until she was 18. She passed her 11+ exams and was educated at Cathays High School for girls until the summer of 1960.

She then went to Westminster Teacher Training College, Oxford, where she was in the first cohort of 40 women accepted into a previously male college. In 1960, Teacher Training started 3-year courses, so she was still at college when she met Adrian Calverley in 1962, whom she later married in August 1965. They set up home in Linthwaite, Huddersfield, as houses were much cheaper in Adrian’s home town than in Oxford!

She started teaching at Eynsham Primary School, Oxford, then moved to Linthwaite Clough School until her son, Simon, was born in 1968, which involved being a full-time mother. Her daughter, Nicola, was born in 1970; and in summer 1971, she was asked to do some Supply Teaching at Wilshaw, as the head teacher was ill with pneumonia. The love of teaching was reignited, so she took a part-time job at Slaithwaite Church School until July 1976.

During this time, she helped start a Playgroup at the local Methodist Church. She was a supervisor there for 4 years until extended teaching hours meant that she had to give in her notice. In 1976, she started teaching full time at Upperthong J&I School. When teaching the History National Curriculum in 1995, Jackie used information from her mother’s war-time diary, which had been kept between 1940 and 1945.

In 1995, Jackie took early retirement but then studied for a Master’s degree at the OU, alongside more Supply Teaching and working as a Team Leader for the KS2 National Curriculum English tests for 20 years. In 2016, when she was no longer as busy, she started collating information for this book.