The Lord Mayor’s story
‘Once you get into a book, that is a safe place and from there you can zoom around the world.’
On the 5th July we were fortunate to welcome the Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Tina Tuohy, to open our new library, right at the heart of our school. The Lord Mayor spoke to our students and to Mrs Holt, our Headteacher, about why reading and books were so important to her. One of our students shared with her that he was starting to enjoy reading again but that it took him quite a long time to read a book. The Lord Mayor explained that you don’t have to worry about the pace you learn to read at or how long it takes you to read as ‘you will get there and when you do get there it will be lovely’.
The Lord Mayor shared the story of her relationship with books and the importance of learning and teachers in a conversation with Mrs Holt, our Headteacher:
‘I came to England from Germany, my mother was German and my father, Ralph Izzard, was the Foreign Correspondent for ‘The Daily Mail’ and we lived in Berlin, where my father was reporting on the rise of Hitler. With the outbreak of war, I was sent back to England and I was one of the last children to leave Germany on a train, accompanied by my teddy bear, Brownie.
When I arrived in England I was 5 years old and I spoke mostly German and some English, with a German accent. I remember being at boarding school in England and waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, disorientated and babbling in German. My Headteacher, Nell Surman, found me and took me under her wing – I think she saved my sanity – because I had a terrible temper and I would throw things because I didn’t understand and people didn’t understand me. So, I think I have an understanding of young people with problems. Nell encouraged me to read, to keep me quiet, I think, and my escape was into the world of books.
From a child, once I learned to read I was in a safe place, a different world. One of my favourite books was ‘The Jungle Book’ by Rudyard Kipling and I loved the story of Mowgli. I started to learn and I got interested in ancient history, I used to get books from my teachers’ cupboards because I wanted to learn about the ancient Greeks. I would like to tell your students that you don’t have to worry about being slower to learn to read – you will get there at your own pace, don’t worry if it takes you a long time to get there, you will get there and when you do get there it will be lovely. Once you get into a book, that is a safe place and from that safe place you can zoom around the world. I still couldn’t live without books - I always end my day curled up with a book.
Comments