OBITUARIES Intro text?
90 ANNUAL REVIEW IN MEMORIAM
MRS PATRICIA STOCKDALE (NÉE SHIPLEY) CertEd 1951
Patricia joined Homerton in 1951 to train as a teacher. She loved her time in Cambridge, describing it as a “whole new world.” She sang with the University Music Society and remembered being conducted by Sir Malcom Sargeant, and particularly enjoyed being a member of a small madrigal group at Peterhouse and singing with Emmanuel Congregational Church choir.
Of course there was punting on the Cam and tea at Grantchester, even in the days of post-war rationing. But I particularly remember her telling me about the mad cycle rides out of town to get back to College before the doors were locked at 10pm! After Cambridge Mum taught for two years in Norwich before marrying and teaching in an American mission school while living in Muscat. In the 60s she found herself in Staffordshire and was involved in the experimentation with teaching reading through the ITA (initial teaching alphabet) and then spent several years working in a specialist team working on the teaching of reading. Mum loved her work, finally giving up fulltime teaching in 1985. She continued her interest in young people and education in general as a committee representative of several local educational charities. In the months before she died she had returned to live in her native Yorkshire, where she was enjoying exploring her old haunts. She was fit and active right up to becoming ill in February 2020, and died in May that year. Supplied by Sally Woods (née Stockdale), PGCE 1982
