As part of our back-to-school themed activities this September we have been enjoying hearing from our residents who used to be teachers. We sat down for a coffee and chatted with Joan Groves at our Tallington Lodge Care Home in Lincolnshire. Joan had a long teaching career as an Art and Design teacher at a local secondary school.
Joan is 81 years old and grew up in Bourne, Lincolnshire and recently became a resident at our Tallington Lodge Care Home along with her husband Neville. They have been married for 30 years and lived on Abbey Road in Bourne for many years. Together they enjoyed many wonderful holidays to Spain where they spent much of their time swimming and snorkelling.
As a child Joan loved to paint and would often sit outside painting landscapes. Her favourite medium is oil, and she continues to show off her creative flare here at Tallington. Recently she painted a vibrant sunflower for our annual gardening competition, Country Court in Bloom.
In her former years Joan’s passion for paint paved her way to studying an Art A-level for 3 years at The Grantham School. This passion led her to her lengthy career as an Art and Design teacher at a local secondary school.
“I was a hairdresser for a short time but soon decided it wasn’t for me and applied for a role at the secondary school where I ended up teaching for 15 years.”
To encourage the students Joan would often show off her own work and provide demonstrations for the pupils. She enjoyed teaching her students how to paint landscapes and create pottery.
“We taught them how to use the pottery wheel at the school, we would then put the clay pots into the kiln and the students would paint and glaze them.”
I wasn’t a strict teacher; I was a fun teacher. My pupils were well behaved, sometimes I did have to tell them to shut up though. I used to enjoy taking part in sports day, my skill was in running. I wasn’t good but I was good enough to join in! After 15 years I gave up teaching to start my family. I now have four children who are now grown up.
“Yes, I think so, the children are not any different to yesterdays.”
“To work hard”
Joan has lived at our Tallington Lodge home since April 2021 and recently enjoyed taking part in sports day once again as she competed in our Oomph Olympics. For more information about life at our Tallington Lodge Care Home near Stamford, contact our Customer Relations Advisor Oliver Parker on 07540 412 871 or email oliver.parker@countrycourtcare.com.
