Tribute to dedicated Burgess Hill teacher Margaret who was ‘involved in every aspect of school life’

Margaret Allison Foote, of Manor Field Primary School, died peacefully at home on Monday, February 20, after becoming terminally ill in March last year.

Daughter Lynn Wright said her mother was devoted to her family and to teaching and was ‘involved in every aspect of school life’.

Lynn told the Middy: “She loved to see pupils grow, she loved to see the school supporting children and she loved supporting the school.”

Lynn said: “She would be at every summer fete, co-ordinate every performance and be at every meeting and it was noted she would always be the one, dish cloth in hand, washing up at the end.”

She added that Margaret lived in Cowfold for the last few years of her life, having previously lived in Pease Pottage since 1999.

Margaret Allison Foote was born in Glasgow on April 23, 1942, being the second child to Bunty and Tom Muir. She went to Jordan Hill College where she achieved a Teaching Diploma and met Graham Foote who she married on August 18, 1962.

Graham worked for Rentokil and was offered the chance to move to Freeport in Grand Bahamas in December 1963, setting up the first branch of Rentokil in the area. The island also needed teachers so Margaret, then 21, left with her husband and they lived in the Bahamas for three years. The couple returned to Scotland in June 1967 and their first daughter Alison was born on 1968, followed by Lynn in 1971. Margaret then went on to teach at Uddingston Primary School in 1975.

In 1981 the family moved to Burgess Hill and Graham worked at the head office of Rentokil in East Grinstead. Margaret became a supply teacher at St Lawrence School, Hurstpierpoint, and was promoted to Head of Infants within four years.

Lynn said: “Margaret was involved in school performances and Summer Fetes and it was here she started teaching children Maypole Dancing. This was one activity that she cursed as time went on – the co-ordination of seven-year-olds, weaving in and out while dancing around a pole, a match even for her.”

Margaret also became St Lawrence’s only SENCO leader, paving the way for inclusivity for children who needed extra help.

In 1991, Margaret moved school to become Deputy Head at Manor Field Primary School, teaching there until her retirement in 2002. In 2006 she became a Community Governor and in 2009 she became Vice Chair of Governors until age 77 in 2019.

Lynn said: “That’s 28 years of loyal service just to Manor Field and 57 years of loyal service to teaching.”

Lynn added that Margaret promoted equality and wanted to give back ‘her wealth of knowledge and fairness’, becoming a Justice of the Peace in 2005. This was sadly cut short when she developed breast cancer in 2009 and had to undergo chemotherapy.

Lynn also said that Margaret and Graham bred Chihuahuas while they were married and ran a Chihuahua Rescue. She said the couple also ‘showed true devotion for their four grandchildren: Finlay, Abby Bethan and Breidi’.