An “amazing” former head teacher who dedicated her life to helping her school’s community has died aged 68. Sue Crowson tragically passed away a few weeks ago at Worthington Lake care home in Wigan, leaving former colleagues and pupils devastated by the news.
The former head teacher ran Horton Mill primary school for 26 years, taking on the role when the school first opened in 1990 before retiring from teaching in 2016. From a very young age, Sue knew she wanted to be a teacher, setting up her teddies in her bedroom with books for desks - even stealing one of her older sister Carol’s school books to make a register for them.
Her three children, Chris, Amy and Hari Bans, remember their mum’s hard work getting Horton Mill ready to open, taking them round the half-finished site, lugging their dining room chairs to the unfurnished school for interviews, and searching for books that represented the community, featuring characters with disabilities, people from different ethnicities, and even making sure there were plenty of texts in Urdu to help the local community.
READ MORE:
Daughter Amy eventually went on to become a teacher and joined her mum at Horton Mill, and remembered feeling like the entire school was part of her family. She said: “Mum was a very down to earth person to work for, she always had her office door open and anyone was welcome.
“She always used to say ‘it’s about the right people on the right buses at the right time’, and that was how she liked to run things, focusing on the people. Some of my colleagues would come in and be like ‘hello mother’ to her, it was like her family extended out to everyone. All the families were invited in by us all stood at the doors, and she sat in with the children at lunch to remind her that everything she was working for was all about them, all about what she could do for these children and their families.”
Sue immersed herself in the community, inviting local groups to use the family room at the school designed to give the community a space where they felt comfortable, and ensuring she knew all about the families of the pupils at the school - even finding herself present when one of the parents gave birth after she went to drop some food off with them.
To understand the community around the school better, she visited Pakistan twice with a friend of a friend, spending time in local schools to learn about the culture many families were a part of. At home, she would gather equipment and supplies to send to the schools she’d visited in Pakistan, and once managed to send enough money over to pay the teacher’s wages for six months.
Sue separated from her children’s father in 1984, going on to meet her life partner John Burtles who helped to raise the three children and shared his life with Sue until he tragically passed away in 2009 after battling leukaemia. After John’s death, school became even more important to Sue until her retirement seven years later.
After 2016, Sue loved to spend time with her grandchildren who now live in Salford, and volunteered at One World soup kitchen in Oldham every week. She also went to visit her son Chris in Australia several times, and the pair ventured down to New Zealand in December 2019 so Sue could see where daughter Hari Bans lives.
Unfortunately, Sue had to give up her home in Oldham after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and moved into Worthington Lake, a care home that specialises in caring for people with dementia. She made a number of friends there within a few short weeks and thrived in the new environment, playing games and dressing up with the other residents.
Amy added: “When she was around people that’s when she was at her best. It was lovely to see that warmth come back and see her smiling and laughing, she used to come into assemblies with wigs and big sunglasses, it was lovely that she got to have that time again.”
Unfortunately, Sue’s health slowly deteriorated after two bad falls, and she peacefully passed away in bed on February 20, squeezing one of her carer’s hands and thanking her for looking after her. Chris said: “She hated fuss, she always put the praise on other people and never recognised her own greatness. She was just such an incredible, amazing person. It’s so lovely to finally celebrate her life. We’ve all been overwhelmed by the messages of support from staff and the things we’re finding out she did for people, it’s quite comforting.”
Sue will be taken past the school one final time on Friday, March 11, for people to pay their respects, before a celebration of her life takes place later that afternoon.
Read more about Oldham:
Read next:
Click here for the latest headlines from the Manchester Evening News
