My mother, Frances Seeley, who has died aged 85 after a stroke, was a primary school teacher who was involved in training staff across Coventry in the Standard Attainment Tests (SATs).
The daughter of Florence (nee Weaver) and Oliver Smith, Frances was born in Uckfield, East Sussex, where her parents were in service. During the second world war, her father was away from home with the army for five years and was awarded the Military Medal. The family moved to Coventry, where Frances spent the night of the blitz under a staircase at home, as her baby brother, Robert, had chicken pox and and the family could not get to their shelter.
Her father was demobbed in 1946, but her mother died within a year of his return. Frances passed the 11-plus exam and attended Stoke Park grammar school for girls. The family finances were strained, and, though intellectually able, Frances had to start work. She got a job in the dye house at the textile manufacturer Courtaulds in the city, where her facility to pipette liquids to an amazing degree of accuracy was much admired.
In 1958 she married Peter Seeley, who worked at the Morris car factory. As well as bringing up their two children, Frances was endlessly patient and thoughtful in the care of her mother-in-law, who lived with us from 1967 until her death in 1985.
In 1968 Frances fulfilled her ambition of training as a teacher, at the Canley College of Education (later merged with the University of Warwick). She chose art and craft as a specialism and was especially keen on pottery and weaving. Her first permanent teaching post was in 1971 at Hollyfast primary school in Coventry, followed in 1977 by Hearsall primary – a school with a much more diverse catchment, where she enjoyed working with children of many cultures, faiths and ethnicities. For many years Frances led the school’s annual camp for children – many of whom had never been away from home.
With the introduction of the new Standard Attainment Tests (SATs) from 1989, Frances took the opportunity to put herself forward for this work. She thought that if teachers were going to have to implement the new system, it was better that they heard about it and were trained in it by someone who had real experience in those roles.
On retirement in 1994 Frances took up the role of churchwarden for All Saints, Allesley, where she had worshipped for more than 40 years. She was instrumental in bringing about the creation of a woodland burial site alongside the church. She was involved in charitable activities, as a member of St John Ambulance, raising funds for Leukaemia Research and running charity events for the church.
Peter died in 2018. After her stroke in 2019, Frances moved to live first with her son – my brother, Chris - and then with me in Nottingham.
Frances is survived by Chris and me, and four grandchildren.
