Ex-teachers reach out to old colleagues

Two teachers who came to Bermuda in 1971 are preparing to return to the island for the first time in four decades.

Julia Hall and Tonia Anderson taught at Prospect Secondary School for Girls and Warwick Secondary School before leaving in 1973.

Now the pair are hoping to meet up with former pupils and ex-colleagues when they arrive back in Bermuda tomorrow.

Ms Hall and Ms Anderson arrived in Bermuda on the same flight in September 1971 and later shared an apartment together.

Ms Hall, whose maiden name was Mattock, met her husband, Michael, on her first weekend on the island when he saved her from drowning in Castle Harbour.

She worked at Prospect Secondary School for Girls for two years while Ms Anderson, who came from Australia, worked at Warwick Secondary School.

Ms Hall said: “We have so many great memories from our time in Bermuda we were desperate to come back.

“We thought it would be amazing to meet up with some of the students that we taught back in the
1970s.

“They will be in their fifties by now so I’m not sure how many will remember us.

“But there were some lovely girls at Prospect and it would be wonderful to see them again while we are here this time.”

After leaving Bermuda Ms Hall went on to become a school counselor and child psychotherapist.

She now lives in the south of England and only met up again with Ms Anderson a couple of weeks ago. On the spur of the moment the pair arranged to travel back to Bermuda and they will arrive on the island tomorrow evening for just over a week.

Ms Hall said: “There are certain girls like Roseann Trott, Janerva Smith, Erica Hindes, Cherrie Waldron, Wilma Maxwell and Shirley Outerbridge that I remember really well.

“If my memory serves me right my form class was 2 Yellow.

“I would love to meet up with any of the teachers that we worked with back in the early 1970s.

“Both of us loved our time in Bermuda – even though it was only a couple of years.

“We are both very excited about coming back to Bermuda. It has been a long time and it will be interesting to see how things have changes.”

If anyone remembers Ms Hall, or Ms Mattock as she was then, or Ms Anderson contact [email protected] and we will try and put you in touch with the pair while they are here. n