Pride of Guernsey: Mary Carey

Mrs Carey has taught an array of age groups in an array of schools in the UK, holding various positions including Senco and community liaison officer. She has taught 39 children since her arrival in the Bailiwick.

Mrs Carey has used the outdoor space in Herm for drama and literature through collaborative projects with the RSC. These projects have included running a workshop at a Shakespeare conference in Belfast and writing articles for Outdoor Shakespeare as well as for small schools generally. She has written her own nativities and organised summer concerts for the school including the final ever concert last July, which was dedicated to all small schools including their own.

Although she is classified as a lone worker, Mrs Carey receives help once a week from a supply teaching assistant and communicates with a UK network of small schools who support one another in terms of logistical and practical problems which teaching in a small school can bring.

‘I hate to be bored and this job is certainly not boring. We have been lucky enough to see dolphins, puffins, seals released, met royals and other dignitaries, authors and sports celebrities who always want to visit the small island school.

‘I am very proud of all the pupils who have gone through the school and have become lovely, confident adults and friends. I feel honoured to be nominated as I’m just doing what I love and the opportunity to educate children in such a unique and special landscape.’