Suellen Hall was destined to become a teacher. It was in her DNA. Her father, Merv Hall, was a renowned Hunter educator, the longest-living principal of Newcastle East Public School, and the apple of his daughter's eye. The two were inseparable.
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When Mr Hall died in 2017, his daughter wrote to him daily for two years - a small missive to keep his memory alive in the love of teaching that they both shared.
"When I was born in 1952, my father was living in Muswellbrook. He was a teacher. He was a top football player, and he used to put me in his pram and wheel me around the block. Everyone used to come over and chat to me because I was Merv Hall's daughter," she said.
"He was my mentor, and I did everything with him.
"When he died, I couldn't watch him take his last breath because I think I would have gone crazy. I was devastated. The pain of his death went to the very tips of my fingers, and I would drive home from school sobbing. And after two years of writing a letter, one day I wrote: 'Dear Dad, this is my last letter. I now have embraced what a beautiful father I had and how lucky I was to have a best friend for 64-and-a-half years ... but I need to go living now and be totally devoted to living a long life so I can be like you'."
That was in 2019. At the beginning of March, in her current tenure with New Lambton Primary School, where her passion for the creative arts is infectious, Ms Hall marked four decades of teaching in the Hunter. And, to hear her tell it, she could not imagine being anywhere else.
Ms Hall's first classroom was at Camden in Sydney. She was 21 and took to teaching in her father's shadow. The pair shared a simple philosophy: kindness brings out the best in us, and life is full of joy if you know how to look for it.
When she tells her stories - tales of her students, her travels abroad, holidays and music, Paul McCartney and Oasis - Ms Hall reaches into the archive of her memory to pull out fables and cautionary tales to illustrate her point; every story is a lesson.
"It's about being kind," she said at one point, "My father had a thief at the school once, and I asked what he did about it, and he said every Friday he used to collect money for something and he counted out some money and told the thief that he had an important job for him; he said he had to look after it for him and he gave it to this little boy and at the end of every Friday, he would give back exactly the amount of money.
"I try to be kind - I'm strict but kind. I had a beautiful letter from a girl in Year 6 last year who said ... 'I came to school last year, and I thought I was not a very important person. I'm not special. And then I joined your classes. And at the end of each lesson, I walked out feeling I had done well.
"I read that letter, and I cried."
In 40 years, Ms Hall has seen students come and go and remembers them all. A former student, now a real estate agent, is helping her sell her house. She chose her tax accountant based on the same principles of kindness with which she approached her classroom. Ms Hall has taught through changing times, a pandemic, and at four schools in the Hunter, and said she feels like she has found her calling.
"Teachers say, retire and go travelling," she said at one point, "I've done that. I go to Germany every year for five weeks and my friends there are like my family. I go to London, see five or six shows, and have wonderful English friends.
"What do I do if I retire?
"I think when you're young, you're very feisty and want to fight for everything. I have always been a Teachers Federation member, and we used to go down and march on Macquarie Street - I've always believed in fairness - but I have learnt in my old age of 71 that you have to pick your battles, and at the moment, I've got none.
"My greatest inspiration was my father. When he died, we had a celebration of life, and the children from his class were there ... There were two people, and they said he taught us in kindergarten; they were in kindergarten together, and they got married.
"So many people were saying that they loved him. I thought that was a beautiful story."
At 71, Ms Hall says she can't imagine retiring because the work week is just an extension of the weekend. She loves her students, and says they are the reason she comes back every week, and cares deeply for her colleagues.
"I love the children - where would I be without the children?" she said, "I am having a wonderful life. The staff at New Lambton are amazing, kind, caring, and supportive, and I love being with them ... I am truly, very fortunate."
Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
