She taught in schools for 30 years-and now her experiences have been woven into a new novel.
Former Kirkburton CE First School headteacher, Joyce Worsfold’s Fistful of Marigolds is a hard yet uplifting non-fictional account of her time in the profession that was inspired by the ‘courageous’ yet troubled children and families that she met along the way.
Twenty years in the making, her first book charts the moving story of a teacher in the 1970s who is working in a local school on a housing estate.
It follows her experiences as the terms roll on and the complex and sometimes challenging lives of her pupils become ever more apparent.
Covering accidents and more thorny issues such as abuse, it provides a revealing but caring look at the every day issues that some readers may not realise form an everyday part of teachers’ working days.
Joyce, 68, who lives in Lanacre Lane in Emley Moor, worked in a number of primary schools in Leeds before moving to Kirklees in 1993.
Talking about the book, which is published by Fishcake Publications, she said: “It’s based on truth but built upon by imagination because that’s what happens as time goes by.
“I decided to finish writing it last year as a tribute to all the wonderful teachers and kids and all the fantastic work that is done in schools everyday around issues such as those in the book but isn’t really highlighted.
“The narrative does include the stories of wonderful yet complex children but at the same time I think it is vibrant and funny because I’ve tried to make the courage and humour of these people shine through.
“It’s great to have it finished at last and I hope that readers take away a feeling of hope from the book.
“No matter how much darkness there is at times the characters find that it can always be offset by something good and I try to show the sense of community of people working together for the common good.”
Now bitten by the writing bug, she plans to release her second novel soon.
She said: “Once I got started writing again I realised how much I liked it and my second is called Paint me a Window and is about a boy with problems who has an amazing skill at painting.”
Fistful of Marigolds can be bought at www.fishcakepublications.com and on www.amazon.co.uk
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