Rita Phyllis Palin (née Tanfield)
Certificate of Education with English 1946
Jackie Tasker writes of her late mother Rita Palin. ‘My Mother, known by everyone as Tanny, always spoke fondly of her time at Homerton. She was a student from 1947 – 49 when, in the immediate post-war times, there was a two-year course for teacher training, and during this time she specialised in History and English.
Following a year teaching, she returned in 1950 to complete a course in Physical Education. Based upon the many stories, documents and photographs, her time at Homerton was a very happy one. She was a member of the hockey and cricket teams, the choir and the college representative for the newly formed United Nations Association.
Tanny was originally from Essex and London. According to the story she told, Jack Longland the then Director for Education for Derbyshire came to the college to recruit teachers. She showed him round and was offered a job immediately. So, she left Homerton to teach in Derbyshire where she had been evacuated as a child during the war. There she taught in secondary schools rising to Head of History until her retirement in 1986.
She was one of the first cohort of women teachers who were able to marry and raise a family whilst continuing to work. She encouraged me to apply to Homerton where I too studied between 1971 – 74, and we returned for a reunion when she was 80.
Unfortunately the following generation studied elsewhere but perhaps her great grandchildren will follow in our footsteps’.
Submitted by Jackie Tasker (née Palin)
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