Mary and I started at Bancroft’s on the same day and I very much enjoyed working with her. I have many fond memories of her time at Bancroft’s.  One of my favourites was watching her every year at the school’s Christmas lunch. Wearing her festive apron, she handed out chocolates to all pupils and staff as she wished each one of them a merry Christmas. Mary was full of paradoxes: down to earth but with a taste for the finer things in life, forward looking but with a respect for tradition, approachable but not to be crossed.  Any initial suspicion by Bancroftians of this small bundle of energy with a thick (at least to us in Essex) Scottish accent quickly turned to admiration and respect. Mary did much to shape Bancroft’s into the school it is today.