Phoebe Doyle's article ('On the other side', 3 December) about how motherhood had made her a better teacher brought back vivid memories for me.
As a newly-qualified teacher in my early twenties, I couldn't wait to have my own reception class. I enjoyed teaching children and was happy to comfort a sad or hurt child by sitting them on my knee and giving them a cuddle, despite having little experience of young children and their families outside school.
In retrospect, I realise that I was not always particularly understanding if a child didn't settle in the class routines easily or forgot their PE kit on the correct day, or a working parent hadn't had time to read with their child the previous evening.
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