My mother, Cecily Haynes-Hart, who has died aged 95 from Alzheimer’s, began her teaching career at the age of 16 in Guyana. After emigrating to the UK, she taught in south London schools, and was a cornerstone of the Caribbean Teachers’ Association, determined to raise achievement and foster leadership in young people of African-Caribbean heritage.
She was born in Georgetown, the third of four children of Clementina Pollydore, a housewife who also reared and sold poultry, and her husband, Joseph Jordan, who died when Cecily was young. It was apparent early on that Cecily was gifted academically. She had a photographic memory and could remember an entire book, practically word for word, after reading it once. She topped the country in national examinations as a child.
