Basildon Primary School's 'superstar’ teacher inspires school legacy

Helen Thompson, a reception teacher at Basildon Primary School, was rushed from school to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading with a swelling to her spine.
But after developing a blood clot she was rushed to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital for emergency surgery.
Tragically, the clot had spread, causing a fatal haemorrhage and she died on December 11, aged 28 - just two-and-a-half weeks after being taken ill.
Now colleagues, pupils, family and friends have vowed to continue the fundraising work that was close to her heart. Her husband James Thompson said: “Helen was brilliant, out-going and giving; she wanted to do things for other people. She was full of life and a wonderful person.
“It was just so fast. She went from being fine the night before to being told she was never going to wake up again. She was unconscious when I arrived. I told her that I loved her, which is what I say every night, and I’m happy they were the last words I said to her.”
The couple had married at a festival-style wedding at Kingston Bagpuize House in August. They had known each other since they were 12, dated since they were 18 and just made a successful offer on what would have become their first home together.
Mr Thompson said: “Life was about to start getting really good and everything has just been torn to pieces. We were so in love and told each other all the time and we knew what we had but until it’s taken away from you you don’t realise how special it is.”
The couple had close links to the charity International Disaster Volunteers (IDV), having known founder Andy Chaggers after
volunteering in Thailand after a tsunami struck in 2005.
It was there that Mrs Thompson was inspired to become a teacher.
She had set out to raise a modest £200 for the charity - but more than £19,000 has been donated since her death.
Mr Thompson, a bricklayer, said the cash could be used to build a school in the Philippines, although no final decision had been taken.
He added : “It shows people’s love for Helen and the cause that she was so passionate about.”
Mr Thompson vowed to continue her fundraising work in her memory.
Mrs Thompson joined Basildon Primary School as a newly qualified teacher in 2011, where headteacher Paul Field said she made an immediate impact.
He added: “She was a very creative person and there are reminders of her everywhere. She was a big part of what we’re achieving here. We’ve just built a new classroom that was going to be hers that she’ll never get to walk in.”
He said that Mrs Thompson had put a collection bucket in the school for the children to make donations to the charity and that the community had pulled together to contribute in her memory.
He added: “Helen was a fantastic and special person and it’s important now to keep that legacy going. What we would like to do with IDV and James is establish a long term relationship in Helen’s name and not a brief outpouring of emotion. The community has been drawn together in its grief, and in tragic circumstances a positive has come from it.”
The school has organised items to be donated at a jumble sale in Mrs Thompson’s memory at the couples home village of Long Wittenham, Oxfordshire, on Saturday.
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