School mourns popular teacher

Margaret Jakubowski had been a teacher at St John the Evangelist Nursery and Infant School in Old Newtown Road, Newbury, since 1988.
Head teacher Jan Goodenough alerted parents in a letter that a “dear friend and colleague” had passed away unexpectedly and added: “As you can imagine this has come as a great shock to the whole school community and therefore we have taken the decision to close the school for the rest of the day.”
The school reo-opened the following day, Tuesday, March 26, and Mrs Goodenough added: “We will be discussing this with the children on their return but ask that you please let your children know in whichever way you feel is appropriate.”
She later issued a statement which read: "We are all shocked and saddened by this terrible news. Mrs Jakubowski was a much loved teacher, colleague and friend. She touched a great many people's lives will be greatly missed by everyone at the school."
Chairwoman of the school governors, Emma Knapp, said Mrs Jakubowski was very much part of the school fabric, having sent her own children there before joining the teaching staff.
She added: “She touched many children’s lives and had a huge impact on them. A proportion of her pupils had special needs and she will be greatly missed by them.”
Speaking of the school closure on Monday, Mrs Knapp said: “It wasn’t the original decision but it became clear that it was such a shock to the school community that it would have been almost impossible to teach that day.
“Mrs Jakubowski had been part of the school for so long - she was here, teaching, just last week - and then suddenly, she’s not here any more.”
Another governor, Father Mohan Uddin, said: “I sent my condolences to the school as soon as I heard. There was a special assembly where the issue was addressed when the children returned on Tuesday.”
The school caters for more than 200 pupils in the age range three to seven years and has a part-time nursery which accepts children during the academic year in which they become four.
Children join the reception classes at the beginning of the academic year in which they are five.
Its latest Ofsted report, published in January last year, rated the school as ‘good’ overall.