Former pupils of The Park School who followed careers in science, dentistry, and medicine will remember with affection Miss Mabel Scott, who has died at the age of 89. For this lady introduced them to science in the school in Lynedoch Street.
She joined the staff of the school in 1946 as assistant teacher in the science department, and later became principal teacher of science, a position she very capably held until 1970. In the early days there were only two teachers in the department and they had to cope with chemistry, physics, and botany for the entire senior school. Girls were prepared for Scottish Certificate of Education examinations in all three subjects.
During her career Miss Scott faced a number of challenges: the syllabus changed quite radically in all three subjects, a new method of presentation of lessons had to be developed, and an increase in the amount of individual practical work meant more apparatus to be laid out and cleared away.
Miss Scott devoted many hours to the school, arriving an hour before lessons began and often remaining in the laboratory until seven in the evening. In 1966 two new laboratories were built, and Miss Scott was very much involved in planning them. She enjoyed teaching in her new lab for the last four years of her time in the school.
She did not, however, restrict her work in school to the teaching of her subject. She held the position of housemistress for Scott house, and to her fell the task of caring for trophies and recording results at sports days. These activities brought her into contact with girls who did not study her subject beyond S2 or S3 and she was always willing to lend a sympathetic ear to any girl who required her advice.
She was more than a teacher. Outside her career she had many interests. She loved birds and was often to be found at gatherings of the RSPB. Plants also had a place in her affections, and this was reflected in expeditions to Cumbrae with her pupils. An active church-goer, she served as an elder in the church she attended in Giffnock.
In 1970 she decided the time had come to resign her position at Park, but her teaching days were not over. For the last four years of her career she really did change course, taking a post in a school near her home and teaching a variety of subjects, including Scottish history and typing.
I followed Mabel Scott as chemistry teacher at Park School and I found her a delightful lady who did everything she could to help me take up the position. She instilled in her pupils that they could best show how much they had loved her by giving me the same respect and friendliness.
I join with all her former pupils and her friends in paying tribute to a remarkable lady and a dedicated teacher.
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