Sally Fanning
At the end of this academic year, we say farewell to Head of Design & Technology, Sally Fanning.
Sally is of our longest standing members of staff and has dedicated such generosity and care to her students and staff alike. Former staff and current Honorary Alumnae monitor Doris Hugh writes fondly of Sally’s time at South Hampstead:
Sally Fanning joined South Hampstead in September 2000. A qualified architect, she ‘foolishly’ thought she could do some teaching on the side. After registering for an Open University teaching degree, she secured a placement in our DT department. Fortuitously, at the end of her training, a teaching post came up at South Hampstead. Sally went on to hold many positions in the school before becoming Head of Design Technology in 2010.
As Head of Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE), her prime aim was to concentrate on a holistic teaching environment, to encourage her pupils to think about the challenges which faced them in this modern world, particularly body image and social networks, and to get the best out of themselves. Jenny Stephen, Headmistress at the time, praises her sterling work in this area. She remembers once being called into a PSHE class, where Sally demonstrated how Jenny’s image could be altered with Photoshop. A caring Head of Years 7 and 8, Sally found it a hugely rewarding job. She also ran the Careers Department for a while and did her utmost to find enriching placements for the Year 11 work experience scheme.
In 2010, Sally was appointed Head of DT. Always passionate about getting young women involved in design and architecture, she has loved the dynamic, intellectual stimulus of teaching clever-minded South Hampstead girls, from whom she learnt something new every day. She hopes they will not lose their resilience and willingness to take risks. In turn, her students have been grateful for her inspirational support. Sally has shown the same support and encouragement to her departmental colleagues who comment on the impact she has had on them, her great sense of humour and calm, and the quirkiness she has cultivated in the department.
Forever in search of opportunities to promote DT, Sally decided to revive our participation in the Arkwright Scholarship programme. In the last 7 years, South Hampstead has produced at least a scholar per year, sometimes 2 or 3, who have gained places at prestigious universities such as MIT and Imperial College. Sally was thrilled to receive a letter from MIT, thanking her for the ‘lovely’ student she had sent them. This same care and concern for her Sixth Form tutees has led to an easy relationship with them and made her a highly appreciated, popular tutor.
Sally talks about her enthusiasm not only for the department but for the school. For her, teaching is not a 9 to 5 job. “To get the most out of it, you need to give it your everything.” She has been fully involved in the life of the school, attending every event, participating in DofE weekends, and joining many school trips. She has very fond memories of hilarious Modern Foreign Language trips. On one occasion, she and a colleague were going to Normandy to relieve the teachers in charge of the school party. They flew to Concarne, where they sat on a sun-drenched terrace enjoying a glass of chilled wine, before joining the girls and having a fantastic trip.
Best memory? Sally’s own daughter, Alexa, attended South Hampstead – a highlight was watching her in The Little Shop of Horrors. Other happy memories include: “Touching people’s lives, seeing the joy on girls’ faces when they get their results, the appreciation that they have done well and that you have been part of that.” As for the worst memory, what could be worse than teaching a practical subject such as DT during lockdown?
Sally may be retiring from teaching, but she has many plans. She will enjoy reading during the day without feeling guilty. She loves cooking and entertaining, doing crosswords and mind games; she wants to learn French properly, to do some small-scale architectural developments, to swim in the sea in Devon… and she will be a primary school governor. Retirement? What’s that?
In conclusion, the words of her colleague Poppy Pearce summarise succinctly what Sally’s departure will mean: “Sally is iconic in her personality and mannerisms. As she embarks on her well-deserved retirement, I would like to thank her for her leadership and lasting impact. Sally’s legacy will forever be cherished, and her departure leaves a void that will be difficult to fill. [We] wish her a joyful and fulfilling retirement filled with adventures and the knowledge that she has impacted countless lives during her tenure.”
Good luck, Sally, enjoy your ‘retirement’ and come back to visit us! This week, we gathered staff and former staff in the Oakwood garden to celebrate Sally’s time at South Hampstead, ahead of her final day at the end of term.