I heard last week that my first ever mentor in teaching, Karen Aitchison, is due to retire this summer after many, many years teaching, including 33 in one school where she was a longstanding principal teacher.

I had arrived in her school after a whirlwind postgraduate teaching course where I had a mixed bag in terms of student placements. In one school, I had witnessed a headteacher shouting at several members of staff and, in another, the student teachers weren’t allowed in the staffroom and were given a glorified cupboard instead. So, coming into my probationer year 10 years ago, I really wasn’t sure what to expect at all from Scottish schools.

I was fortunate enough to be given Karen as my mentor, and she taught me the following things:

1. Treat people decently

It is an obvious one, right? Well, my experience in education to date is that there are a lot of senior leaders who don’t do that. Whether it be the shouting on my student placement, or in a school where a new head came in and bulldozed through the staffroom with cutting remarks and unfair feedback on observed lessons.

Karen was the opposite: she was calm and relaxed with staff and gave everyone their place in meetings. Your voice was as important as the senior management team (SMT) to her, and it really was a positive school to be part of. Give praise where it is due and thank your staff if they have gone above and beyond. Karen did all this, and it is something I’ll always do.

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2. Admit when you don’t know something

We’ve all been there: when some new jargon is brought to the school, is announced at a meeting, and some teachers bluff about knowing about it. Karen would never do that. If you saw something on a course and it had value, she would schedule in a meeting for you to teach her or the rest of the staff about it. Again, it’s the approach I’ve always used: I’d rather be open about the gaps in my knowledge and learn from someone there and then, than pretend I know and have to figure it out myself.

3. Have an open-door policy

Many people say they have an open door, but Karen truly did. No problem was too small and she wanted to chat about your day and actually seemed to care about it. I’d find myself in there most weeks chatting about pupils, teaching, pedagogy or what takeaway I was getting. She was always there for you. It must’ve been to the detriment of her own work, but she never let on.

4. Work hard

Karen is one of those people who just always worked hard. She always seemed to knock lessons out of the park even while dealing with the myriad other issues that a principal teacher encounters. Seeing that work ethic in my probation year was important, as it set the bar high for me.

So, Karen, after all this time you have earned your retirement. Please enjoy it and do so knowing that everything you have done for many people over the years will not be forgotten. Many of us out there will have had similar mentors - so, at this difficult time more than ever, please let them know how you feel.