AYTON SCHOOL

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M. Sophia Wells
An appreciation by A. Leonard Stapleton

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It is with deep regret that we have to record the passing of Miss Wells one so well known and so well beloved by all associated with Ayton School.

Her early life on her parents' farm at Isham near Kettering, doubtless gave her that love for the open air and the countryside. After leaving Ackworth, where she was a scholar from 1888 to 1893, she spent a year at the Mount School, York and then quickly embarked on her career as a teacher. The "History of Penketh School" records her as being an apprentice on the Staff there from 1894 to 1896. She did not attend any University or obtain any academic qualifications but, endowed with a full measure of sound common sense, she graduated in the great school of life. From 1898-89 she was an assistant mistress at Penketh and then, after a short period on the staff at Ayton, she returned to Penketh 1900-02.

Her great work began when she was appointed Headmistress of Ayton in 1902. In those early days Ayton School seemed a small establishment, remote, amid glorious country, housing less than one hundred scholars. During her thirty-six years of office, she witnessed many changes and developments. Buildings were extended, the number of scholars increased, the academic standards were raised and children were older when they left school. In 1920 the school became recognised by the Board of Education as a Secondary School. These developments were, in no small measure, due to the untiring energy of Miss Wells.

Throughout her life and in every department of life, she set herself a high standard and she expected the same from others. She never faltered or deviated from her ideals. It was remarkable too, how she moved with the times and adapted herself to new ideas. She was full of sympathy and though often considered strict, she was eminently fair and just. She endeared herself and conveyed something of her greatness to all with whom she came in contact. It did not matter whether it was in her daily work, on the hockey field or on long country walks, her energy and enthusiasm was unbounded. Much of her holidays she devoted to the interests of educational value, often travelling abroad with children and colleagues.

In the classroom she could turn her energies to almost any subject but Geography in its widest sense, was her chief interest.

She delighted to keep in touch with both boys and girls after they left school and when she retired in 1938 her correspondence became voluminous. As Overseas Secretary to the Old Scholars Association she provided those members living abroad with a steady flow of news, both of friends and of the school. She was a friend and counsellor, a great link in the chain of friendship she helped to create. The Old Scholars chose her as their President on two occasions, from 1925-27 and 1949-50.

In retirement she not only maintained a lively interest in the School and its scholars but devoted much of her time to the work of the Society of Friends, often in an official capacity. She represented the Society on the Kettering Free Church Council. She also helped to hoard out children during the wax, collected clothing for Overseas Relief, helped with blind folk and was a member of the after care committee for local T. B. patients. Although ill health gradually came upon her, her strength of will warded it off to such an extent that few knew she was ailing. Photos of her on a visit to Oberamagau in the Autumn of 1950 portrayed her as very little different from those of many years before.

Her's was a life truly and nobly lived and she will long be remembered as one who dedicated herself to the service of others and stood firmly for all that was true, honest and of good report.

She passed away peacefully on Sunday, 15th April at the age of seventy-three.

______________

"I determined when I left Ayton to keep in touch with Old Scholars by letters and by meeting you whenever I could. My correspondence has therefore increased, and what a joy letter writing and receiving your letters has been to me, bringing me into fellowship and friendship with you during these years of war and upheaval.”

Of all the activities that Miss Wells engaged in during her years of retirement, and they were numerous, this was undoubtedly the one she loved best, and her dearest wish would have been that her work should be continued on the lines that she had initiated and so splendidly carried through.

It thus behoves each one of us to neglect no opportunity of contacting other Old Scholars, particularly those who, by reason of distance or other disabilities, are prevented from attending Reunions and of making the fullest use of the " News of Old Scholars " columns in the Annual Report by keeping your Editor well posted with interesting items of news concerning Old Scholars and thus fostering that comradeship which someone has so aptly described as the “Spirit of Ayton."

    Supporting any plea for continued and even fuller intercourse between Old Scholars, I would quote a personal experience, and to an article by W.A. Noble published in last year's Annual Report " Ayton in the Nineties"…How can I adequately describe the thrill and the heart-warming evoked within me when I read these reminiscences of days that are long, since past, for did they not speak of my own schooldays - of fellows (masters and scholars alike) whose names had almost passed from memory in the intervening well nigh sixty years, and revived other precious memories of the days when Ayton was my world. 

W. B.

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