A FORMER maths teacher who worked at Bolton School for 34 years and was very well-liked among pupils has died.

Margaret Dickinson taught at the school from 1972 to 2006, when she retired.

It has not been revealed how Margaret died.

Bolton School Girls’ Division headmistress Sue Hincks said: “It is with immense sadness that we learned that Margaret Dickinson had passed away on Monday.

“She is remembered by many old girls as the kindest maths teacher you could possibly want.

“Colleagues describe her as such a special person, so calm, humorous and understanding.

“In my early days at Bolton School, a colleague described her to me as ‘the most emotionally literate’ senior manager you could possibly ask for.

“From my first meeting with her, when she could have had the rookie head teacher for breakfast, her gentleness and kindness shone through.

“She was also exceptionally conscientious and many of the policies and procedures which we take for granted now were instituted or improved by her.”

Such was the teacher’s impact on the school that the Year 11 common room was named after her, the Dickinson Room.

Miss Hincks added: “I spoke to her about this and she was pleased with the idea, although her natural modesty meant that she didn’t want a huge fuss made at the time.

“I hope that we shall be able to do something to honour Margaret at the time of her funeral, although it is not yet clear what can be done in these dreadful times.

“More importantly, I hope that we shall be able to honour her memory with a tribute to her in school next year when we can begin to come together as a school community and invite former colleagues and old girls back into the buildings.”

Miss Hincks also recalls how a student wrote to her at the end of Year 11 after she had asked Margaret to sign her shirt but she had refused.

The student was quite upset as Margaret was her favourite teacher. But the teacher showed her true generosity by sending her a card in the post to her home address, wishing her well.