'˜She taught so much more than just history' '“ tributes paid to former Worthing High School teacher Sally Wallbridge

Sally Wallbridge at Iron Bridge in Shropshire SUS-181019-124857001

Sally Anne Wallbridge passed away last Saturday (October 13) at the age of 66.

The Wick resident was a history teacher at Worthing High for more than 30 years and started at the school as Miss Clarke, before meeting her future husband Frank Wallbridge.

The couple were married for 26 years.

“Besides being my wife, she was my friend,” said Frank. “Really, she was a friend to everybody.”

Sally left Worthing High in 2007 but colleague and family friend Paul Kaczmarek said many pupils had stayed in contact or sought her out later in life.

Her impact, he said, stretched beyond her specialist subject.

“Sally was more than just a history teacher,” said Paul.

“She was a teacher of children. A lot of former pupils said she taught them so much more than just history. She was a great mentor.

“They all refer to her as a lady. She had this wonderful charisma and character about her.”

Sally was a keen traveller, who liked to organise school trips abroad and had been to ‘most continents’.

Frank said the couple befriended a man called Ketut and his family in Bali, Indonesia, in 2006 and helped fund their children’s education.

Sally’s family have requested donations in Sally’s memory be made to Ketut and his family, which can be arranged through Dillistone Funeral Service in Worthing.

Paul recalled Sally organising many memorable field trips, including a language exchange visit to Germany and an excursion to Morocco.

Sally and Paul found themselves on a field trip in a caravan during the ‘Great Storm’ of 1987, a cyclone which wreaked havoc across the UK and Channel Islands.

Paul said it was there that Sally’s ‘calmness and ability to look after kids was really called into action’.

Last year, she was interviewed on the BBC by weatherman Michael Fish in a documentary to mark 30 years since the storm.

Sally is survived by Frank and her sister Jane. A funeral service will be held at St Mary Magdalene Church, Lyminster, at 12pm on November 5.

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