There are mums you only see at the gate at the beginning and the end of the day and then there are the mums who stay with you for years afterwards. Mari was one of the latter.

I saw relatively little of Mrs Palomino when I taught Darcey but felt her presence through the love and concern expressed by her daughter. Darcey and I spoke often about mum.

When Ruben was in my Year 1 class, I was lucky enough to get to know Mari better. She came with us on our trip to Kew - a savagely hot day where we took every opportunity to hide in the shade. And we talked. I came to understand Mari's powerful love for her family, appreciate her straight-talking and enjoy her infectious sense of humour.

After Ruben had moved on and I'd left Robertswood, my wife and I bumped into Mari and Michael in a pub. She lit up on seeing me and we ended having a really good catch-up. It just seemed the most natural thing to do.

There's a little bit of Mari in our home, a little time-worn now, but still up on the wall. I'm sure other teachers were blessed with her hand-made presents, but this one really moved me.  At the end of Year 1, she gave me a picture. A teacher wearing a purple-starred shirt, surrounded by little children, with the caption "To teach is to touch lives forever."

Mari touched my life and I will remember that forever.