Chris Robertson obituary

My friend and former colleague Chris Robertson, one of Britain’s foremost teacher educators, who has died aged 76, was warm-hearted, inspirational and deeply committed to her students. She progressed from teaching and school leadership in the 1970s to authority-wide educational leadership in Derby, and then to heading primary teacher training at Manchester Metropolitan University. In 2002 Chris was appointed head of the Institute of Education at the University of Worcester, and led the institute to become one of the UK’s largest, highest quality educators of teachers and early years professionals, working with more than 500 schools. Born into a Welsh-speaking home near Llandudno, one of three daughters of Marian, a nanny and shop assistant, and Ben Williams, a cost accountant for an engineering firm, Chris was educated at John Bright grammar school in Llandudno. On a geography A-level field trip she met Mike Robertson, a pupil from Prescot grammar in Lancashire – they married in 1970, after Chris had trained as a primary teacher at St Katharine’s College in Liverpool (now Liverpool Hope University) and Mike had embarked on studies as a town and country planner. Chris taught at schools in Ellesmere Port and Sunderland, balancing family life and bringing up their four children with her passion for teaching, athletics, gardening and travel. At every stage of her career, Chris championed the welfare and development of children, insisting that every child mattered, and deserved love and the very best opportunities. She was a brilliant antenatal educator and NCT (National Childbirth Trust) tutor for 17 years, and at Worcester helped establish a partnership with the NCT, training more than 1,000 antenatal educators nationwide. She also chaired the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers, campaigned nationally for excellence in teacher education, and contributed to the 2003 Every Child Matters green paper that followed the death of Victoria Climbié. Around 2009, when early years education was being significantly expanded with the creation of Sure Start centres, Worcester University held one of seven national contracts with the Department for Education to develop early years foundation stage standards. Chris assembled the consortium of universities and further education colleges that would deliver outstanding education and training for early years professionals from Birmingham to Land’s End. In 2009, Chris was appointed professor of education at Worcester, and her inaugural lecture, Changing Times, Changing Children: Issues of Social Justice and Education, which advocated services working together in the best interests of the child, proved influential. She was appointed MBE in 2013. She never wished to retire, but a diagnosis with breast cancer led to a long period of illness. Just as she was able to return to work, Mike was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and Chris retired to spend precious time with him. Mike died in 2015. Chris is survived by their children, Bethan, Neil, Owain and Sian, and 14 grandchildren.