A BALLET teacher who has taught generations of children in Hexham is heading into retirement.

Sarah Laurie took over the running of Phillips-Cain School of Dance in 1992, after her mother, one of its founders, died.

Her mother, Nonie Patterson, whose maiden name was Phillips, set it up along with Beryl Cain in 1952, but for years before taking it over fully Mrs Laurie had been taking on classes for her mother.

Mrs Laurie has held classes in Hexham’s Moot Hall for 36 years.

In 1952, the school started at the Abbey Hotel, which is now the Beaumont Hotel, before moving to a building beside the Forum cinema, which later became Pudding Mews.

Classes moved to the Moot Hall in 1984 where they have been held ever since.

Mrs Laurie said: “One of the privileges of this job is when you start the children off at three and they stay through to leaving school.

“This must be one of the only teaching jobs where you get to see them from three up until 18 and it’s a real privilege to be part of them growing up.”

In her time running Phillips-Cain School of Dance, Mrs Laurie has entered children for 2,106 exams with the Royal Academy of Dance.

The exams, which were held at the Moot Hall, saw examiners travel from across the world to assess pupils, including from South Africa, America and Germany.

To wind the school down, over recent years Mrs Laurie has stopped running classes for smaller children and has referred them instead to one of her former pupils who now teaches and is based in Corbridge.

A number of Mrs Laurie’s former pupils have gone on to teaching, while one dances professionally and another is completing training in musical theatre.

At its peak, there were 175 children taking classes at one time which saw Mrs Laurie teaching for over 20 hours per week. Most recently, this had dropped to around 20 pupils as Mrs Laurie had been preparing for retirement.

Mrs Laurie had planned to retire at the end of March, but her last day came two weeks earlier than expected due to the measures put in place because of Coronavirus.

“I have taught grandchildren of some of the children which my mother taught and children of people I have taught,” Mrs Laurie added.

“If they stay until 18, which many of them do, they feel it has been a big part of their lives. We have been able to build up a nice family feeling.”