Anne-Marie Noel

Parents and friends of Duston Eldean Primary School, you may have heard recently of the extremely sad passing of ‘Mrs Noel’.

If you didn’t know her then I hope you can read some of her tributes to realise what a legacy she is leaving behind. She made such a difference to so many of our lives.

The parents and Y6 students at Eldean, of who Anne-Marie worked particularly closely with would like to arrange a memorial for everyone to have a space to reflect. After discussions with Mrs Moore it has been agreed that a bench around the Eldean tree would be perfect.

Any donation to support this memorial would be very gratefully received.

If you are unable to donate financially but feel you may be able to donate materials, skills or labour to the construction of such memorial please get in touch.

Below I have included some words written by Kay, Archie’s Mum. Mrs Noel was Archie’s one-to-one at Eldean from starting in Reception and the words written by Kay so eloquently really do reflect the person Anne-Marie was.

‘When Archie first started school back in 2016 I remember being so scared about how Archie would cope with practical tasks at school, on school trips, on sports day.. would he be included and who could ever love and care for him the way I had during in his early years.. but then there was you, who I always said was like Archie's guardian angel, though he saw you both as more of the A team! You came into our lives and you made everything okay, you loved him and cared for him at school, and you supported us both in all our battles outside of school when you were fighting your own. You made every activity accessible to him, made sure he went on every school trip, you made him believe in himself. A truely amazing human being who just made everything always feel okay. I know Archies memories of school will always be happy because of the fun you bought to everything.. even setting off the fire alarms causing the whole school to evacuate when you used his nebuliser with him, one of his personal favourite days!

When Archie started his own treatment he said "when I need to be brave I think about how brave Mrs Noel is and then I'm not so scared."

Well, Anne-Marie, when I need to be brave I too will always remember how brave you were and then I know I won't be so scared either.

We were blessed to have you in our lives, I just wish you could've stayed. Beautiful Mrs Noel, that's who you will always be to us. Thank you for everything. ❤’

Any monies raised that are not required for the construction of the bench will be passed on to Anne-Marie’s husband Lincoln as a gift for the family.