Claire Watkins obituary

My friend Claire Watkins was an American who devoted more than 30 years to education in Wales after moving to Newport in the 1970s.

As headteacher of Maindee infants school, Newport, in the 80s, she encouraged bilingualism, training other schools in the Joan Tough teaching methodologies. Maindee was the first infant school to obtain the Schools’ Curriculum Award, established in 1982 by the Society of Education Officers and the editorial advisory panel of Education magazine to celebrate curriculum design and teaching.

Claire then became part of the Gwent county staff development unit in 1991, initially as an adviser to nursery and primary schools. In the late 90s she undertook training to be an inspector of primary schools for Estyn, the Welsh equivalent of Ofsted.

Born in Houston, Texas, Claire was the daughter of Emma (nee Vestal) and Emile Emmott, a banker. She attended Bellaire high school in Houston and then Baylor University in Waco, where she obtained her BA in elementary education and English in 1963. After graduation she moved to California and married her childhood sweetheart, Alfred Hildebrand, who was studying at Stanford University, in 1964.

In 1967 they moved to Darmstadt, Germany, for Alfred’s work, and Claire taught primary level children at the American military school there. After two years they returned to California, where they adopted Elizabeth and Adam.

Claire’s children attended a preschool at Stanford University that was underpinned by active research into child development by the likes of Jerome Bruner and Lilian Katz. Their work greatly influenced Claire; she later brought Katz to Wales as part of the continuing professional development of teachers.

Her marriage to Alfred ended in divorce, and after Claire met Richard Watkins, a Welshman who was coaching rugby at Stanford, she moved to Newport when he returned home to study film. They married in 1974 and divorced in 1988.

Claire worked in several Newport primary schools; she often spoke of her time at St Julian’s infants school, and she was deputy headteacher at Alway infants school.

I first met Claire at Maindee in 1988, while looking for schools for my children. A qualified primary teacher myself, I was so impressed by Claire that I offered to volunteer at the school for an afternoon a week. In the next term a vacancy came up in the school for a reception class teacher and Claire strongarmed me into applying. She became a firm friend and a mentor in my career.

After being brought up as a southern Baptist, Claire encountered the Quakers through her husband’s family and became a devout member. While at Maindee she was also introduced to Community House, a Welsh Presbyterian church led by the Rev Cyril Summers. After she retired from teaching in 2006, she became a trustee of Community House when it became a charity.

Elizabeth died in 2020. Claire is survived by Adam, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.