Ex-teacher makes postbox topper for exam students

Sue Cockroft, a former maths teacher, has set up her postbox topper on Ross Road in Hereford

A 73-year-old retired teacher has made a postbox topper to say good luck to students entering the exam season.

Sue Cockroft, a former maths teacher, set up her postbox topper on Ross Road in Hereford on Saturday night.

Ms Cockroft has two granddaughters taking A-level exams this year and she also meets many teenagers while volunteering at a youth group at her local church.

She said she wanted to do something to help them cope with the stress.

The A-level exam season is due to start on 13 May and runs until 25 June, while GCSE exams started on 9 May.

Ms Cockroft said she had made ten toppers for her local postbox to date, including one showing a maypole to mark May Day

Ms Cockroft made her first postbox topper in 2022 to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee – the royal anniversary spurred many people to take up this activity.

She said she had made ten toppers for her local postbox to date, and that each one took her around three weeks of on and off knitting to complete.

This year alone she has made toppers to mark St George’s Day, May Day, and the 50th anniversary of the BBC children’s television show Bagpuss.

Ms Cockroft said she liked hearing about how the toppers cheered people up as they walked or drove by, and people in her neighbourhood often asked her when the next one would appear.

“I’ve always liked craft activities and, if the toppers also make other people happy, that’s an added bonus,” she said.

One of Ms Cockroft's toppers this year celebrated the BBC children's show Bagpuss turning 50.

Ms Cockroft said she had sent a photo of her good luck topper to her grand-daughters.

One had replied with a message saying “how sweet”, the other had replied saying “thank you”, and they had both also sent her some emojis.

“You know teenagers! It’s short and sweet,” she said.

Ms Cockroft added that her advice for anyone taking exams this summer was: "Do your best and don’t stress too much about it."