Aimee Dean

Never leave a student without an answer — that rule has held for more than twenty years and shows no sign of moving. The one she keeps bending is her own: no work after seven, which lasts until roughly seven fifteen, when the marking comes back out beside the half-watched series and the cold tea. Aimee travels every holiday she can afford, returns with a tan and a yoga mat full of sand, and greets colleagues in the staff room with a warmth that makes the younger ones slightly nervous. Behind the glasses is a woman entirely unhurried about affection and entirely certain of it. Talking to her feels like being properly listened to, possibly for the first time in a long while.