In Mrs Tilcher's Class Duffy explores the theme of childhood and growing up in this poem. She describes the joys of primary school before the children are exposed to a more frightening adult world.

The appointment of Carol Ann Duffy as Poet Laureate was always going ... With illustrations from Posy Simmonds, Mrs Scrooge was first published last Christmas in The Guardian.

Mrs Tilscher, from the poem's title, is portrayed as a loving teacher who has a profound effect on her pupils. Duffy conjures a classroom from the past, by mentioning "chalk" and a "skittle of milk".

Mrs Tilscher, from the poem's title, is portrayed as a loving teacher who has a profound effect on her pupils. Duffy conjures a classroom from the past, by mentioning "chalk" and a "skittle of milk".

Duffy conveys a childhood idyll in the first two stanzas. The classroom is a place of colour, safety, learning, delight. All elements of a happy childhood. In the second two stanzas, the child is ...