Surprise for Corby teacher as boyfriend proposes in front of her class

Zoe Finnis, an early years teacher at Beanfield Primary School in Corby, couldn’t believe it when boyfriend Tom Sutherland walked in with their 16-month-old daughter and asked for her hand in marriage.

The couple first met eight years ago when they both worked in a local supermarket together, and Tom wanted to propose in a way that was both unusual and spontaneous.

He said: “Zoe has been hoping that I would propose for years but I wanted to do it in a way that combined both the things that she loves – teaching and our daughter.

“She has always said that she wanted me to propose in front of people so I thought what better way than in front of her class.”

The couple’s daughter Evelyn wore a t-shirt saying ‘Will you marry Daddy?’ and Tom got down on one knee with a ring in front of the whole class.

Speaking afterwards, Zoe said: “I am feeling extremely happy, I didn’t suspect anything, not even when they walked in.

“I’ve wanted Tom to propose for a long time so I’m very excited that he finally has.

“We plan to get married in a few years after we’ve had time to plan the wedding properly and get over the shock from today.”

Principal Leyton Smith said: “When Tom approached me to see if he could propose at the school, we gave it a great deal of thought as we didn’t want to confuse the students or create a situation that would be in any way controversial.

“But we thought that it is an important part of people’s lives and one that a lot of students are going to experience at some point.

“It also gave us the opportunity to talk to the students about why people want to get married, how marriage is one aspect of growing up, and that there are so many different family situations; mum and dad together and not married, mum and dad together and married, single mum bringing up children, or single dad bringing up the children, which is an important part of the social, moral and spiritual curriculum that needs to be covered in school and this felt like a natural way to have that discussion with them.

“It was a lovely surprise for Zoe and one that we were all very happy and privileged to be a part of.”