A DEPUTY headteacher says she will miss seeing children flourish most when she takes early retirement.
Janet Boyd will have served at Staindrop Primary School for ten years when she leaves at the end of the half term, having come to the school after teaching at Woodland for seven years.
She began her teaching career 33 years ago at Woodhouse Close, in Bishop Auckland, and spent time at schools in Darlington and North Yorkshire before coming to Teesdale. She said: “Staindrop will always have a special place in my heart. I am proud to have been part of the school family.
“I’ll miss the school community – the children, the staff, the parents – and the community; people like Revd Ken Steventon.
“It has been a rewarding job seeing the children grow and develop. As special needs co-ordinator it has been wonderful to see the children flourish and reach their potential.
“It is sad to see [school leavers] go but you get to see them become young adults. You also hear about them years later and the success they have achieved.”
The school was recently one of eight in England to be shortlisted for the Times Education Supplement’s Primary School of the Year award.
She said: “[The highlight for me is] probably the first time we were shortlisted for the Creative School of the Year in 2017 and going to the awards in London – all the staff went down on the train.”
Mrs Boyd was due to retire in July, following the early retirement of her husband Mike from GSK, but she agreed to stay on for a few extra months to help the school return after the coronavirus lockdown and to ensure a smooth transition. In her retirement, Mrs Boyd hopes to travel more, and wants to visit South America and the Far East when the situation allows. She has previously enjoyed trips to the USA, much of Europe, Singapore, the Middle East and South Africa.
She said: “I love to travel and finding out about other cultures.”
She also wants to do more charity work, particularly for the Royal Osteoporosis Society, for which she is a member of the volunteers’ committee.
