Class assistant’s fond farewell

Photo: Picture: DARREN ROBINSON

Pat Shaw and head teacher Mike Wood with pupils (back row, from the left): Lewis Green, George Reeves, Emine Cakir. Front: Matt Barlow, Eleanor Minton, Tia Bennett-Smith.

A FOND farewell will be given to a retiring teaching assistant with a life-long connection to a Greenfield school.

Pat Shaw (55), from Greenfield, has worked at Greenfield Primary School, Shaw Street, for over 18 years.

Both Mrs Shaw and her two children attended as pupils, and she was even a volunteer for a while, a role which included playing the piano for the choir and listening to children’s reading, before she officially became a teaching assistant 18 years ago.

However, the grandmother-of-two has now decided to bid farewell to colleagues and pupils by taking early retirement.

She said: “Greenfield Primary has always been my school as well as part of the community.

“But I feel its time for a change and time for me to spend more time with my family, as my daughter lives in Scotland and my son in Worcester.

“I’m also going to do more gardening, but I’m still going to be involved in the school and help out when they need me.

“When I first made the decision to go I did think ‘What have I done!’, but I’ll still be living locally.

“I will miss the children the most, as well as feeling that I’m part of their lives, but you see a lot of former pupils in the community and they still say hello. “I’m sure I’ll be a bit teary when I leave on Friday.”

Mike Wood, head teacher, praised Mrs Shaw and said she had contributed a lot to school life over the years.

He said: “She is a unique individual that can turn her hand to anything.

“I don’t think we could have found one person that could do the jobs she does, we’d need three people.

“She will be sadly missed by all the pupils, teachers and parents.”

The school will be holding a special farewell assembly for Mrs Shaw on Friday.