Three Keswick teachers, with nearly 70 years’ experience between them, have decided to retire.
Shelagh Hughes, headteacher at St Herbert’s School, is stepping down alongside long-serving colleagues Catherine Gaskell and Amarjit Mann at the end of the school term last week.
Mrs Hughes, 56, has had the top job for 10 years and will stay on to the end of August to smooth the transition for new head Michael Craig, who was previously headteacher at St James’ C of E school in Whitehaven.
“I have been incredibly fortunate to work with a fantastic team over the years, and it’s always a delight to be with the children,” she said.
“I shall miss it all dreadfully, but equally I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life. I’m looking forward to tending my garden, and travelling around Scotland in a camper van with my husband.”
Mrs Hughes’s length of service is dwarfed by Mrs Mann’s 17 years and the 27 years Mrs Gaskell has taught at the school.
Indeed, having first qualified as a teacher in the 1980s Mrs Gaskell, 63, says she came with the bricks when St Herbert’s was built in the 1990s.
“I’ve taught children who have grown up to be colleagues, which is hugely satisfying,” she said. “And I’ll miss it because we were a real family. But there comes a time when you’ve got to move on, and I am looking forward to spending time with my grandchildren and my sister, who has just moved up to Carlisle from Shropshire.”
At 51, Mrs Mann is the youngest of the three teachers – although she has been in the profession for 30 years.
“I originally moved here because of the countryside and the scenery, and because the Lakes is one big adventure playground,” she said. “Hopefully I can use my retirement to explore the area fully.”
