A MUCH-loved school receptionist has retired after 32 years looking after pupils’ bumps and scrapes and fulfilling many different tasks.

Sue Dent, Croft Church of England Primary School’s longest-serving member of staff, started at the school in 1986, the year of Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ goal.

Since then she has worked as the school’s administration and premises manager and during her time at the village primary has also been a teaching assistant, a play worker in the out of school club, a midday supervisor and the school’s clerk to governors on top of her administrative workload.

Mrs Dent was well-known for offering sympathy and plasters to children with playground injuries, and many of the children she first worked with now have their own youngsters at the school.

Head teacher Simon Robson said: “Mrs Dent has had a huge impact on the school and its community over the years - it is immeasurable what she has done for us. She will be greatly missed by staff, pupils and families.”

When Mrs Dent started at the Croft-on-Tees school 12 years after its opening she used an old-fashioned typewriter for her tasks.

She has seen six head teachers pass through the doors and has become indispensable, with youngsters and staff turning to her for help ranging from nursing injuries to fixing the plumbing.

Mr Robson said he dreaded to think how much she was owed in overtime, saying: “I would sometimes find her office chair empty and think that she had made her way home for the day only to find Mrs Dent still in school – either fixing something, or unblocking something, looking for something or covering for somebody. It’s just the way Sue is.".

He said she also kept everyone laughing with her ‘razor-sharp’ humour.

Chair of Governors Alison Russell said in an open letter to Mrs Dent: “It is almost impossible to describe the impact you have had on the school as it has developed over the years.

“You have been both the cornerstone and the cement between the bricks.”

Children shared their memories in a special assembly last week, while Mrs Dent was presented with the head teacher’s award.

She was even selected to sit on the ‘Golden Table’ at lunchtime – a privilege usually reserved for well-behaved pupils.