OUR headteacher Mabel Hepplewhite retired this summer after a career in teaching which has lasted 42 years, 25 years of which were as headteacher at Shotton Primary School.

She has never had a single day off in all of those 42 years.

Mrs Hepplewhite started teaching when she was just 20-years-old and has loved her job. We wondered why she was retiring and, when asked, she said that it is because she is old.

When she retires, Mrs Hepplewhite plans to visit the Holy Land in September, replant her garden, but most of all, to relax.

She has also been asked to be headteacher at another school until Christmas.

Mrs Hepplewhite could not say what her favourite moment was in Shotton Primary School.

She said: "Every day has its moments."

She has enjoyed teaching English and art best of all.

The worst moment of her career was when there was trouble at our school on New Year's Eve in 1995.

There were 85 burst pipes, and it was a big disaster for the school, especially when the Ofsted inspectors were due to visit shortly after that.

Mrs Hepplewhite will be a huge miss, but she will come and see us again in the future. Everyone in Shotton Primary School wishes her a happy and relaxing retirement.

Report by Lauren Huntington, Leah Loveless, Laura Clowes, Samantha Feeney