THE school bell rang for the last time on Tuesday for a teacher who has chalked up 35 years in the classroom.

Mrs Zandra Lewis, of Whitefield, said farewell to pupils and staff at St Margaret's CE Primary School in Prestwich where she has taught for 26 years of her career.

And the class teacher of five and six-year-olds left the school with lots of gifts from staff, pupils and the local authority, as well as warm memories of her time teaching.

Mr Harold Williams, Bury's chief education officer, presented Mrs Lewis with a long service certificate and she received a set of garden furniture from the local authority. Meanwhile, pupils and staff gave her cheque.

An end-of-term service was also held at St Margaret's CE Church where she is church warden.

The mother-of-two trained as a teacher in Leeds and started her career in Middleton before working as a supply teacher in Manchester. She joined St Margaret's in 1973 and said: "It is a lovely, happy school and I have been very happy here. I have seen four headteachers and I have got on very well with them all. I have made some very, very good friends - it is very much like a family.

"I think the main thing I really enjoyed was teaching the children to love reading, as it is terribly important. However, there has been more and more government intrusion and more paperwork and a lot of the fun is going out of teaching."

Mr Lewis is now looking forward to spending more time in the garden but has busy time ahead. Daughter Sian is getting married in November while son Richard and and his wife, Linda, are expecting their first child in September.

She added: "I am sure I will still keep in contact with the school as I live in the area. I see a lot of children that I taught in the past who are at university or working which is nice, and I have been teaching the children of pupils I taught in the past."

Pictured saying goodbye to Mrs Lewis are pupils (back, from left) Sophie Marshall (5), Georgina Standsfield (5), Jenny Lloyd-Moore (5) and Laureen Greenwood (5). Sitting: Sophie Soar (6) and Callum Sweet (5)

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