As Bosbury Primary youngsters broke up for Christmas, they paid a fond farewell to Bosbury bids farewell to a long-serving pillar of the school community.

A whatever pans out with Covid restrictions and schools, the New Year won’t seem quite the same as before.

Pupils, parents and staff waved a fond farewell to Barbara Kaye, who finally felt it was time to retire from the post of school secretary which she has held for over thirty years.

Teaching assistant and friend, Christ Ponter said: “With her diligence, reliability and great sense of humour of Mrs. Kaye will be greatly missed by the whole school community at Bosbury, so much so that many are already struggling to comprehend a school foyer without her familiar friendly face looking through the glass window!”

He pointed out how different the world was, in 1988, when Mrs Kaye first arrived at the school.

The Cold War was nearly at an end, Margaret Thatcher was well into her third and final term of office, Mikhail Gorbachev was initiating perestroika, Belinda Carlisle and Tiffany topped the charts, Good Morning, Vietnam was a must-see at the cinema, and Jessie J and Adele were yet to be born.

Mr Ponter added: “More significantly however, it was the month which Mrs. Kaye first sat in the secretary’s seat at Bosbury, going on to spend the next three decades as the heartbeat and nerve-centre of the school managing everything from school finances, processing pupil lunches and school trips, monitoring pupil attendances, keeping detailed records of pupil information, proofreading letters to parents and weekly school newsletters, managing staff records, even stepping in to act as Sports Day scorer and, in the words of a previous Deputy Head, Bosbury’s most glamorous lunchtime assistant!

"Thank you Mrs. Kaye – Bosbury will not be the same without you!"