Popular staff member celebrates 50 years of service at Tring junior school

Staff and pupils at a school in Tring have honoured a popular staff member who is celebrating 50 years of service.

Midday supervisor Eileen Wilton joined Bishop Wood Church of England Junior School in 1971 and staff at the school are delighted that she chose to work there!

When Eileen started, the school still had its base on the High Street, where the present library car park is, and she remembers Robert Runcie, the then Bishop of St Albans before he went on to bigger and better things, dedicating the new building on the current site a year or two after she started.

Eileen has supported thousands of youngsters in the five decades she has spent at the school and seen many generations of the same family pass through the school, as well as pupils that have since come back as teachers.

Earlier this month, to celebrate her service, each year group did a special performance for Eileen and members of her family.

There were songs, journeys through the decades and poems, and after school, the staff had a Paella Party in her honour.

Eileen said: "What a wonderful day I had! The children did me proud, they all did their turn and it made me feel quite emotional.

"Father Huw kindly did a paella party to celebrate. I had my family with me, which was lovely."

Headteacher Gary Stanley said: "It was an honour to celebrate Eileen's fifty years of service to the school.

"The staff and children performed some wonderful tributes, which I know Eileen thoroughly enjoyed. We all hope that she works here for many years to come."