Published: Thursday, 31st July, 2008 09:00
Barbara bows out
By Annabel Williams
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A TEACHING assistant at a Caversham school has retired from the classroom after 27 years.
Barbara Simmonds started at Thameside Primary as a stand-in dinner lady, progressing over the years to lunchtime supervisor and eventually to helping youngsters in the classroom.
But Mrs Simmonds’ relationship with the school goes back even further as she was a pupil in the late 1950s, when the Wolsey Road primary was known as Caversham Secondary School. Her children, Maxine and Martin, were Thameside pupils in the 70s and 80s.
Before starting at Thameside shortly after son Martin in 1980, Mrs Simmonds did office work for Southern Electric and confectioner’s Naylors in Reading. She now lives in Sonning Common with husband, Roger.
The 66-year-old said: “I will come back to Thameside to visit. It’s been my life for 27 years and I have seen a lot of children come and go.
“I’ve enjoyed it all, all the tender loving care whenever the children have needed it.
“I’ll miss everything – seeing the children progress and seeing them achieving things. Even just being here. I have worked with some fantastic teachers over the years and we have had a great time.
“That’s something else I will miss, because we have all got on so well.”
Paying tribute, headteacher Jane Moore said: “Barbara is a treasure. Every school should have a Barbara. She’s someone you send a child to if they’re upset or sad, she’s everybody’s friend.
“If I could bottle her and sell her, we’d make millions.”
The grandmother-of-four was presented with a host of presents, including a necklace, at a special assembly where pupils also said goodbye to deputy headteacher, Michelle Chaplain, who moves on after more than seven years.
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