A LONG-SERVING headteacher will bid a fond farewell to staff and pupils next week after more than a decade at Chapelfield Primary School.

Malcolm Gate is retiring at the end of this term, 12 years after he took over at the Clough Street school.

The 56-year-old, whose final day in school will be Wednesday, July 20, recently cut the ribbon on the school's summer fair, an annual event that he helped start soon after he took over.

Mr Gate said: "I opened my last school fair on Friday, July 1, 10 years after we held the first one to celebrate the school's 25th anniversary.

"Helping to establish a PTA was on of the first things I did here and it has gone from strength to strength since then.

"I want my last few days to be as normal as possible, I don't want any fuss at all. I just want to do my job and step away quietly.

"I do a bit of advisory work with the local authority at the moment and will be continuing with that, but I will hopefully also be able to spend a bit more time on the golf course in my retirement."

The Carlisle-born headteacher has worked in education for 35 years and will be replaced by the current deputy head, Maggie Howarth, who he has warned about the fair's tradition of pelting the head with wet sponges.

Mr Gate, a father-of-two, added that his abiding memories of his time at Chapelfield will come from the "little moments" shared with pupils.

He said: "It's a tradition for the headteacher to have sponges thrown at them every year at the fair, so beware, Mrs Howarth.

"The children at Chapelfield are brilliant, really quite amazing. The memories I take away will all be about the little moments and the stories you get from our pupils every day."