Retirement beckons for long serving head teacher
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
AFTER almost three decades serving as head teacher in Easterfield Primary School, Kathleen Heggie - who also acted as head teacher at Fisherford Primary School in more recent years - has retired.
She started her journey into Aberdeenshire's education sector in 1974, and bounced from place to place never staying in one school or nursery for more than a few years.
Speaking at a special retirement assembly, where she was joined by pupils, staff and families, she said: "When I took on the role here I thought 'this will do for a few years, I'll just stay here a wee while and then I can go somewhere else'.
"When my first batch of P1s walked through the door I thought 'I'll see them through to P7, that seems like it would be the right time to move on'.
"Some of my former pupils from my first years here are here today as parents, and some of them with children who have moved onto the Academy even!
"That's when I knew it must be about time to retire.
"I always joked that I would leave once my Council name badge faded completely - well here we are, my name is totally worn off and thankfully this fairly old picture is faded enough that none of you can really see it!"
She shared stories of her first few months in the school, where she started in January 1991, and said: "I have hundreds of stories from my time here.
"I really am going to miss it - I will miss the company, of course I will miss the kids and I will miss all of the families."
Since moving to the area from Renfrewshire she has seen her employer change from Banffshire Council, to Grampian Regional Council to Aberdeenshire Council.
Her longevity in the area means that she is thought to be one of the longest serving members of staff on the Aberdeenshire Council payroll, and is definitely one of the longest serving in the education department - both as a headteacher and in general.
She plans to use her new found freedom to pursue her favourite hobby - bowls.
To help with this the staff and parents bought her a new set of bowls and a new bag to keep them in, and she also received flowers, cake, balloons and a scrapbook from the pupils.
She is also looking forward to spending time with family, especially her grandchildren.
Pupils at Fisherford Primary School had also held celebrations for her earlier in the day, and as she waved the children onto the school bus for the final time she said: "I think I'm all out of tears, it has been an incredible day."
