After devoting a quarter of a century to educating generations of the district’s families, a deputy head teacher is preparing to retire.

Sally McGough, who has been a key figure at Limes Farm Infant School, Chigwell, will step down on the last day of term.

The 59-year-old says that travelling and gardening are on the top of her agenda.

She said: “I have had 25 very happy years here.

“Teaching is challenging, there is always something new to learn but I have loved my time at this school. It was something I always wanted to do.

“My highlight was probably the nursery coming in, because we didn’t have one before.”

Mrs McGough will be leaving the school on a high after the last Ofsted inspection saw the Limes Avenue school retain its ‘Good’ rating.

Headteacher, Jan Tunney, says that a lot of the praise in the report comes as a result of the hard work and dedication of the deputy head.

She said: “Mrs McGough has been like a rock in this school. She has seen it through many changes and many headteachers.

“She has been the constant and is responsible for much of the success in the report.

“I expect she will want to go and travel and have fun with her husband now. She has taught two generations of some families and she will be missed greatly.”

The report from the education watchdog, published on May 23, found that the pupils at the school were well behaved and ‘proud of their school’ although some improvements must be made to hit the ‘Outstanding’ mark.

An inspector said: “Good teaching helps pupils, including disabled pupils who have special education needs. Teachers link subjects together well.

“Pupils enjoy school and feel safe.

The report identified that to attain the highest rating the school must make progress in the teaching of writing and use assessment information to challenge high attaining students.