A HEADTEACHER said he is proud of the work his school has done as he prepares to retire after 25 years serving children in the area.

Paul Trickett, 64, is retiring as headteacher of Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School in Oswaldtwistle at the end of the summer term.

The father-of-two who lives in Clayton-le-Moors has been headteacher at the Haworth Street school for 10 years, after previously serving as deputy head for 15 years.

The grandfather-of-seven said: "It's a massive mixture of emotions for me.

"Age would say it's time to retire but in my head I like to think I'm 10 years younger.

"I'll definitely miss it.

"It's quite an emotional time, I've had old members of staff coming in to say goodbye.

"I'm proud of a lot over my time here.

"It's always been great to see children achieve, whether that be the top grades or pupils reaching their targets.

"At the end of the day I've always given my all and served the school and the people in the area to the best of my ability."

Mr Trickett, originally from Wolverhampton, also worked as a teacher in Kent for 10 years and has 41 years working in education overall.

When he retires Mr Trickett said he is hoping to get back into photography and spend time having a 'quieter style of life'.

He said one of the things he has been most pleased about during his time at the school are the improvements to extra-curricular school activities.

An example of this is enabling every year nine student to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh scheme for free and taking year seven students to Pendle Hill at the start of the year.

Although he said education has changed 'for better and for worse' in his time at the school, Mr Trickett believes Rhyddings is in a good position going forward.

He said: "Technology has changed things beyond all recognition.

"But at the end of the day kids are kids, they're not really that different to what they have always been.

"Between the ages of 11 and 16 they still have all that growing up and all those changes going on in their lives.

"There's been some tough times in recent years for the school with budget cuts to deal with.

"But the school has made some really healthy appointments in recent years and going forward the school is in a good place."

Mr Trickett also paid tribute to the numerous pupils and staff past and present he worked with, many of whom have sent him kind words.