A POPULAR headteacher has retired after more than three decades in the teaching profession.

Lynn Clement, who has been at the helm of Park View Junior School for the last seven years, is taking early retirement.

Speaking of her time at the school in Pinkerton Road, South Ham, Basingstoke, Mrs Clement said: “It’s a great school. Everyone who walks through our front door says what a special place it is.

“I have had a lot of support from the staff, the governors and the parents and the school is in a really good place now. I’m very confident that I am leaving the school in safe hands.”

She will be succeeded by Gareth Hughes, who was previously head of school at Roman Way Primary School, in Andover.

Mrs Clement, who recently became a grandmother, said she was looking forward to spending more time with her family.

She said: “I want to spend more time with them, and I plan on doing a lot of travelling. I’ll be going to theatre and just enjoying doing all of the things that I like to do.”

Mrs Clement, originally from Manchester, has lived and taught in the Basingstoke area for the last 25 years and has been teaching for a total of 33 years.

She said “Some of the pupils at the school today are the children of people I taught many years ago.

“I’m sure I will see many of the current pupils out and about in Basingstoke in the future. It is the children that I will miss the most – I will miss their smiling faces.”

Staff and pupils held a leaving party for Mrs Clement, which the retiring head described as “perfect”.

She said: “I have been overwhelmed with the gifts and the lovely messages from people. It might be a cliché but this has been a perfect day.”