This afternoon we held a special afternoon tea where we invited parents, friends, former colleagues and supporters of school to come along and join us for afternoon tea to say goodbye to our head teacher Geoff Fitzpatrick who retires at the end of this term.
We were joined for the special occasion by many families, governors Sara, Joan, Janet, Louise and Fiona, retired teachers and a number of staff (past and present) from the local authority who have worked with Geoff, including Paul Lee, Harry Catherall, Sue Hayward and Linda Clegg.
Dr Perera also attended as well as architect Tim Potter and other staff who worked with Geoff on the design and build of our new school for autism at Newfield.
Chair of Governors, Stuart and one of our Deputies, Vicki, both spoke about their experience of working with Geoff and celebrated his long, outstanding career as a teacher and then head teacher in special education. There were tears, laughter and lots of reminiscing about a man with a big heart and a big personality!
Geoff was presented with a gift from the Newfield family of a miniature version of our atrium tree and a book of all of the newsletters from Geoff’s time here - the Newfield Fitzpatrick Years!
It was a very special afternoon and everyone had a wonderful time.