A Bedlington primary school has said goodbye to a teaching assistant who has clocked up an 'impressive' 39 years of working with pupils.
Heather Ord, 57, joined St Bede’s Catholic Primary School in Bedlington as a nursery assistant in 1983 when she was just 18 years old - making her their longest serving member of staff.
She said: "I was their youngest member of staff when I joined, and now I’m the oldest. It’s been my first and only job and is all I’ve known. My dad said I’d never get the job when I applied, as I wasn’t Catholic, but I was the first non-Catholic person they employed, and I’ve been there ever since.”