A North Yorkshire pre-school has bid a fond farewell to a long-serving member of staff who has served the community for 37 years.

Andrea Wright first became involved in Scorton Village Pre-school, near Richmond, when it was a small play group for toddlers in the village’s Memorial Hall.

Andrea, who lives in Richmond, was instrumental in developing the play group into the thriving pre-school that it is today, establishing it as a pre-school in 1987 after becoming its leader and later achieving multiple ‘outstanding’ ratings from Ofsted.

She was the leader of the school for 33 years before stepping down in 2020 to hand the reins over to Becky Monaghan, who had been a practitioner in the school for ten years previously.

She retired officially at the end of August but said an emotional farewell to children and colleagues when the school broke up for the summer holidays at the end of July.

‘Mrs Wright’, as she was known to generations of children who passed through the school, was presented with gifts, including a painting titled Yorkshire Life by renowned Richmond-based artist Lucy Pittaway, at a packed farewell party in Scorton Memorial Hall, to which the pre-school is attached.

Andrea WrightAndrea Wright (Image: SCORTON PRE-SCHOOL)

“It has been an absolute pleasure to have had the opportunity to meet and support so many families throughout the years I have worked in the setting,” Andrea said.

“Working alongside such a dedicated and caring early years team has been a great privilege.”

Along with her long-time colleague Lesley Dawson, who herself has 33 years’ service with the school, Andrea developed the little play group into a registered pre-school, eventually moving into the school’s own annexe to Scorton Memorial Hall in 1991.

Since stepping down as leader four years ago Andrea has continued to work as a practitioner in the school, playing a vital role in supporting the professional team and encouraging children’s development.

Becky Monaghan said: “I owe a huge amount to Andrea for the help and guidance she gave when I joined the staff at Scorton and for all the support she continued to provide when I took over the leader’s role.

“She and the other members of the team have created a caring, educational and fun environment that continues to attract increasing numbers of children each year and has been recognised by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’.

“We will all miss Andrea when the new term starts but we wish her a very long and happy retirement.”

Andrew Smith, the grandparent of a child who has been at Scorton Pre-school for the past three years, said: “Mrs Wright was assigned to be the key person for my grandson when he joined the school and we, as a family, can’t thank her enough for the care and attention she gave him over the years, as she did all the children in the setting.”

Mr Smith, of Catterick Village, added: “She was always willing to meet parents and guardians to discuss any concerns and she had a genuine interest in the wellbeing and happiness of the children in her care.

"We were so lucky to have our ‘little man’ at Scorton under the very attentive supervision of Mrs Wright, who gave him tremendous support.”

Andrea plans to spend her retirement with her family, tending to her large garden in Richmond and walking.