A TRIO of teachers with more than half a century of experience between them have retired from a Yate school.

Christine Ainslie, Joan Crocker and Maggie Wilcox all left King Edmund Community School, in Sundridge Park, at the end of this term.

As head of languages, Mrs Ainslie, 59, was the longest serving member of staff with 34 years at the school under her belt.

She said: "I trained in London but always wanted to come back to this area as Bristol was my home town.

"When I started King Edmunds had no sixth form or music centre, no computer room and the science block was very different."

Mrs Ainslie, of Woodmancote, Yate, said she would still walk past the "old place" from time to time.

"I will miss the children very much and will miss the routine and being ruled by the bell," she said.

"I am looking forward to spending more time with my husband Chris and playing more music."

Head of Year 11Mrs Crocker, 60, had taught at the school for more than eight years.

She moved to the area after teaching in Lincolnshire for more than 30 years.

"I am really going to miss the buzz of the daily life at school," she said. "But I am looking forward to doing some gardening."

Mrs Crocker said she would be in school when this year’s GCSE and A Level results are announced.

"King Edmunds get a bad press but a lot of it is not very fair," she said. "I am very optimistic about this year’s results and very hopeful the students will do well."

Mrs Wilcox, 59, has been teaching at the school for more than two decades.

She started as an English teacher at King Edmunds 21 years ago and retired as head of department and a sixth form tutor.

"The nice things I will miss are the students and staff," she said. "The not so nice things are the marking and paperwork."

Mrs Wilcox, who lives in Robin Way, Chipping Sodbury, added: "I have seen a lot of changes in education generally since I started out at The Grange School in Warmley in 1972.

"I am looking forward to doing some more gardening and am going to take up dressmaking again.

"It is quite an exciting time at King Edmunds so I shall quite enjoy sitting back and watching the development of the school."