HEADTEACHER Melanie Sancto, who is leaving Brook Field Primary School in Shaw after 23 years, says it is like leaving part of her family behind.

Melanie leaves today to take up a new role at a school in Lisvane, Cardiff.

She said: “It has been a really difficult decision to make, and it wasn’t taken lightly at all. This school has been my whole adult life, and the children and the staff are like an extension of my family. It will be an emotional wrench. It was one of the most difficult decisions of my life.

“My partner lives in Wales so I moved over there to join him last Christmas, and I now live in Newport. I will be working at a school in Lisvane, which is absolutely lovely and very similar to this one in lots of ways.

“It feels like a happy school, which is exactly what we have in Brook Field. All our children are happy and our teachers love their job. It has simply been a really fun place to be.

“The children enjoy what they do and we try to make it as exciting and engaging as possible for them.”

She added although the school had changed dramatically during her time there, she had changed along with it.

“It is hard to say how the school has changed, it has just evolved naturally,” she said. “Being at the school for such a long period of time you don’t notice the changes, but we had some former staff back here recently who commented on how vibrant and colourful the place has become. We make everything as reflective as possible of the colour of Brook Field.”

Melanie is unsure of plans for her leaving do, as staff have been very secretive.

“We will have a leavers assembly tomorrow when I will stand up and say thank you to Year 6, who came into the school as I became head. I have known them and their families for many years,” she said.

“There is definitely something going on but nobody has told me a thing. I will hopefully come back and visit in the future and see how they are getting on without me.

“The new head is our current deputy and a teacher at the school, so there will be a great transition from me to him. I know the school will be in the best hands moving forward.”