THE headteacher of a comprehensive in Highworth retires this week after working there for 22 years.

John Saunders officially retires from his role at Highworth Warneford School on August 31 but his last day as head is this week.

A retirement dinner was held on Friday to mark the occasion with former pupils, parents, governors and staff, followed by an after-school celebration with people from the local community on Monday.

"I'll miss the daily interaction with these people," he said.

"There are lots of memorable moments from my time here but I particularly like sports days and musical concerts, events where there are lots and lots of children taking part, really enjoying themselves and getting a lot out of it."

During his time at the academy, John has seen thousands of pupils excel in all subjects and go on to achieve great things after they leave.

"Past pupils have gone off to Oxford and Cambridge and other universities, many have taken up apprenticeships and started their own businesses," he said.

"It's really good to see how well they've done."

Being a headteacher can be a very demanding and stressful job, with plenty of challenges to tackle and big decisions to make on a regular basis.

John revealed the toughest problem he's faced over the past couple of decades.

He said: "One of the biggest challenges is there is a lot of change in education, the government likes to make changes quite frequently and the challenge is keeping up with them and making sure what ever changes are introduced benefit the pupils."

Now that he suddenly finds himself with a lot of time on his hands, John's plans for the future are simple.

He added: "I'm looking forward to relaxing for a while."