A TEACHER with nearly 40 years’ experience left the classroom for the final time on Friday.

Lindy Twaddle, headteacher at Macmerry Primary School, will fly out to Switzerland this weekend to begin her retirement with husband the Rev Laurence Twaddle, previously minister at Belhaven linked with Spott for almost 40 years.

Mrs Twaddle – whose surname was Lynn before she married in 2015 – was was looking forward to beginning the next chapter of her life.

She said: “I’m looking forward to it hugely. It is a great adventure and a great way to start retirement.

“What a way for both of us to meet new people, brush up on my French and live in a beautiful place. We are very, very lucky.”

Mrs Twaddle has been headteacher at the school for the past two years, having also been acting head at West Barns Primary and headteacher at Humbie and Saltoun primaries.

She was also a teacher at Macmerry Primary School for a couple of years but spent the majority of her career as a teacher at Innerwick Primary School, where she taught for 25 years.

After nearly 40 years of working full-time, she was looking forward to moving to Geneva, where Mr Twaddle has taken up the position of minister at the Church of Scotland in the Swiss city.

She said: “It is going to take some getting used to, not going to work every day.

“I have been very, very lucky – my teaching years were great and I have absolutely loved them.”

Mrs Twaddle described her level of French as “schoolgirl French” but added: “I’ve been two or three times to Switzerland already. Laurence is there and settled and got himself established.

“It is a lovely place and the congregation are really friendly. They are quite a diverse group of people.”

East Lothian Council has a preferred candidate to succeed Mrs Twaddle and hope to be able to make an announcement soon.

Councillor Shamin Akhtar, the local authority’s spokeswoman for education and children’s services, said: “Lindy has been a hugely dedicated and committed headteacher not just for Macmerry Primary School but for the whole of the local community.

“She has taught in the county for more than 30 years and during that time made a huge difference to the lives of many children and young people.

“And she has also been a great colleague and friend to many people across the county and will be very much missed by everyone.

“We all wish her the very best for her new life in Geneva.”