ROSS High School has waved goodbye to one of the school’s stalwarts, Charlie Scott.

The 65-year-old was a long-serving member of the auxiliary support staff in the additional needs department of the school.

Lisa Keating, principal teacher of the additional needs department, said: “I have known Charlie for as long as I’ve been working here.

“It [the department] opened in 2004 and Charlie was already in post as an auxiliary. Previously he had been working at Knox Academy.

“Charlie has been working with these children for over 20 years. He’s the longest-serving member of staff in the department.”

Lisa described the Haddington resident as a popular member of staff who will be missed, saying: “Charlie is one of those characters that remains calm, collected, and laidback.

“I think that’s what everyone will remember him for.

“I was Charlie’s teacher one year and one of our kids had a seizure in the park. Charlie got us all back to the school and dealt with everything. If he hadn’t been there that day would’ve been very different.”

Lisa also revealed that Charlie’s artistic talents would be a loss to the school: “He’s so extremely talented at art, and we have relied on him many times to help out. He’s made everything, from creating dragons to Tam O’Shanters.”

Indeed, Lisa revealed that Charlie’s retirement plans involved the art world, saying: “Art interests him greatly. He wants to go and visit more art galleries.

“He was talking about going to Seville and going to Spain to see more art galleries. He worked in an art gallery many moons ago, in his early twenties. He doesn’t know massively himself, but he wants to see more of the world, more culture.”

When he’s not busy browsing Bacon, Bellini or Blake, Charlie will enjoy his retirement with wife June and his two grown-up daughters.

It won’t be the first time that Charlie has been known as a family man, as Lisa said: “He was one of Scotland’s first every house-husbands. His wife June went back to work and he stayed at home to look after the kids. It made the news, it was a big story 30 years ago.”