A TEACHER who started at Ross High School on a six-week contract has retired after more than 40 years at the school.

Rhona McNaughton called it a day on Friday, June 26, after spending her entire teaching career at the Tranent secondary school.

She thanked pupils past and present, as well as colleagues, for making the job so enjoyable and their well wishes in her retirement.

Mrs McNaughton said: “I just really, really hope in the 40 years I have been at the school that I have had an effect on the community and the way they look at the world as far as geography is concerned.

“I want them to know how they are a very special community.

“I don’t think they realise it but they are a very, very special school.”

The coronavirus has not only impacted upon her ability to say goodbye but also her retirement plans, with Mrs McNaughton and her husband Martin unable to enjoy a planned trip last week.

The mum-of-two added: “My oldest son, Stephen, has been working in the USA since January.

“We are gutted at not being able to go and see him and we may not be able to get out this year.

“That was part of the plan and I should be in Lisbon today [last Tuesday]. We were supposed to be going away for a few days but one thing we have done is get a puppy eight weeks ago, called Reggie.”

Initially, Mrs McNaughton’s time at the secondary school was due to be brief.

Six weeks leading up to Christmas 1979 was the original plan but she would go on to stay slightly longer!

The mum-of-two said: “I started at Ross High when I qualified in 1979.

“It was my very first teaching job.

“I was working at the Scotsman offices and got a phone call in late October asking if I would come for six weeks.

“I started on November 1, 1979, and was only supposed to be there until Christmas.”

Plenty would change at the school over the next four decades, with countless pupils and members of staff coming and going.

Mrs McNaughton said attitudes had also changed, as when she started she was told she had to wear a skirt.

She added: “There was also a men’s staff room, with a pool table, that the females were not allowed in; it is quite remarkable.”

The 62-year-old finished her career as faculty principal teacher of social subjects.

However, she was disappointed she never got a real chance to say goodbye to pupils and staff, with the school having been closed for more than three months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mrs McNaughton said it took away the best part of the job, which was interacting with the pupils.

She said everything felt “a bit stolen from me” as she never had the chance to say goodbye to the school.

The Edinburgh resident said: “The worst thing for me were the two days prior to March 20 when I suddenly realised what was happening.

“I knew I had still a term to get myself to terms with what was going to happen.

“The majority of pupils did not know I was going, which I found really hard as I had a good relationship with a lot of them.”

A retirement party has now been rearranged for January next year with her colleagues, although she did get one early retirement present not long after lockdown started.

The diehard Hearts fan, who has had a season ticket at Tynecastle since she was a teenager, was joined in a morning work call by former Jambos captain Gary Locke, who her husband taught at Lasswade High School, and Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie.

Mrs McNaughton said: “The ethos amongst staff and pupils is brilliant, particularly it is a really together staff and it always has been in the time I have been there.

“There are a lot of long-serving members of staff at the school, which shows that.

“The pupils are just great and a really good bunch.”

Councillor Shamin Akhtar, the local authority’s spokeswoman for education and children’s services, wished Mrs McNaughton well in her retirement.

She said: “I would like to thank Rhona for her 40 years of service to Ross High School.

“She has given an incredible amount of dedication and commitment to the school.

“During that time she has inspired and supported thousands of pupils throughout the years.

“As the school regent, she has helped to develop many teachers.

“She will be hugely missed by everyone at the school.

“What she has left behind is an incredible legacy of her work for which she should be very proud of.”