YOU could say that teaching has been in Jennifer Slater's blood. It couldn't really have been any other way with her parents, aunts and cousins all in the profession.

Her grandmother was a trainee in Darlington in 1900 and went on to teach in Leeds.

But now, after a career spanning 34 years, Mrs Slater has called it a day.

It is hardly surprising that she approached her early retirement as principal of Northallerton College with just a little trepidation.

"My hearing deteriorated to the point where I felt I could no longer be as effective as I wanted to be," she said.

"Once I decided to go - and it was a tough decision - I never wavered. But as the date drew close, I felt apprehensive about the changes it would mean.

"Having worked for 34 years and committed myself to education and young people 100 per cent, always working long hours, it was unnerving to think it was all going to stop.

"For the first time, I have time to choose what I want to do.

"I was also very much aware that people I worked with day in, day out and who have been a big part of my life would not be there.

"While on one level I appreciate having time and space for me, it is naive to think I won't miss them an awful lot."

The woman who became the college's first woman principal in its 680-year history, has no plans to continue working in a different capacity.

But before she signed off, she had to complete work for the national 14-19 working party which has been looking at re-shaping secondary education.

Her appointment to this group gave her a chance to make a lasting contribution to post-14 education in England. And she is proud of the role she has played.

"We present our report to ministers this month and that marks the end of the work," she said. "It will be up to the politicians what happens then. So the work would have come to a close even if I had not been retiring.

"I have enjoyed this task very much. It has been quite a challenge and it forced me to move up several gears.

"Working in London with high-powered experts and me being there, perceived to be an expert in my own field, I really had to push myself.

"It has been a massive overhaul of education for that age group and is a wonderful project to sign off with."

Some of the principles involved in the group's work are those she has always been committed to: notably that young people do best when they have a tutor who talks to them and reviews progress.

"I have always believed in this completely and at Northallerton College we have built and developed a guidance system on those lines," said Mrs Slater. "Young people, all of them, need someone to watch out for them."

Mrs Slater was head of the college, which was founded as a grammar school in 1322, for seven years.

Being the first woman principal did not faze her.

"I did not feel any differently about it from any other job I had done," she said. "My career spanned an interesting time for women. In 1970, teaching was talked about as an ideal job for a woman.

"Women have come into their own but I am not saying we have reached the end of the road. I overcame my issues about being the first woman principal long ago."

Born in Leeds, Mrs Slater went to school in the city and then to Durham University where in 1969 she gained an honours degree in French and German.

She taught in Leeds for several years, but her first headship was in Newcastle. From there she arrived in Northallerton.

Having attended a girls' school, as a university student she automatically thought the boys would be cleverer than she was.

"I quickly learned that was nonsense," she said. "But I think women have to work harder to prove themselves.

"By the time I came to Northallerton there was no issue about this. I did it on the strength of my CV."

Her record of achievement at Northallerton is impressive.

In her time, the college acquired technology college status and saw a subsequent commitment to IT; set up and witnessed the success of Learndirect in the High Street and completed major building programmes, including a new maths block.

She is unstinting in her praise of college staff.

"There is a team of people committed to what the college is all about and that is what makes it such a good place," she said.

"It is a fine team of professionals I feel privileged to have worked with."

Society, said Mrs Slater, has moved on since she went into teaching.

"Harking back to the 'good old days' is dangerous. Many things are different. Schools in 1970 had more freedom to do what they wanted. There was no sign of league tables.

"On one level it is good that schools are accountable. At the end of the day, we are here for the young people. If they are not getting what they deserve, we should have to explain ourselves.

"But I do think there are aspects of the current system which are perverse and put unnecessary pressure on schools and teachers. I don't think league tables get the best from schools."

For someone so committed to teaching, it came as a surprise to learn her first choice for a career was law.

"I really wanted to be a barrister," she said. "But at that time it came back to gender and it was 'not a career for women'.

"But I was also passionate about languages, although not necessarily with teaching in mind.

"However, I come from a family of teachers so I guess it's in the blood.

"I do have regrets. I sometimes think law should have been it. Who knows?"

But teaching has by no means been second best.

"I have enjoyed working with young people; my professional colleagues and the challenges," she said.

Ironically, the teaching chain has been broken with Mrs Slater's two children. Neither is in education.

Her son, Tom, is an investment analyst in Edinburgh.

But the real twist in the tale involves her daughter, Chrissie. She studied at Northallerton College and won a first in law at Cambridge. But she decided against a legal career and is a merchandiser for Marks & Spencer in London.

"I think she did it partly because of me," said Mrs Slater. "She wanted to be a barrister but found law boring. It was not for her and she took a courageous decision."

Mrs Slater lives in Leyburn and will definitely stay in North Yorkshire. She bought her house last year thinking it would be a long-term commitment.

But she has had very little time to get involved with the community.

"My whole life has been geared to the college," she said. "Now I just want to take stock and make some sensible decisions, not ones on the hoof."

Looking back, she felt she had been able to develop the college along the lines set by her predecessor.

"I have been able to do that because the right people were there with the right attitudes," she said. "They are what makes that place what it is and such a good place for students to be."

As she thanked the college governors for their support, her last word was for the youngsters themselves: "Most of the students at Northallerton College are smashing people who have been a pleasure to work with.