A SCHOOL hit the right note with its musical head who is retiring after 25 years in the top job.

Roly Metcalf, 59, who is leaving Pittington Primary School, where he was also deputy head for two years, was presented with a Roland keyboard and a watch.

"It is top of the range. You can record straight on to disc with it and I will use it in the little bit of music teaching I'm planning to do," he said.

Mr Metcalf trained as a music teacher and began his 37-year career at Waterhouses Secondary School, moving to Framwellgate and Belmont junior schools before taking up the post of deputy head at Pittington.

When he went to Pittington there were 90 pupils but development in the village has seen that number rise to 224. The school was the first in the county to set up a 'walking bus' to encourage pupils to walk to school instead of being driven.

Mr Metcalf said: "It is a wonderful place. If everybody had the same pleasure as I have had in my job the world would be a wonderful place.

"I'll miss the staff, the kids and the parents - we have a super parents group.

"I just feel it is time to let some young blood in. I could have gone on for a couple of years but I felt it was time to give up and do something I really wanted to do."

Mr Metcalf plans to spend time fishing, travelling and rowing.

The current deputy headteacher Kathy Lee will take over as head.