Shieldhill Primary School principal retires after 42-year-long career

Emotions were high for Mary Lockhart (61) on her retirement day, with more than half of her teaching years spent with the Braes school.

Mary said: “It was a special assembly they had for me leaving, and it was a very emotional day.

“I spent 24 years at Shieldhill with ten of those years as principal, and for the last three years I also worked at California Primary and nursery.

“It feels surreal to retire after all of those years teaching.

“My husband and I went away to Tenerife for the retirement, which was fantastic and really a lovely end to the school year.

“We also had a staff night out to celebrate at The Grange Manor with an excellent meal, and a lot of previous staff were able to attend which was lovely.

“I want to say a huge thank you to all the staff and pupils, both past and present.”

Mary started teaching in 1976, with her first job at St Margaret’s Primary School in Polmont as part of the original staff when it opened.

She then went abroad to teach with the Ministry of Defence, which took her to Germany and Cyprus across nine years.

Returning to Falkirk, Mary worked in various schools before going to Shieldhill.

Mary is not quite ready to fully retire though, and will be putting herself forward for supply teaching after a couple of months off.