Fond farewell to dedicated teaching assistant at St Joseph's Primary

Cath Schofield supported students across all age groups during her time at St Joseph’s Primary in Dinnington.

Head teacher Laura Atkinson said: “Mrs Schofield has always been on hand to welcome new staff and families to our school and make them quickly feel part of the St Joseph’s family, ensuring everyone is cared for and looked after.

“Over the years, she has been instrumental in the teaching of Early Reading with her daily phonics session and extra intervention groups and through her own love of listening to children read has helped hundreds over the years develop a love of reading.

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“Cath has supported many summer fairs — ensuring the bottle stall goes without a hitch — and always on hand to ensure everything was organised for Advent and Christmas events, including wrapping hundreds of books and playing Father Christmas’s helpful elf on more than one occasion.”

Ms Atkinson said Cath has also been on away days and residential trips, “spending time away from her own family to ensure children at St Joseph's had the best first-hand experiences like meeting new born lambs at Whirlow Hall Farm or eating scrambled eggs for breakfast made from eggs they’d collected themselves”.

She added: “Mrs Schofield has also been lucky enough to  visit Zambia as part of the teacher exchange programme in 2017 with other teachers from across Rotherham to develop teaching and learning in Africa.

“We will all miss her but wish her a long and happy retirement with her family and grandchildren.”