Faye's salsa dream for her retirement

English teacher Faye Stockley, right, pictured with deputy head Lindsay Barker, third from left, and headteacher Andy Pollard, fourth from right

Assistant headteacher Faye Stockley bid a fond farewell to pupils and staff at Standish Community High School on Wednesday.

She had worked at the school for 26 years and was so popular that more than 200 people joined a Facebook group to wish her well.

Mrs Stockley, 59, has left the classroom behind, but she has no plans to put her feet up in retirement.

She said: “I’m a bit excited about the challenge of retiring and I have got a bucket list of things I would like to do.

“The first thing I’m doing is inter-railing in September through Europe with my husband. I’m travelling first class and staying in hotels.

“I want to learn to salsa and I’m getting a dog as well. I have never had a dog because I have always worked so I’m getting a dog to keep me busy.”

And she is not leaving education behind - she will be doing consultancy work with teacher training provide Kingsbridge, which is based at Rose Bridge Academy in Ince.

Mrs Stockley, of Wigan Lane, had an unusual reason for first being inspired to become a teacher - her height.

“I went to Wigan Girls’ High School and I’m 5ft 10.5ins so they either said I had to be a policewoman or a teacher. I thought I would go for the teacher route,” she said.

“There are no teachers in my family, it was just something new and I really enjoyed it.”

But teaching could now become a family tradition, as Mrs Stockley’s son Joshua hopes to follow in her footsteps and become an English teacher.

Mrs Stockley started her career in 1979 as an English teacher at Leigh CE High School and then Whitley High School, both of which have since closed.

She then worked at Standish High for 26 years, where she taught English and was head of the department before being appointed as assistant headteacher three years ago.

Mrs Stockley, who is married to John and has three children, said: “The children made the job.

“I wanted to foster a love of literature. I worried that reading a book was becoming a dying art and it’s been my mission to keep it going.

“I hope I have done my best there.”

She praised the many pupils she had taught over the years and the colleagues she had worked with, some of which returned to the school to wish her well in her retirement.

There have been several celebrations, including a presentation in school and a weekend in the Lake District with members of the English department.