Holy Family School saw the departure of a number of members of staff at the end of term, including two of its longest serving teachers.

Keith Hutchinson and Caroline O'Neill after a total of 43 years between them at the Keighley school.

Geography teacher Mr Hutchinson, has retired after 41 years in the job, 35 of which he has spent in Keighley.

Mr Hutchinson, 62, plans to spend more time on his small holding and doing plenty of walking and reading.

And after so many years teaching he is also thinking about jumping back over to the other side of the fence and enrolling for classes in cooking and French at Keighley College.

He has taken away with him many fond memories of Holy Family, where he has been for the past 28 years following a seven-year stint at Oakbank, singling out the school's annual pilgrimage to Lourdes as a particular highlight.

He said: "If you have lasted as long as I have then you have enjoyed the job and enjoyed the pupils.

"The Lourdes pilgrimage is superb and the field trips were great because you really get to know the children. You see them in a different light and often the ones you think are going to be the worst are brilliant."

Head of religious education Caroline O'Neill also bade farewell and will be moving on to pastures new at St Anthony's Girls' School. in Sunderland.

She said: "I have really enjoyed my time here. The highlights have been building on the retreats and liturgy in school."

As a teacher of RE for 15 years at the school she has seen her role as not just teaching a subject but in encouraging the spiritual development of the pupils.

She has also worked extensively out of school hours spending time in Africa with the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD).

She said: "One of the highlights was travelling to Africa, I went to Zimbabwe and Zambia. I'm really committed to working with the developing world and working for justice."