THERE were 28 children at Burghill Primary School when John Litchfield took up the post of head teacher 18 years ago.

Now as Mr Litchfield, who lives near Hereford, retires to spend more time on his creative hobbies, numbers at the successful school are more like 100.

His happy memories of the school, he says, have come through the many varied activities that have been achieved through the input from parents and governors.

"It makes such a difference to the school when the parents take an interest," he said. "And we have an exceptionally fine set of parents and governors."

He proudly told of the school's achievements involving the arts and music, with 'wonderful' productions over the years.

Mr Litchfield hopes to spend more time painting and drawing as well as writing a musical for primary school children.

"Often you find performances that are specially written for children have around 25 parts - which is no good if you have 50 children all wanting to take part.

"So you always end up adapting them. So I thought I would have a go at writing one myself."

Parents, staff and children bought Mr Litchfield an eagle carved from a huge block of elm to remind him of his days at Burghill Primary School.