Fond farewell paid to an ‘incredible’ school jannie
Andy Reid has officially left Newfield Primary after 17 years as janitor – but the school hasn’t completely got rid of him.
The Stonehouse school’s much-loved janitor was given a special send-off by pupils and staff when he retired on Friday, February 28.
Yet Andy was back just 10 days later. “I’m a keen gardener and the head teacher asked me to come back in to do a gardening talk with the pupils,” explained 59-year-old Andy.
“Maybe they’ll never get rid of me,” he laughed.
Andy, who also lives in Stonehouse with his wife Mary, had previously been janitor at Larkhall Academy for three years, and had worked at Hamilton Town Hall and with the council’s libraries section earlier in his career.
His janitor job at Newfield Primary was the most enjoyable role, and Andy is sad to be stepping down due to ill health.
He said: “I suffer from Crohn’s and colitis, and so I was forced to retire earlier than I would have liked. Otherwise I would definitely have carried on with the job because I loved it and the kids were tremendous.”
A highlight of Andy’s career at Newfield Primary was coaching the school football team with Stonehouse friend Davie Smith, and the pair led the team to cup glory.
Newfield went on to win the annual Davie Cooper tournament – the biggest schools competition in the region – five times, which he believes is a record.
Andy said: “The players were brilliant and I really enjoyed coaching them because I’m football daft.”
Now retired with more time on his hands, Andy is looking forward to spending more time with his family, including first grandchild Arran.
Newfield Primary staged a retirement celebration for Andy in the school, with the children singing songs from his favourite musicals and reading out poems they had written specially for him.
He then continued his celebration with all of the current and some former staff members at the Radstone Hotel in Lanark that night.
Denise Corke, depute head teacher at Newfield Priamry, said: “Mr Reid was an incredible person all of the staff respected. He will be missed.”