A TEACHER is retiring after 38 years at the same school.

Hugh Chambers, assistant head teacher at Sir Thomas Boteler CE High School, joined the school when it was Boteler Grammar School in 1977 to teach French and German.

Since then he has taught thousands of pupils and given hundreds the opportunity to visit Normandy and Paris by running trips there as well as the school's language exchange programme with its twin town Hilden in Germany.

Mr Chambers said: “The school has had to face many challenges whilst I've worked here but has done everything possible to overcome them.

“Although the faces have changed over the years, what has never been in doubt has been the entire staff's commitment to providing the best possible education for the young people in our community."

He joined the school after graduating from Durham University and became head of modern languages at Victoria Park County High School after the amalgamation with Richard Fairclough County High School in 1983 and thereafter at Sir Thomas Boteler.

He ran trips abroad to help encourage students to value their language learning and build on work in the classroom.

In more recent times, Mr Chambers handed over his head of department role to a colleague in order to concentrate on his senior leadership roles and in response to temporary staffing issues, he also taught in the design and technology and science departments.

In 2012 Mr Chambers won the prestigious North West Region "Ted Wragg” Award for Lifetime Achievement through the Pearson Teaching Awards system, having been initially nominated by pupils at the school.

Hundreds of Boteler's former basketball players, several now in their fifties, will probably remember Mr Chambers best for his coaching and Friday evening training sessions.

Following the opening of the Ball Hall, weekly training and holiday basketball camps have led to successive Boteler teams achieving high levels of success in both local and national competitions.