A PRIMARY school in Witney which spent two years searching for a new lollipop lady has finally found the perfect person right under its nose.
Teresa Wonnacott started her now role at Tower Hill School last week.
However, she isn't new to the school.
The new lollipop lady is also a lunchtime supervisor and cleaner after hours at the school and will be balancing her time between the three roles.
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The 48-year-old, whose daughter is in Year 5 at the school, said: “The new job is going alright however I've been out in Storm Brendan and it was very windy which wasn't nice and has left me full of a cold.
“I heard it's going to get worse so I'm not looking forward to that but the children need to get across the road so I'll be out there.
“Overall I'm enjoying it though, I'm getting used to getting up earlier than usual and I'm getting used to who the stragglers are crossing the road.
“It’s a busy road so it’s a big responsibility to look after the safety of the children.
“I’ve worked here for about two years now so a lot of the children knew me already which is good.
“I was a bit nervous before I started but also excited by it as I knew it would be a fresh challenge for me.”
The school's very own multitasker previously worked at the Co-op in Witney for 31 years but she decided she wanted weekends off to spend more time with her family and is now adjusting to the different routine.
She said: “It's been a bit of a novelty at the minute getting to spend more time with my family.
“I get to have a rest in between now which is really good.
“I did everything at the Co-op during my time there - I worked in the bakery, doing the trolleys and spent a lot of time on the till.”
Kate Walsh, the school’s business manager, said: “We’d had a bit of a recruitment crisis with hiring a new lollipop lady.
“The job had been on the website for two years.
“It’s a really busy road to cross and parents didn’t want to have their children crossing the road unsupervised.
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“This meant there was a lot of cars and traffic outside the school which hopefully won’t be the case anymore.
“We’re really grateful for Teresa and it’s great that she knows the children and families already.
“Things have been going really good so far, Teresa is really enjoying it.
“I'm sure that the pupils in Year Six are walking to school on their own now, which is what this was all about.”
Ms Wonnacott had training sessions before she started with Sian Gibbons, school crossing patrol supervisor at Oxfordshire County Council.
However, it's not just a new lollipop lady that the school has got recently.
On the same day the school got its new lollipop lady, a concrete outdoor table tennis table was delivered to the school.
The playing equipment cost £1,850 with the Andrew Fisher Foundation donating £1,500 towards it.
New bats and balls have already been ordered due to its popularity.
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