For when the children return in September, bright-eyed and eager to learn, their familiar P7 teacher Rea Allen, who was also the vice-principal, will not be there to welcome them.

Teachers may come and go, but Rea Allen, when she settled herself in behind her desk, did so for the long haul, and spent the next 36 years dispensing wisdom to a steady stream of young scholars.

"This was the first post I had," she said. "I came here as Miss Ferguson in September 1972, and at the start I hated it, well not really hated it. I came from Omagh and I was far away from home but I stayed in Newbuildings and got married and didn't go anywhere. So it's a long time."

Remarking that school had changed a lot over the years she went on, "I started off teaching P5, and I think I had 37 pupils in the first year. It was a big class.

"I taught P5 for a long number of years and I worked with P3,4 and 5 for a year, and I taught special needs for a year or two, and then I moved to P6 and on to P7, and I have had P7 for around eight years or so."

In the early days before television and then computers took a hold, Mrs Rea recalled how children made their own fun and games, but technology and electronic toys had changed the way children played and interacted.

"Children think in a different way now, but I don't think there is much difference between children now and children when I first started," she said, adding that she did not agree with all the bad press children got in today's world.

Having spent much of the last week saying tearful farewells to parents, pupils and staff at eh school, Mrs Rea was quick to heap praise on the Principal, Mrs Heather Poole and the other teaching staff.

"I have worked with three principals, Mrs Simpson, Mrs Henderson and then Mrs Poole and every one of them had great vision. This school has always been a forward thinking school, and I think those three people were always ahead of their time," she said, adding: "Mrs Poole is excellent. It is hard today to keep ahead with all the changes and each one of those principals has had new curriculums to face and have had changes during the time they served this school."She added: "The staff here have been second to none. They care for the children and support each other. I couldn't speak highly enough of them all. It has been a privilege to work with all of them."

Paying tribute to Mrs Allen, Mrs Poole said: "Rea is the most outstanding teacher that I have ever met in my career. She has been in this school 36 to 37 years and she has just given her all to it.

"Everything she does, she does to her absolute maximum and all the children who have been taught by her have been very very lucky. We are going to miss her terribly," she said.