A FORMER headteacher returned to the school she worked at for more than 20 years to give a special assembly for the children of today.

Margaret Pleasants, now in her eighties, was head at Telscombe Cliffs Primary School in Peacehaven between September 1977 and December 1998.

She gave an assembly to the whole school yesterday morning to celebrate its 80th anniversary.

She spoke about how the school used to be when she was there and answered questions from the children.

Mrs Pleasants said: “It was lovely to go back. The school has changed tremendously since I was there.

“For a start we used to call them infants and juniors and now they are Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

“Ofsted inspections are far more regular and detailed and you have to be on the ball all the time.

“It isn’t so relaxed as when I was there.

“The school that’s there now isn’t even my school because we had the old building.

“But it was my main aim for the new building to be built, and it was after I left in 2001.

“I talked to the children about the lack of space we used to have.

“We went from 350 children to 610 in the time I was there and we had to use mobile classrooms.”

Since she retired from her headteacher’s post, Mrs Pleasants has been chairwoman of governors at King Offa Primary Academy in Bexhill and was on the board at Aurora Academies Trust.

She said: “I was saying the other day that I started school at five and started teaching at 21 and apart from taking two years out when I had my children, I haven’t left.”

“It was lovely to meet all the children. One of the best things was seeing a number of people who now teach at the school who knew me from when they were pupils.

“I appointed a teacher when she was 21 and she is now back as deputy head at the age of 44.”

Mrs Pleasants said on the school’s 50th anniversary in 1988, children buried a time capsule containing the school uniform, badges and pupil’s work.

She said: “They think it is on the edge of the new car park and will try to dig it up.”