A school governor is hanging up his satchel as he retires after first joining the school more than 70 years ago.

Brian Grayston, 76, first stepped foot inside Bush Hill Park Primary school, on Main Avenue, in September 1942.

The former councillor and lead member for education at the local authority stayed on at the school until 1953 but could not keep away for long and returned as a governor in 1970.

Mr Grayston told the Enfield Independent: “When I left as a 15-year-old I really did not expect to come back. But once I got into politics and became a councillor, I couldn’t help but come back here.”

Moving in and out of politics up until 2002 when he last stood at a council election, the former Labour MP candidate was also chairman of governors at the school from 2003 until 2012.

When asked why Mr Grayston was deciding to leave the school, he said his health was one of the main reasons.

He said: “I am not as healthy as I used to be and maybe it is time for others to take on the mantle. I will certainly miss being here because it is a fantastic school and I have spent more years of my life here than not.”

A celebratory event to mark Mr Grayston’s reign also saw the current headteacher of the school Sue Crisp sign off after 14 years.

Ms Crisp, who joined the school after it was placed in special measures and was made headteacher six years ago, has transformed the school transformed and the school was judged ‘good’ by Ofsted in its latest inspection in November 2012.

Ms Crisp said: “It has been a roller coaster ride at times, with some very tough times, some exhilarating ones and some that have just been a hard slog.”

As part of the celebrations, a specialised cake in the form of ‘the perfect lesson’ Ofsted book was created for the outgoing headteacher.

Ms Crisp also paid tribute to the hard work of Mr Grayston during her time at the school.

She said: “He has been superb for this school and done so much over the years. He was very supportive of me and was one of the reasons that I decided to take up the role as headteacher six years ago.

“I am leaving a great team behind who are going to take the school to the next level.”

When asked about what he would miss the most, Mr Grayston said: “The kids are what I will miss the most, they are so very polite and well behaved. They are what we are all here for.”