TUESDAY, July 21, is an important date for both staff and pupils at St Nicholas Catholic High School.

Not only is it the last day of school before the summer holidays, it is the last day in school for head teacher Gerard Boyle before his retirement.

Mr Boyle, who has been headteacher at the school for the past 14 years, has seen a lot of new development throughout the school, the most recent being the state-of-the-art sports hall, science labs and language rooms.

He said: “It was a great success and took a lot of energy to make it successful.

“As a school we had to raise £400,000 for the building work to be done and with the help of a fantastic action group this was greatly achieved.

“It has made a big difference to what we can offer to the students regarding physical education, science and modern foreign languages.”

Mr Boyle said his best achievement was working with the whole school community.

“We have a very professional, hardworking staff, extremely supportive governers, marvellous students and I will miss them all,” he said.

“I hope they will continue to develop the school in a variety of ways and continue to enhance the standards of the range of activities within the school.

“The future of the school is now in the hands of the people – the staff, governors, students, clergy and anyone who has been related to the school and I wish all of them continued success.”

During his retirement he would like to try something different in education but will be enjoying some much-needed free time after the hectic years at St Nicholas.

A little known fact about the 60-year-old is that he is a keen motorcyclist.

He said: “It’ll be lovely to be able to get on the motorbike when it’s sunny without having to worry about going to school.”

He would also like to spend more time with his new granddaughter, Hannah.

Rosie Millar, 15, is currently working at the Northwich Guardian as part of a two-week work placement.

She said: “As a student at St Nicholas I think Mr Boyle has been an excellent head teacher and will be missed by all.

“On behalf of the rest of the school I would like to wish him good luck in everything he chooses to do after he has left St Nicholas.”