A school caretaker who has chalked up 25 years’ service says he feels lucky to have a job involving fresh challenges every day.

Robert Conway, 55, has been caretaker at St Mary’s Church of England Academy in Stotfold’s Rook Tree Lane since 1992 – and he combines the job with work as a part-time driving instructor.

The dad-of-three and grandfather-of-three told the Comet: “I’m quite in the background, and not one to be made a fuss of – I look after those things that happen every day to keep the school ticking over. I’ve just celebrated this milestone with my family.

“The job can be quite varied – you can be one day retrieving a shoe off the roof, and another day retrieving a child’s foot that’s got stuck in a fence! It is quite varied.

“My wife Sheryl was still carrying our elder daughter when we came here – we’re from Stevenage originally, but were living in Potters Bar before this school came up.

“We liked the area and thought it would be a great place for the children to grow up, so I took the job.

“The highlight of the past 25 years has been the children coming through the school and now having their own careers. Some of the pupils from St Mary’s have been my own driving students too.

“Stotfold has changed a lot in all that time. There’s more houses and all that now – but so far as we’re concerned, there’s no plans to change.

“After 25 years I still love doing the job and it brings about new challenges every day. I’m quite lucky, I think.”

Headteacher Sam Bishop added: “We’d like to thank Robert for the work he has done over the last 25 years and for his commitment to St Mary’s. He has seen St Mary’s grow and change considerably over the past 25 years.

“Robert’s role covers a wide range of jobs across the whole school. He is part of our school family and loves a chat and a joke with the staff.”

To find out more about the school see stmarysacademystotfold.co.uk.