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A Farewell To Mr Surr by Amber Year 3

John Surr joined Hallfield School’s Estate team two and a half years ago, and now has retired, Amber (from year 3) took the opportunity to sit down with him and reflect on his time here.

Published

23 February 2024

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Interview with John Surr

John Surr started working at Hallfield School two and a half years ago as part of the Estate team. Having learnt that he was retiring in February 2024, I wanted to interview him to learn more about his experiences.

Q. How long have you been working for?

A. John has been working for a long 46 years without any break in his employment. He started in the late 1970’s and has years of experience at the Fire Service and Highways Agency before joining Hallfield School. He also mentioned that he was 21 years old, I didn’t challenge him on that!

Q. What are you looking forward to in your retirement?

A. It has been a long time since John picked up a paint brush, and I am not talking about decorating a house! In his previous job at the Highways Agency he was gifted a beautiful art set with watercolours, oil paints and canvases. This has been left untouched for many years, finally it will be time for John to show off his creativity and skills. Fun Fact – John has an A level in Art.

Q. How long have you been working at Hallfield School?

A. Our dear bus driver has been working at Hallfield School for 2½ years. In addition to transporting the children, John also provided support to the Estate team on a variety of jobs.

Q. Do you have any last words or thoughts you’d like to share?

A. “I have really enjoyed the bus journeys. The kids have been great, well behaved..they are fantastic children,” John commented with a big smile. John also spoke about the great Estates team, he will be leaving with some lovely memories.