Beloved Teaching Assistant Retires after four decades at Maple Hayes Dyslexia School

A beloved teaching assistant who has worked at a specialist dyslexic school in Staffordshire for almost four decades has said goodbye to her pupils for the final time.

Helen Veszpremi has worked at Maple Hayes Hall School in Lichfield for the past 39 years as a teaching assistant, and prior to that as a boarding house parent.

Mrs Veszpremi had her final day at the school, which this year celebrates its 40th year since opening, on Friday (July 12).

This term also sees the retirement of Alison Murray who has been working for the past nine years in the school office, taking a particular role in the management of Annual Reviews of EHC Plans (Education, Health and Care Plans).

The pair had a joint leaving party to mark the occasion before the school broke up for the summer holidays.

Mrs Veszpremi called the job “perfect” and said she would miss the school and the pupils terribly as they had been such a huge part of her life.

“When I started the school had only just been set up and at the time had a boarding school part to it, so I was looking after the children in evenings and every other weekend. It worked perfectly as I had a young family and could work around that.

“I was then asked if I would like to be more of a part of the day school so I worked in the library in the craft type classes and generally helped out with bits and bobs. This slowly grew to be doing a lot more.

“About 20 years ago I did a higher level teaching assistant course at Burton College, and became an assistant teacher with unqualified status. 

“This meant that I was able to do handwriting and a lot of other different things with the children and help in their lessons. It really became a joy to see them improve so much over the weeks I was working with them, with their handwriting going from illegible to beautiful cursive writing and I have always shared the joy they had in it,” she said.

Mrs Veszpremi has worked with hundreds of pupils throughout the years and says she enjoyed every minute of the role.

“It really will be a sad day when I finish but I shall always be on hand if they need me in the future. I’m planning on spending my time looking after my mother and seeing a lot more of my grandchildren so it will be a nice change but I shall miss it,” she added.

Headteacher Daryl Brown said both Mrs Veszpremi and Mrs Murray would be much missed.

“It has been a pleasure to work alongside them both and have them on the team at Maple Hayes.

“They are very much loved and respected by the pupils and I know many who have left will remember with fondness having Mrs Veszpremi in the classroom with them, giving them enough support and encouragement while also allowing them to thrive and be independent, which is what we always want them to be. Mrs Murray, working from the office, had a pastoral and safeguarding role and supporting many pupils. The whole school wants to thank them for their time and commitment and we wish them all the best for the future,” he added.