One of Cardiff’s longest-serving and best-loved school caretakers is retiring after more than a quarter of a century.
When Julie Seaward started working at Roath Park Primary in 1995 there was no uniform, no breakfast club, and no Welsh Government. The school was also less than half the size with only 210 children compared to 484 now.
She has worked with three head teachers through major changes including devolution and the pandemic. Living on site her two now grown-up children attended the school which she describes as “like home”.
Read more: The friendly ghost that's been haunting a Cardiff school for generations
“I love this school. It is me. I’ve made friends for life here,” said Julie, 60, who has kept in touch with children who are now parents themselves.
""Roath Park Primary is the best school in the world. It's just a lovely family school. Over the years it has got a lot more colourful and brighter."
Head teacher Jonathan Keohane described Julie as the “matriarch of the school” and said she would be missed.
“Julie is more than a caretaker, she has done so much for the school. It’s been a vocation of love for the children and the community.
“She has done a lot of unpaid work for the school beyond her job. If she was a stick of rock she would have Roath Park Primary written through her.
"She is a mother figure for the school. She supported people through good times and bad. It's like the end of an era and we will miss her."
Julie started working at the school in 1995 when her daughter Caira, now 33, joined. She worked as a midday supervisor until 1996 and then in the school kitchen until 2000 when she became the caretaker. Two years later, aged 40, she suffered a stroke but recovered and was soon back at the job she loved.
“I wasn’t the first woman caretaker – there are a few of us but not many,” she said.
"I had a stroke in 2002 which left me with a weakness down my left side but I didn't let that stop me."
As caretaker Julie’s core task was to look after the large 19th-century school and grounds, opening and locking up the premises each day and being on call 24/7 as well as being on site for maintenance and repair teams. She put out the rubbish, managed the boilers and alarms and opened up for after school events.
Julie loves the school community so much she also worked as an unpaid helper in classrooms and on school trips. At the start of every new academic year she spent her own time and money making a full cooked breakfast for all the staff.
“I started to work here before there was a Welsh Government. A lot has changed over the years. There was no breakfast club and no after-school club when I started and no foundation phase and no uniform. We were one of the first schools to get a breakfast club in 2004.
“The school is open for longer now and a community classroom opened for adult learning in the day. I’ve seen the school become more of a community."
As caretaker Julie has spent plenty of time on site while it was empty. That meant several encounters with the school’s famed ghost.
“I lived on site from 2000 until December 2021 and did sense the green lady often. She’s been here this week leaving doors open and closing doors. I think she’s saying goodbye.”
Julie said Covid “has been awful” and she missed the children and staff during lockdowns.
It will be a wrench leaving the place that has been part of her life for so long but she plans to keep in touch.
Julie’s son Owyn, 30, who also went to the school, has now returned as a teaching assistant and she plans to come back to volunteer.
“I will keep in touch and will come back as a helper. This school is part of me. I can’t stay away. I don't want to think about leaving but I'll be back. It's never felt like work being here."
As she prepared to leave Julie helped her successor Carson Burnett. He admitted he has big shoes to fill but agreed with Julie that the school already feels like home.
"I am really looking forward to the job. The school is like a big family. It doesn't feel like coming to work."
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