A fun-loving lollipop lady has retired after three decades of helping thousands of kids cross the road safely.
Friday marked dedicated school patroller Pauline Scott’s last day at Alloway Primary School with droves of pupils, parents and staff turning out to give her a fitting send-off.
Colourful chalk messages lined the pavement where Pauline helps pupils cross the road, wishing her well as she steps down from her beloved post after 36 years.
Pauline, who lives in Minishant, told Ayrshire Live: “It’s just been amazing. Where I cross the children, both sides of the road are filled with messages and pictures.
“It’s absolutely super what they’ve done - and that’s just on the pavement before you even get to the school. The presents keep on coming in. They’ve always been very kind to me, especially at Christmas, summer and Easter.”
Mum-of-two Pauline, 66, first started in November of 1986 and has helped thousands of kids cross the street safely in that time, including generations of the same families.
Pauline was named South Ayrshire Council’s ‘School Crossing Patroller of the Year’ back in 2013, and scooped a British Empire Medal (BEM) for her service in 2018.
She said: “It was the Police who employed us at that point and you had to be 30, so I was 30 on November 23 and I started on November 24! I’ve been doing it so long.
“One mum came to me and said ‘I was talking to another parent who said Pauline used to cross me when I went to school’. There’s quite a few like that.”
Pauline - who is always thinking of the kids first - decided to retire just before the summer holidays in hopes of getting a replacement in before the pupils finished term, providing them with some consistency upon their return.
She said: “I decided to leave now rather than the end of the holidays because I thought if they get somebody in place so that the children have got the continuity of whoever is taking over; the same face when they come back in August so they know who it is.”
“The kids are just amazing. I have a brilliant rapport with the kids and all the neighbours round about. I carry on and kid on with the kids. I might be the age I am but they love it.”
And Pauline has no plans of slowing down during retirement.
She added: “We have a lodge down at Glenluce so I think there will be more time spent there.
“I do a lot of crafting things and I love my garden too, so it’s not a case of I’ll be sitting at home with the rocking chair out with the knitting needle.
“There’s plenty that I can do that’s for sure!”
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