St Martin’s Primary says goodbye to site manager
A ST MARTIN’S Primary School stalwart is retiring after a quarter of a century maintaining the school’s grounds.
Richard Moullin joined the school as a part time cleaner in 1998 to supplement his wages from his butcher’s job in anticipation of a family trip to America, and carried in the position until 2011 when he became assistant caretaker.
‘You know what it’s like when you’re on holiday you don’t want to say no to the kids, so I thought I should get some extra money and then I just stuck at it,’ said Mr Moullin.
Around 2014 he became site manager, the role he stayed in until his retirement.
Mr Moullin said during his tenure he has given and taken a lot of banter with the pupils, especially when wearing the jersey of his football team Manchester City, which he said rarely went down well.
‘The kids would tease me about how we had never won a Champions League so when we did I had to give a bit back.’
Among his most memorable moments at St Martin’s are sorting out a bat problem, using a crowbar to prise open a fence after a pupil had got their head stuck in it and playing his part in the new traffic arrangements around the school.
Mr Moullin also played a crucial part during Covid when staff split up into two groups so outbursts would not wipe out the whole team, coming in every day to keep up general maintenance.
Headteacher Clare Giles sung his praises and said she was sad to see him go.
‘Richard is such an important part of the team, he’s unflappable and always seems to come up with a solution to any problems,’ she said.
His departure was met with a wave of positive feedback and gifts from parents of pupils.
