Puplils at Bishops Cannings Primary School have enlisted the help of a local company to make a video tribute for their head teacher who retired after 24 years at the school.

In July the Year 4 class were given the task of creating a farewell video for their headteacher, David Wade.

Mr Wade worked at Bishops Cannings School for 24 years so the children decided to research key events that had taken place across the world during those years and present them as news reports.

They all took on the role of news presenters and worked extremely hard to research, write the scripts and perform and film a series of news reports from across the decades.

As part of the children’s ICT (information communication technology) class they then edited and finalised the video to present to the whole school. This term, they have made a Christmas song video as part of their 70s and 80s topic which has furthered their ICT and music skills.

Then, last Thursday, they visited Cardwave, a local technology business based on the Hopton Industrial Estate in Devizes, as part of the process of copying their films onto USB sticks to be presented to them as a lasting memory of their project.

Paul Norbury, Cardwave’s managing director and a parent at the school, invited the children to see how technology works. Teacher Eleri Hood said: “It has been a fantastic experience for the children to have led their project from its initial conception to its publication.”

Mr Wade left in July and his deputy, Catherine Vardy, has been standing in as acting head until Jonathan Barber arrives in January to take over the reins.

From his home in Trowbridge, Mr Wade told the Gazette that he was deeply touched by the pupils’ tribute.

He said: “I had a preview of this at the final assembly in July when all the classes had put together little news reports of events throughout the last however many years I’d been at the school.

“It was very strange sitting there, thinking ‘they’re doing this for me’.

“I have missed the day-to-day contact with colleagues and kids but there are other things about education I have not missed.”

Mr Wade said he and his wife have had time to catch up on gardening projects and meeting friends.