Frances Jones

A SCHOOL secretary has retired after more than a quarter of a century helping pupils in Camden Town.

Frances Jones has witnessed everything from the fire brigade helping to get a child’s head unstuck from underneath a toilet door, to her usual duties of taking minutes and ensuring all runs well at Cavendish School.

The 66-year-old, whose final day after 26 years was on Thursday, moved to work at the school from a job at Selfridges in the early 1990s. A parishioner at

Our Lady of Hal Roman Catholic Church in Arlington Street, Ms Jones saw a postcard advertising the job.

“It’s been a joy working here,” she said.
“When I hear other people say about how difficult it is to get up in the morning, I have no idea what they’re talking about because it’s been such a pleasure.”

While she has seen changes at the school, Ms Jones has also witnessed the transformation of Camden Town. Living in Jamestown Road when she started the job, she said areas such as the Camden markets used to be for “normal people, living in Camden”, where they could do their weekly food shop, rather than a tourist trap.

She said that after three decades, she is still recognised by former pupils but it’s sometimes tricky to immediately pin down who they are.

“They’ll come up to me and say, ‘hello, Mrs Jones’, and I know their faces but I don’t remember their names as well. But it’s always so nice to be remembered,” she added.

She said she is leaving now so she can make the most of her retirement and would still be helping prepare young parishioners at Our Lady of Hal for their confirmation and communion.