Retired school caretaker celebrates 90th birthday at her former place of work in Worthing

Avril Andrew, who was 90 on Sunday, was caretaker at Heene School for 25 years before retirement. At the time, the school was located in Heene Road, in what is now Heene Community Centre.

An afternoon tea party was held at the centre on Sunday and a bagpiper accompanied the arrival of the birthday cake, to honour Avril's half-Scottish ancestry.

Daughter Elizabeth Karter said: "Mum was caretaker of that same building when it was Heene First and Middle School. All my family are Worthing born and bred.

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"Mum lived in the same house in Cobden Road for more than 57 years, the oldest surviving resident.

"She grew up during the war, watching dogfights between Nazi and British planes in the skies over Worthing. As the bombing escalated in Worthing, her father moved the family temporarily to Shoreham.

"There, a Doodlebug bomb dropped in the allotments of Eastern Avenue, where they lived. It blew out the windows and doors of the house."

Avril had three children. When she retired, her son, Adrian, took over the role of caretaker at Heene First School, now in Norfolk Street, and has been there for the last 24 years.

Elizabeth, who was awarded an MBE in 2021 for her work as a therapist, helping countless women achieve successful recovery from gambling addiction, pointed out: "Both he and I attended Heene as children in the 1970s."

Heene National School opened in Heene Road in 1886. It became Heene First and Middle School in September 1973. New buildings in Norfolk Street were opened for the younger children and the older children remained in Heene Road until July 1986. The Norfolk Street school became Heene CE Primary School in September 2015.