As part of Parks Assembly this morning we were delighted to celebrate Mr Ken Coe’s 80^th birthday. Ken has been part of the school’s cleaning team for 10 years and in that time has become a much loved and respected member of the school community.

Ken was born just before the Second World War. He left school at 15 and joined the Royal Navy at 16 as a Marine Engineer Mechanic.  During 23 and a half years in the Royal Navy Ken saw action and excitement all around the world. He witnessed the nuclear bomb testing on Christmas Island as well as participating in the Suez Crisis and the relief of Aden. In his naval career Ken was promoted to Chief Marine Engineer Mechanic and as a Chief Stoker was one of the essential personnel in fighting fires and floods onboard ships and keeping the ship’s personnel safe.At the end of his naval career Ken worked in commercial yacht building before moving into caravan maintenance. For over 13 years Ken worked on a number of caravan parks.

Eventually Ken decided to retire but after 4 weeks decided that that wasn’t for him.Notley High School has been privileged to have Ken on our staff for 10 years and during that time he has not had a day off for ill health. In the assembly today we sang him Happy Birthday and gave him cake and presents.

He is an inspiration to us all and we wish him a very happy 80^th birthday.