After rising through the ranks to become head of modern languages at a Wantage secondary school, you could be forgiven in thinking Debbie Bowles feels she has fulfilled her potential.

But after 31 years at King Alfred’s, which has 1,800 pupils, the 53-year-old says she needs a new challenge.

She has now left to start next term as a teaching assistant at Standlake Primary School, near Witney, where there are just 97 children on the roll.

Mrs Bowles said: “I have been doing a lot of work with primary schools through my role here and just thought I would like a change.

“I have been a primary school language coach for Oxfordshire for the last few years, going round advising on teaching languages to young pupils.

“It has been great fun, and I thought that if I did not make this switch now, I would never do it.

“I thought it would be a bit presumptuous to walk into a primary school as a teacher, so I am going to start off as a teaching assistant.”

She joined the then Icknield School as a French teacher in 1980, four years before its merger with Wantage’s other secondary schools and the creation of King Alfred’s.

Over the years she has taken pupils on countless trips and French exchanges, as well as getting involved in the Reading Road school’s annual musicals.

Mrs Bowles, whose own children went to King Alfred’s, said despite the arrival of digital technology, pupils had changed little since the 1980s.

She said: “They are brilliant. People think they are different, but I do not think they really change. It sounds cheesy, but the things I will miss most are my colleagues and the kids. It has just been great.

“I think what makes King Alfred’s special is the extent of all those extra-curricular activities that the pupils can get involved in.”

She left on Friday but has already promised to help with school plays.

Headteacher Simon Spiers said: “Over 31 years Debbie has made an outstanding contribution to life at King Alfred’s.

“It has not just been about her great work in the languages department, but she has contributed to every aspect of life at the college.

“Debbie is somebody who has been involved in every kind of activity you can imagine over the decades.

“She is rarely at the front, but is working so hard behind the scenes to make sure things run as smoothly as possible.”

He added: “We all feel she will leave a huge hole when she leaves. You do not get that kind of experience overnight, and we are all very sad to see her leave.”