A royal-themed morning tea had been arranged at its Baddaginnie Campus to farewell ‘Princess’ Robbie, aka Robin Harrison.
Ms Harrison had agreed to fill in, temporarily, as an education assistant, back in 1995.
“I was just one of these mums that came and helped with reading and fundraising,” she said.
“There was an aid working at the school that had to leave fairly quickly, so they asked me if I’d fill in while they advertised for something else.
“Thirty years later, I was still filling in.”
Ms Harrison has worked across all campuses of the school, while also raising a family, managing a pool, and working several other jobs.
But, no matter how busy she got, she always enjoyed her days working with the staff and students at Peranbin.
Robin became knows as Princess Robbie after attending a conference with the school where education assistants were given tiaras to celebrate their importance to the classroom.
“I used to be a mere mortal,” she said.
“They gave us the tiaras as they said we weren’t the most respected people at a school, and they wanted us to feel respected.
“I’ve always felt respected, but I thought I’d wear it for those who didn’t feel that way.
“I’ve worn it ever since, which is about 20 years now.”
The school held a special morning tea for Ms Harrison on Monday, September 15, with former staff and students in attendance.
One of those was former school business manager Pat Cherry.
“Working with Robbie at the school was great,” she said.
“We all formed great friendships right from the word go, and we’re still friends to this day.”
While Ms Harrison is retiring from her position at Peranbin Primary College, her days looking after, and educating, young people are not quite over.
She is now working at the kindergarten in Violet Town, where some of the children she looks after are the kids of students she also taught at Peranbin.
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