THE head teacher of Appleton Thorn Primary School is set to bid an emotional farewell to pupils as he sets his sights on the next chapter of his career.

Craig Burgess, who has been at the Arley Road school for 11 years, will officially leave on December 16 to take up the head teacher post at Woolston Community Primary School.

The 42-year-old said he will cherish the memories from his time as teacher, deputy head and head throughout the unforgettable tenure.

One such memory was seeing youngsters perform the iconic Haka dance in 2013 ahead of the New Zealand v Samoa Rugby League World Cup encounter at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

All year groups from the school joined in with a dance lesson where they learned the moves before executing them impressively.

Mr Burgess said: "I am going to Woolston Community Primary School but I have a lot of memories from here.

"I think the school doing the Haka and children being mascots for New Zealand was memorable.

"Also, it was great to see the school placed in the top 200 schools in the country in 2014.

"We have strong community relations here, especially with the parent teacher association.

"The legacy, for me, will be the strength of the whole community and what that strength has done to improve the school – there has been so much carried out."

With his time at the school coming to a close, Mr Burgess is savouring every moment.

And he joined all staff and pupils in dressing up for the school's historical figures writing day.

Mr Burgess, who dressed as Tutankhamun, added: "The writing day was my final dressing up day at Appleton Thorn Primary School.

"All staff dressed up – we wanted to make it the most memorable we have had here.

"The event was to encourage creative writing for children and to inspire them."