mmg.com.au

It was an end of an era on Monday — and it was celebrated in style.

Long-serving principal of the Seymour College P-4 campus Fiona McCarthy stepped down from the job she first took on at the-then Seymour East Primary School in 2007.

Mrs McCarthy’s association with the school goes back to 1982, and while it came to an end on Monday, it was with plenty of joy.

School students had a big surprise for Mrs McCarthy — herself dressed as a student with pigtails. They broke out into a rousing rendition of ABBA’s Dancing Queen to which she obliged by showing off plenty of dance moves of her own.

‘‘I’ve got to try very hard not to cry,’’ she told the assembly.

‘‘Girls and boys that was just fantastic. I’m going to miss everybody.’’

Mrs McCarthy also had some final words of advice on being successful.

‘‘Believe in yourselves, do the best that you can do, try your best, try hard and have a go at new things because that’s how you learn.’’

She also thanked staff who she said she was going to miss ‘‘very, very much’’.

■A look back on Mrs McCarthy’s teaching career will feature in a future edition of the Telegraph.