A LOLLIPOP lady who helps children safely to school in some of the worst weather conditions in the country has been recognised for her dedication to the job.

Brenda Forcer has been the lollipop lady for Foxhill Primary School in Queensbury for 25 years, and yesterday the school celebrated her time there with a special assembly.

Located 1,200 feet above sea level, Foxhill is one of the highest primary schools in the country. Its location means the school is often battered by high winds and heavy snow.

But despite this, the school rarely closes in bad weather, and has gained a reputation for being one of the hardiest schools in Yorkshire.

Just like the school, Mrs Forcer, 59, who lives in the village, braves the weather, and staff at the school say she has barely missed a day in her quarter century as lollipop lady.

An employee of Bradford Council, she helps children across the busy Brighouse and Denholme Road first thing in the morning, and at the end of the school day, as well as helping the nursery children cross at lunchtimes.

When she isn’t wielding her lollipop sign, she volunteers in the school, and has become an integral part of Foxhill to students, staff and parents.

Yesterday her service was marked with an assembly where she was honoured in front of the entire school, during which she was presented with a bench for her garden, brought thanks to donations from, staff, parents and the community.

She had no idea the school was going to be celebrating the occasion, and head Sally Hey said she was shocked when she found out.

Mrs Hey said: “She has been out there for 25 years. The weather can be really horrendous up here, with the wind and cold, but she rarely misses a day.

“She is very, very dedicated.

“We are on a busy main road and you sometimes get traffic going past very fast. We desperately need her. There probably isn’t a more dangerous road than this one to get children across, but she does it every day and does a sterling job.

“She lets the children know if they are acting dangerously.

“She starts at 8.30in the morning and is always early, and helps everyone across the road, not just children. It is little things like that that make the difference.

“Because she has been here so long she has helped a lot of the parents of some of our children across the road when they were in school.

“When she volunteers she helps in schools a lot, volunteering in a lot of the classes.

“The assembly was lovely, the parents have been so generous and a lot made donations for her gift.

“She didn’t see it coming at all.”

When the weather drops and threatens snow, many of the local and even national broadcasters look to Foxhill as an example of a school that manages to stay open, even when many others call snow days.

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