Music, a crowd of cheering people, a few alpacas and two chickens were all waiting to farewell the retiring principal.

“That was just spectacular,” he said about the warm welcome he received.

He said the reception/farewell made him feel special.

Mr Glenday was principal at Vincentia for 12-years and five weeks and gave 100 per cent.

“Being a principal is hard work and it’s probably one of the loneliest jobs in education,” he said.

“Nobody likes to be told ‘no’ but that is the job and you have to lead the school - I don’t shirk from those duties.”

Mr Glenday was tough when needed and maybe not always in the good books with his students and their parents.

However, he did earn their respect.

“In the community over the last two weeks when people knew I was going young people stopped me in the streets who are now electricians or technicians who would quite happy to say they were not the best students at the school but they did get a fair go.

“They turned their around and now they are really solid citizens of the community and doing really well for themselves.”

The fair go approach was something he believed in.

He helped the school grow since he first arrived in 2005 and said he always wanted to come to Vincentia High.

“The challenge of being at a young school was good,” he said.

“I think what I leave here now is that the school looks awesome and it’s part of the community. I think the school is a respected part of the community and I think that is what you want a school to be,” he said.

“It’s time now for someone else to come in and take the reins and take the school to the next stage.

“I think whoever comes in has an awesome school to run with awesome group of kids and teachers and I very proud of that.

“I am very proud of the kids and they have overwhelmed me with the support they have given me over the past two weeks.”

He had spent a few years at Dubbo before heading to the coast and his teaching career spanned 39 years.

He will be doing some travelling in retirement and watching lots of sport.

Mr Glenday will still live in the area in retirement and will be still involved in the community with various projects.

Students like Lauren Allen, Cooper Solberg and Terri Milani will miss principal Steve Glenday.

Lauren has a lot of respect for Mr Glenday.

“He is really enthusiastic about the school and setting out to make a positive change to make the school better and make the students feel included,” Lauren said.

“He is a very nice guy and it was always good to see him in the hall and it made the day better.”

Lauren said if she had an issue she could count on Mr Glenday for support.

“The school is going to miss him and I hope has a really good life in retirement,” Lauren said

Terri agreed that Mr Glenday would be missed.

“On behalf of the school I would like to say a ‘big thank you’ to Mr Glenday who had a massive postive change on the school,” Terri said.

“One of the biggest things was he made everyone feel really included and encouraged them to strive for their best

“He really deserves a good retirement and I hope he does have a good retirement.”

Cooper also thanked Mr Glenday for his support and wished him well in retirement.