A teacher once crowned the UK's Teacher of the Year has retired after 41 years working in Croydon schools.

Jenny Butcher qualified as a teacher in 1972 and has taught thousands of pupils from across the borough since starting her career at Selhurst Girls School.

The 62-year-old was honoured at a special event at Oasis Academy Coulsdon on Friday, in recognition of the 26 years she has spent teaching in Coulsdon.

After having her two children, Mrs Butcher returned to what was then Taunton Manor School, as a home economics and textiles teacher. She remained teaching at school when it was renamed Coulsdon High School in 1994, and became Oasis Academy Coulsdon in 2008.

She won the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship Teacher of the Year award in 2004.

Mrs Butcher, who has held a variety of positions including Head of Business Studies, Head of Careers and Work Related Learning and Assistant Director of Sixth Form, left the school last half term but returned last week to help students ahead of their business studies exams.

She said: "It is very strange not teaching, I feel like I am playing truant. I have taught thousands of pupils in Croydon, as well as teaching business I also ran the careers program and organised work experience, so every single child has come through me at some point.

"I still have people calling me 'miss' 30 years after teaching them. At open evenings I look around at parents and some of them are just grinning at me and they get in there first and tell their children 'you don't want to mess around with this teacher.'"

Mrs Butcher said she is looking forward to spending her retirement travelling, spending time with her mother and grandchildren, but she will also remain involved in running Young Enterprise in Croydon.

Asked what she will miss most about teaching, Mrs Butcher added: "I am not missing all the assessment preparation abut I will miss the conversations with students because I think teenagers are hysterical."

Headteacher David Millar said Mrs Butcher would be sorely missed and had "taught, advised, motivated and inspired" thousands of young people.