We want Tom to sweep to victory in janitor contest

Published on Monday 4 April 2011 13:28

A SCHOOL janitor who rose before dawn in winter to dig paths through the snow has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

Tom Weston, janitor at King's Park Primary in Dalkeith, has made it on to the three-person shortlist for educational supporter of the year at the Scottish Education Awards.

The award celebrates the contribution of all school staff who are not teachers, from nurses to teaching assistants, and is open for nominations from all over the country.

Mr Weston has been recognised for his devotion to the school where, in addition to his regular duties, he takes children in for lunch and supervises their breaks in the local park.

He leads football training sessions, making sure all children get a chance to represent the school, takes pupils to matches and washes the strips afterwards. During the cold weather he got up at 4.30am to check the heating system and clear paths through the foot-and-a-half of snow in the playground.

Headteacher Iain Dalglish said Mr Weston, 59, had also been nominated for his positive attitude. He said: "Tom sets an ethos of mutual respect between himself and people in the school community. That has a great impact on pupils.

"Whether in school or out of school, Tom shows his manners, pride and commitment. He is the first in and last out of the school, and nothing's ever too much trouble.

"He'll do all kinds of jobs and he's the most modest man you could meet."

Pupils were told of the nomination in advance and managed to keep it a secret as they wrote stories, poems and even a song in praise of the janitor.

Mr Dalglish said: "The whole school was thrilled."

Judges visited the school yesterday to hear pupils, staff, former pupils and parents pay tribute to Mr Weston, who lives in a flat next to the school.

The janitor said: "I'm just about holding it together. I just about cracked up when the kids sang their song to me - Simply The Best, with their own words - totally out of the blue."

He said he had initially been concerned when Mr Dalglish summoned him to his office.

He said: "The headteacher called me up to his room and I thought it was just the usual maintenance thing for the summer and Iain started off with 'You've been here 25 years'. I thought, 'Where's this going?'. I started to panic. I was flabbergasted. I'm just overwhelmed."

He said he had seen great changes at the school in 25 years but one thing that had not changed was its positive atmosphere. "It works both ways, the staff here are absolutely brilliant and it's just a nice atmosphere to work in."

The winner will be announced at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow on June 14.