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Dinner lady reflects on 48 years of meals and memories

Sam Read,in Rushdenand
Shivani Chaudhari
News imageBBC An elderly woman smiling at the camera while wearing a green apron and short blonde/white hair BBC
Marlene Becks - or Mrs Becks to the pupils - has been at South End Infant School for almost 50 years

A dinner lady who has worked at the same school for almost 50 years said the job gives her a purpose to get out of bed in the morning.

Marlene Becks turned 80 on Friday and has been at South End Infant School, Rushden, Northamptonshire for 48 years.

She told the BBC "I love the children - I lost my husband 21 years ago and it still hurts. I carried on with the school and it helps me and gives me a purpose to get up in the morning."

Becks, whose official title is a lunchtime supervisor, said "The best thing about being a dinner lady is the children. I just love the job."

Becks started working at the school as a lollipop lady on the A6 back in the 1970s before she got her dinner lady role a year later.

Her path has crossed several times with her former pupils down the years and she has even attended a former schoolchild's wedding.

Another youngster went on to become an estate agent and she met him again when she was moving house... and he still remembered her.

Becks own children also went to the same school and she added: "I love it and it's lovely to see them grow up and see what they grow into."

The BBC spoke to some of the children at the school who said they "love playing with Mrs Becks", often enjoying games of hide and seek with her during their lunchtime breaks.

A lot has changed since she first started working at the school 48 years ago, and Becks reflected on that.

"Children do change and they seem to know a lot more or they want to do a little bit more.

"When I'm playing with them in they organise me - I don't organise them, they know what to do - they are more confident, " she said.

News imageAn elderly woman holding hands with children all wearing green uniform. They are all holding hands with one another and have formed a circle. They are standing in a playground
Marlene Becks says she loves playing with the children every day but said her job also helped her come to terms with the loss of her husband

When she was first employed, Becks earned £1.14 an hour and lunch was included as part of her wages, although that that is no longer the case.

Headteacher Elaine Ashcroft described her long-serving dinner lady as someone who is "fun - she is always playing with them.

"She's kind - she's really like a lioness about them and really looks after them. She really gets to know every child and takes her job seriously."

Despite turning 80, Becks said she had no plans to slow down and added she feels "no different to what it was yesterday."

"It's an achievement to get to 80 nowadays and to still be working."

Becks plans to continue working as long as she feels capable of doing the job.

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