AN emotional Kate Garraway turned up at an Abingdon primary school’s farewell to a special teaching assistant — her mother.

Marylyn Garraway, 67, has helped with art classes at St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School for 24 years.

She and fellow teaching assistant Maureen Sollis, 50, who is also leaving, after 14 years, helped pupils with hundreds of art projects, ranging from pottery nativity scenes to prints which decorate school corridors.

Mrs Garraway hopes to spend more time with her four grandchildren.

Mrs Sollis wants to open her own gallery to display her ceramics work.

TV star Kate Garraway, 42, whose second baby, William, was born ten weeks ago, turned up as a surprise guest for the Thursday morning assembly farewell at the Radley Road school.

The Abingdon-born GMTV presenter, who went to Dunmore Primary and Fitzharrys schools, drove from London to share the moment with her mother and father Gordon.

She said: “I was really emotional.

“The school is a very optimistic, happy place and I can see why mum loves it. It’s been a big chunk of her life.

“I feel very involved in St Edmund’s as well — every Christmas, as soon as the presents are unwrapped, mum’s making sure she gets all the wrapping paper for the next art project here.

“Even my husband has started keeping stuff for her to use now.”

Her mother said: “My time here has been absolutely brilliant and we will both miss it.

“The work is fantastically rewarding. It is a real delight to see their creativity, and how they think they cannot do things which they can.”

Mrs Sollis promised the pair would soon return to see what the children have been up to.

She said: “It has been a real honour to work here and we’re really going to miss everybody.”

The departing teaching assistants handcrafted a ceramic sculpture of the Madonna and Child as a parting gift to the school.

Headteacher Margaret Crompton said: “We don’t quite know what we’re going to do without them. They’ve contributed so much by giving our children fantastic experiences in art that they otherwise wouldn’t have. It is going to leave quite a big hole in the school.”