West Cumbria's longest-serving headteacher is stepping down.

Tom Ryan will retire from St Joseph's School in Workington at the end of the school year.

He has spent more than a decade in the post.

Originally from Liverpool, Mr Ryan taught on the Wirral and in Cheshire before moving to St Joseph's in 1998 as deputy headteacher.

He became head in 2005, taking over from Mark Condron.

He said: "We loved visiting the Lake District and thought it would be a great place to live and work.

"When the opportunity came up it was too good to miss. It's been a fantastic move."

Mr Ryan, 58, of Eaglesfield, moved with his wife Jean and their daughters Emma and Kate.

His career was prompted by his own history teacher, Mr Jolly.

He said: "There was never such an inappropriate name.

"He was really strict but he was one of those teachers where everybody got on and worked."

Mr Ryan trained as a history teacher, though seeking to be jollier than his own teacher, and began his career in 1982.

He was a head of history and later head of sixth form before moving to St Joseph's.

There he has sought to help pupils achieve good values as well as good exam results.

He said: "It's not all about qualifications and success at any price.

"It's about growing up to be the best person you can be."

He has found that, even in adversity pupils, staff and parents have worked to achieve their best.

That was demonstrated when St Joseph's was named school of the year in CN Group's Golden Apples in 2010, a year dominated by the aftermath of the 2009 floods.

Mr Ryan said: "The floods were very challenging but that was a good example of the community pulling together."

The school had 427 pupils when Mr Ryan arrived and now has almost 700 on the roll.

He said: "It's very highly regarded in the community.

"It gives me great satisfaction that parents want to send their children to St Joseph's.

"There's been a lot of change to education in Workington and I think this is a good time to move on.

"Somebody will come in with a new fresh perspective and that's good now and again."

Mr Ryan is looking to move on to some form of alternative work.

He also plans to travel with retired friends.

His wife, a member of support staff at Cockermouth School, plans to keep working.

He said: "It's been a privilege and a pleasure to work here and I sincerely mean those two words.

"I have always enjoyed supporting children not just academically but growing up. I have had tremendous job satisfaction.

"It's been a pleasure to work alongside an outstanding team of very caring professionals."

The governors at St Joseph's have begun the recruitment process for Mr Ryan's replacement.

Patrick Leonard, chairman of governors, said: "He will be a hard act to follow and we will certainly miss him.

"Now we must turn to the future."