Paul Tarrant arrived at Archbishop Sancroft High School in January 1975 and has been responsible for developing a thriving music curriculum ever since.

"When I first came to the school, there was a piano, a record player and a hymn book," he said.

"I still have the piano and the hymn book!"

"The first thing we developed was the wind playing and it helped to give the school a focus.

"I spent the first decade building that up and we played at the Norfolk Show, Norwich Cathedral and at Sandringham on numerous occasions. We had many more kids playing then because all music provision was free."

Mr Tarrant said as pupils became interested in rock and pop, they started to form school bands and put on concerts and, when they started to write their own songs, the school also got into recording CDs.

"We are quite unusual as a school because we have had our own 16-track recording studio for around ten to 12 years and have produced three CDs," he said.

Offering plenty of opportunities for live performance has always been an important part of the school's music development and today Archbishop Sancroft High School boasts a big wind band, a choir, various instrumental groups, brass groups and a number of rock bands and performing soloists.

"We've always given a lot of encouragement and tried to instill a belief in the kids they are supported and they can do it," said Mr Tarrant.

"There's a lot of bands around Harleston today who first started playing music at the school, and a lot of musicians and singers who have been enjoying making music for years since they were here, and that's really nice."

During his retirement, Mr Tarrant hopes to spend a little more time on developing his own music.

He had a classical music education at college and has worked professionally in orchestras, playing double bass, clarinet, saxophone and guitar, but he has also played in rock bands from the age of 11 and even won a recording contract when he was 16.

"I have a nice overview of both halves of the music world, both classical and popular music," he said.

Now he has some songs of his own that he would like to work on and record, and he also plans to run his own music publishing business.