A former primary school pupil has come full circle as he returns as a teacher nearly two decades later - and even found his face on a tea towel in the staff room.

Reo Mardell began working at St Peter’s Infant School in Rochester in September after having “always dreamed about being a teacher”.

Now 22, Reo, who lives in Borstal, attended the school between 2006 and 2009 and says coming back this year felt like “returning to a family.”

He told KentOnline: “I know it sounds silly, but I always wanted to be a teacher and at parents’ evenings I’d tell my teachers I wanted to be them one day.

“I wanted to come back to my old school because it felt like home.

“My mum worked here as a dinner lady when I was here and it’s been really nice to come back to my roots and to see some of the staff that were working here when I was here.

“It felt like I was returning to a family.”

He says the layout of the building is exactly how he remembers it from 18 years ago, and that walking through the school doors again “brought back so many memories”.

Reo, who grew up down the street from the school, studied drama at Canterbury Christ Church University for three years and then decided to do a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) in primary education.

When asked why he decided to go down the teaching route instead of going into drama, he explained: “They link well together because with both you can be very creative and enthusiastic.

“So I thought that by becoming a teacher I could bring my drama skills to teaching and show children it’s okay to be yourself and be out there.

“Teaching is the place to be and I’m so happy to be here.

“I love performing and doing nativities, and role-playing in English is so fun for the children.

“Drama is one of those things where you get to step outside of your comfort zone and to allow children to do that in the classroom is just amazing because they can express their imagination.

“Seeing how happy the children are and knowing they are in a safe environment is my favourite part about the job.”

Last week, teaching assistant at the school Marcela Earle discovered a tea towel from 2007 which had drawings of a class from that year on.

And upon closer inspection, she noticed Reo was one of them.

He explained: “I first saw it when I was in the staff room. It was on the side and I recognised it straight away because my nan has the same one.

“I did try and hide it to myself a bit but one day it got washed and one of the teachers realised I was on there.”

Head teacher Joanna Worrall added: “There was also a drawing of me on the tea towel from when I worked at the school as a teaching assistant.

“17 years later I am now the head teacher – the children were fascinated.”

Although he has only been teaching his class for a few months, Reo says it has been going “really well so far”, adding: “It’s amazing to know that I’m changing children’s lives every day and helping them become who they want to be.

“When I saw the job come up it felt like a sign.

“It’s just really nice to see how many smiles I put onto their faces and I’ve loved teaching Year 1 as well because it’s really the root of when learning starts to happen.

“Parents have been telling me how happy they are in my class and the work the children have created has been great.

“Everything we’ve done this term has been amazing and I just can’t wait to continue.”