A former secretary from Tattingstone has celebrated her 108th birthday by going back to school.

Joan Kersey, was invited back to Ipswich High School, now at Woolverstone Hall, to mark the remarkable milestone and enjoyed lunch and looking through old photos and chatting with the current pupils from the History Society.

Her cake was embossed with the former school emblem Minerva (Goddess of Wisdom) and presented by the current head teacher Dan Browning.

Joan meets pupils at Woolverstone Hall (Pictre: Ipswich High School)

Joan went to the Ipswich High School at Westerfield Road, between 1920 and 1933 when it was an all-girl school and completed sixth form, studied hard and played hockey.

She also spent two years at Miss Ransomes College for girls in London after the war.

During the Second World War she worked at her father's opticians, Henry Kersey, in Ipswich and Diss and spent much of her working life as a secretary.

Joan, who lived in the house her father built in the 1920s, is well known in the Tattingstone community, where she worked as churchwarden at St Marys Church.

As a member of the church, Joan was chosen to receive the Royal Maundy money from Queen Elizabeth at St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

Joan is well-travelled with Norway, New Zealand and Thailand among the most memorable destinations.

Flowers flooded her home, and Joan was able to add a birthday card from King Charles III and the Queen's Consort, to her royal collection from Queen Elizabeth II.

Minerva emblem on cake for Joan (Picture: Ipswich High School)