English teacher Peter Robinson on Friday walked with good-humoured resignation through a guard of honour at North Albury’s Xavier High School, where he has taught for nearly half a century.

For some time now, the school has been enjoying what principal Gavin Dykes called “the Festival of Robbo”, with dress-ups, trivia and chocolate celebrations to acknowledge the long-serving teacher’s retirement.

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Mr Robinson, 71, joined the staff of then Aquinas College in 1971 and helped the all-boys school merge with St Joseph’s Ladies College to form Xavier High School in the early 1980s.

Mr Dykes said with 2018 marking 150 years of Catholic education it was amazing for a staff member to have worked nearly a third of that period. He praised Mr Robinson’s joy for teaching, which inspired both colleagues and students.

“He almost at times seems like a zen-like figure, very calm, very wise, very passionate and very youthful in the way that he goes about his craft,” Mr Dykes said.

“A man of few words, but very wise words and words that you listen to and take heed.”

Mr Robinson “nearly fell over” when he saw the guard of honour, the latest in a series of events noting his 48-year career.

He felt the tribute was less about him and more about the Xavier students who were willing to line up and applaud.

“I think it’s about the generosity of spirit, the just sheer human niceness that I see at this school all the time,” he told the crowd.

“It seems to me that it’s those absolutely unconscious, accidental, normal bits of generosity of spirit that make this a fantastic school.

“I’m glad that this school, that’s been my working life, is in such tremendous hands.”

The guard of honour came after Xavier’s gift giving mass, where the school presented $2000 to St Vincent de Paul.

Regional school co-ordinator Cindy James thanked the students and teacher Ed Brown for helping develop the Vincentian spirit.

“It’s a real love for the poor and a real love for families and people that are a bit isolated,” she said.

“There are 760,000 children in Australia that are living in poverty and in a country with so much wealth and well being, it’s really quite a shocking statistic.”