Ms Byrne, who held the principal position at North for more than five years, stepped down from the role at the end of term three.

Judy Hilbig will be acting principal of the school for the next 12 months.

Ms Hilbig has previously been principal of Halls Gap Primary School and has spent the last two years teaching in a remote school in the Northern Territory.

She said she has spent term four getting to know the students and their families.

"I am looking forward to working with the families and children of our community and supporting them in their learning journey," she said.

"I am certainly already enjoying working with a dedicated team of teachers and staff."

Typical of her no-fuss nature, Ms Byrne declined the invitation of a retirement party and instead her services were acknowledged with a presentation at a special morning tea.

Ararat North teacher, Pam Boyd said she developed a long standing friendship with Ms Byrne during their many years working together.

"Wendy started at Ararat North in about 1989 and spent many years here when I was first starting out, team teaching in a classroom with another teacher," she said.

"Eventually she aspired to take on the role of a principal, so she left us and she went to Elmhurst as acting principal, then she was principal at Trawalla before eventually coming back here when the principal we had - John Cunningham - retired.

"She has seen so many changes at our school and in education - lots of positive changes.

"She remained in contact with many of the teachers who have been through the school, as well as students."

Ms Byrne's dedication to her role as principal was evident as she continued to travel back to work at the school each day despite living in Ballarat.

"She just loved this school, loved the kids, got on very well with parents and just really thought the community was fantastic," Ms Boyd said.