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This weekend, my old secondary school was celebrating 20 years since the Boys' and Girls' schools merged. They invited all past pupils and teachers to come back and celebrate with them. Original plans were to have a disco, barbeque, hog roast (squee!) and licensed bar, and have a jolly old knees-up. Unfortunately, as soon as they asked attendees to send cheques in advance to cover the costs of catering, etc., interest dropped off dramatically. So in the end it was a more intimate event with smaller groups of people, but a good atmosphere and the ones who came were enthusiastic. (Interestingly, it was the ones coming from further afield who turned up. I guess because when you see your old school every week driving past it, you don't have the same urge to see how things are doing there because you can see for yourself it hasn't disappeared or erected a giant trebuchet on the sports field or anything!)
So a mere five of us turned up on Friday to speak to current pupils about what we did post-school. Still, we were a selection of successful, contented people - a doctor, a scientist (*waves*), a marketing guy/graphic designer, an alumni fundraiser and a new graduate, so we got a few pupils interested and enthused, I think. The highlight for me was running into my old German teacher, who wasn't there on the Saturday as she was down in London for a conference. We hugged and caught up and gushed. *adores her SO much*
On Saturday, my year was the one with the biggest turnout...11 out of a year of roughly 180 pupils! A couple of them were people I was quite close to, though, and it was nice to see how little they've changed. We got given tours of the school - for some reason, everyone was most interested in seeing the loos! There's something strangely fascinating about checking whether the locks on the doors are still broken, which ones have been entirely refurbished, etc. (The worst ones had dramatically improved.)
The technology block smelled EXACTLY THE SAME. It was weird. And the teachers hadn't aged at all! A few recognised me right away (my Chemistry teacher, yay!). A few have produced offspring. Some have left; many still teach there.
So yes...there have been some changes in the school (new purple colour theme to the décor, fancy new student services desk, nicer loos, nicer outdoor areas, a hi-tech ground floor science lab), but other things are just as if we stepped out just yesterday! When we found a pile of familiar physics and biology textbooks, someone reminded us that we used to have to write our names in the front of them when we borrowed them for a year - so we opened the covers. And sure enough: one of my brother's classmates, one of my old classmates...and best of all, one of the 11 people who turned up to the reunion, finding his own name in a book. Still in use, still there.
( I also found insects of interestingness in dad's garden. )
Overall, an interesting weekend.
Final comment: dad makes the best summer pudding I have EVER tasted! Omnomnomnom.
So a mere five of us turned up on Friday to speak to current pupils about what we did post-school. Still, we were a selection of successful, contented people - a doctor, a scientist (*waves*), a marketing guy/graphic designer, an alumni fundraiser and a new graduate, so we got a few pupils interested and enthused, I think. The highlight for me was running into my old German teacher, who wasn't there on the Saturday as she was down in London for a conference. We hugged and caught up and gushed. *adores her SO much*
On Saturday, my year was the one with the biggest turnout...11 out of a year of roughly 180 pupils! A couple of them were people I was quite close to, though, and it was nice to see how little they've changed. We got given tours of the school - for some reason, everyone was most interested in seeing the loos! There's something strangely fascinating about checking whether the locks on the doors are still broken, which ones have been entirely refurbished, etc. (The worst ones had dramatically improved.)
The technology block smelled EXACTLY THE SAME. It was weird. And the teachers hadn't aged at all! A few recognised me right away (my Chemistry teacher, yay!). A few have produced offspring. Some have left; many still teach there.
So yes...there have been some changes in the school (new purple colour theme to the décor, fancy new student services desk, nicer loos, nicer outdoor areas, a hi-tech ground floor science lab), but other things are just as if we stepped out just yesterday! When we found a pile of familiar physics and biology textbooks, someone reminded us that we used to have to write our names in the front of them when we borrowed them for a year - so we opened the covers. And sure enough: one of my brother's classmates, one of my old classmates...and best of all, one of the 11 people who turned up to the reunion, finding his own name in a book. Still in use, still there.
( I also found insects of interestingness in dad's garden. )
Overall, an interesting weekend.
Final comment: dad makes the best summer pudding I have EVER tasted! Omnomnomnom.
