Forty years of memories

By Nicci Martel

Longest serving member of staff Kerry Morse (22 years) and former teacher Marlene Freeman. (0599975)

FORMER pupils and teachers marked the end of an era on Saturday as many returned to St Peter Port School for its final open day.

Registers from when it opened in 1968 to the present were on display, as were class photos from the archives and others of school life, some supplied by former pupils.

‘I won’t know any of the founder students, but I’m very excited about meeting some of them. All I know is they loved the school,’ said current head teacher Ken Wheeler. ‘The one thing I have realised is that as the current head, there’s this huge legacy with this school. That’s what I’m very proud to be a part of.’

People were allowed to wander round to see how things had changed. The former typing room is now the French room, the former cookery room and small flat, which was used to teach childcare skills, have been transformed into geography and science classrooms and the swimming pool site used to be a greenhouse.

But according to former pupil Phyl Mathews (nee Ray) it feels as if it hasn’t changed at all.

‘From what I’ve seen so far, it seems the same as it used to be. It’s like coming home in a way. When we were here, there were still builders about because it wasn’t quite finished,’ she said.

‘I’ve still got my tie with all my badges on and I remember the old hats – they were a sort of felt bowler with a green band, but if you were a prefect, it would be red.’

With her were a group of former school friends who had started there in 1968, all keen to take one last look.

‘It will be a shame to see it go. It has dated, but it was all brand new when we started, it was fantastic back then. It doesn’t seem like it’s been 40 years,’ said Deirdre Batiste (nee Hudson).

Lt-Governor Sir Fabian Malbon and Bailiff Geoffrey Rowland also attended to raise a toast to students both past and present.

Come September, only Years 9 and 11 will remain before St Peter Port closes for good in 2009.

Article posted on 30th June, 2008 - 1.00pm

Post a Comment on this Article

Your email address is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email address *

Comment

Disclaimer: This comment area is moderated by the Guernsey Press, which aims to create a valuable forum for the expression of views by all who have an interest in Guernsey. Contributors are expected to respect the opinions of others and all submissions may be edited. In particular, our policy is not to allow defamatory, gratuitously offensive, factually inaccurate or self-promotional statements to be posted. The moderators will not enter into e-mail correspondence about the editing of individual submissions.

Your Shout: View all recent comments. More detail on the comment icons.

If you wish to make a comment about this website, please use our feedback form.