On Wednesday (October 24) it’s the children’s turn for a party to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of St Peter’s junior school’s move to the iconic building on The Parade. On Tuesday they had worked hard to show their school off to the assembled visitors who had come to celebrate this important birthday.
In September 1962 St Peter’s moved to The Parade from the building that is now Marlborough’s library. The grammar school had just moved out of The Parade building to their new school ‘up the hill’.
Among the people attending the reception and performance were Marlborough’s Mayor, Edwina Fogg and her consort, Nick Fogg, and many of the school’s present Governors. There were former teachers – including Tom Perry who taught at the school for thirty years and retired in 2001.
Also there were Ann Owen who was the last Head Girl of the Grammar School before it moved from The Parade, and Tony Gray who had been a pupil at the school in 1949. There were memories of the days when some grammar school pupils from outlying villages were not brought in by coach, but were boarded in the town.
The reception had been prepared by members of the Parent Teachers Association and Friends of St Peter’s.
Appropriately, this term the school has been concentrating, as headmistress Caroline Spindlow explained, on the nineteen sixties – especially in history and art. So the performance put on by Class 5S for the people attending the reception was a spirited show called Let’s Twist Again – ending with a reminder to those of more years than they care to count what it was like to do the Twist on young legs.
Let’s Twist Again included a ‘teacher’ who, in true sixties style, tried to persuade one of her pupils that you don’t say ‘the best bit of my school holidays’, you do say ‘the best part of my school holidays’. There were Mods and Rockers, renderings of London’s Burning taking in various fictitious teachers names and, if one heard correctly, an “uncharismatic music teacher”. Tremendous.
Then we toured the classrooms – shown round by pupils and with guides on the doors to make sure you had enjoyed your visit. Education never ends: your correspondent learned something new about the limited colour palette used by both Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. And to prove the point there was row upon colourful row of self-portraits in the style of Lichtenstein and views of St Peter’s building in the style of Warhol. Most impressive.
On Wednesday, the children get a fiftieth birthday party of their own with squash and a big birthday cake. At least we can be sure the school won’t be in their old but well-used building come the next fiftieth birthday.
