News of Old Girls
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1960-67 Reunion - Liana Kyparissis (Kohring)
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Fifty years on and what day to remember! Twenty five of us arrived at the school on Saturday, October 7 for our first reunion since leaving in 1967. How strange it seemed to drive in by car instead of riding in on a bike.
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For many it was their first time back. And some came a little hesitantly. But any anxieties were soon forgotten as the years, if not our bodies, rolled back! There was plenty of catching up to do and plenty of time to do it.
After many long months of research and hard work tracing a good majority of the 150 in our year, Jo Edwards (Mabbitt), who organised the reunion, was able to sit back and hopefully relax a little!
Brenda Hadley started the day, resplendent in an old school beret, with an hilarious address inviting us to join her in anecdotes from our time there. To protect the innocent we will just mention things like tomato soup - or was it vegetable - and flying wooden board rubbers.
Brenda worked out the percentages, instantly forgotten by those of us who struggled with maths, of those who'd been contacted, those who had been unable to attend, those who attended and those who had sadly died.
If our head girl Anna Matthews (nee Mlynarska) thought she'd get away without a role to play she was out of luck. Of course she was going to be involved. She thanked Jo for her hours and hours of hard work and presented her with a bouquet.
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After a splendid lunch provided by Liz White (Bailey 1960-66) with help from Di Childs (Pennick 1953-60) it was time for a group photo before being taken on a tour of the school by Kate Stubbs, the school's marketing, promotions and communications manager, Lyndon Hopkins, business manager, and long-suffering Alan who had to round up the stragglers and lock up after them.
Despite the modernisation and the new buildings the school seemed oh so familiar. Our classrooms were still in the same place, albeit with new desks, the loos were still there - modernised of course. But horror of horrors, our clothes pegs had been done away with! All in all, the school was comfortingly the same and whatever our memories and whatever experiences we had it set us in good stead for the 50 years that followed.
Over tea and cakes, we all agreed that we should have another reunion - sorry Jo more hard work albeit this time with a bit more help - to celebrate our 70th birthdays.
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