Former pupils and staff of Havant Grammar School unite
Havant Grammar School, which had a very short life of 16 years, is holding a school reunion for former pupils and staff that attended the school during those years.
Over 2,400 pupils passed through the school doors from 1958 to 1974 and 49 years since the last pupils began at the school, over 500 of the former pupils are still in contact.
This school reunion will be a three-day event from July 1 to July 3 and has been put together for all former pupils and staff to attend, where they will be able to step back in time and relive their youth.
Simon Bull, who attended the school between 1964 and 1971, said: ‘We are quite a unique group and I was determined that we try to continue simply because you won’t find anything anywhere about us.’
Simon, who is also one of the main organisers of the reunion, along with a few others, has said that it is amazing that so many people who went to the school want to get involved.
Currently, it is estimated that between 160 and 170 people are due to attend the three day bash and to immerse themselves into a weekend of nostalgia.
People are coming from far and wide to celebrate their school years, with some attendees jetting in from Australia, Canada, France, Belgium and Gibraltar.
The festivities will kick off with a Folk evening on Friday where music will be provided by John Gleadall, who is also helping to organise the reunion.
The former students and staff will also have the opportunity to visit the school grounds which uniquely still stands.
The main event of the three-day reunion is the gathering at the Park Community School, where for the first two years, the pupils of Havant Grammar school were housed. Simon, who is a photographer, will be snapping as many photographs as possible to document this historic moment where staff and students alike have come together once more.
Simon added: ‘It is quite remarkable. It is a group of us between the ages of 60 and 75.’
Intermittent school reunions have taken place in previousyears,butCovidscuppered the plans for a 2020 reunion.