A Letchworth school for children with learning difficulties celebrated its 40th anniversary on Friday, with former headteachers on hand to join the party.
Woolgrove School invited all its former headteachers to attend an afternoon of activities and fun with the pupils.
The founding head Hilary Richards was unable to be there due to ill-health, but Dr Rona Tutt, Bridget Walton and Susan Selley came back to join the incumbent Lisa Hall and the whole school in a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’. The singsong was followed by the cutting of a birthday cake made a member of staff.
Mrs Hall said: “It was wonderful to celebrate 40 years of Woolgrove School, and to be joined by the previous headteachers who were able to share their memories of the school going back over nearly three decades.
“The children really enjoyed the range of activities and, of course, a slice of cake.
“Thanks also go to Tesco of Baldock and Asda in Stevenage, who donated packs of bubbles and chalks for the children.
“The school has changed greatly over the last four decades in both the nature of its pupils and the size of the school. However, the caring, friendly ethos that makes Woolgrove School so special has remained the same.”
Woolgrove is a special school that caters for pupils with moderate learning difficulties, autism, or needs to do with speech, language or communication – as well as others including children with dyslexia.
Guests on Friday included governors and Ella Phillips – who worked at the school from the very beginning, and still volunteers once a week to this day.
They took time to join all the children on a round robin of activities on the school fields, accompanied by music from across the decades to encapsulate how Woolgrove has evolved since 1977.
The school’s next big event is its summer fair on Saturday, July 15 – exactly 40 years on from its formal opening by Shirley Williams MP, who was then Secretary of State for Education and Science.
This will be a child-centred event, and the Pryor Way school invites anyone connected with Woolgrove over the past 40 years to come along.
To find out more about the school, see woolgrove.herts.sch.uk.
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