ENGAYNE CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

Pupils and staff at Engayne Primary school have been celebrating this week. The school in Severn Drive, Upminster has been educating local children for the past 50 years.

The school held many events to mark this special occasion. Parents were invited to join their children for a 50's style lesson followed by a school dinner with delicacies such as beef stew and syrup sponge and custard on the menu.

Every day this week, during morning assembly, the children have listened to excerpts read from the school log which was recorded when the school first opened. This has given them the opportunity to learn how their counterparts from the 1950s spent their school days.

Former pupils, parents and staff of Engayne have also sent in memorabilia to help demonstrate how things have changed over the years. 50 th Anniversary Celebrations Co-ordinator Miss Jacqui Durrant comments “The 1958 celebrations have been extremely successful. Children and teachers have all commented on how much fun the week has been. We would like to thank everyone who kindly shared resources such as old photos and school projects. The children thoroughly enjoyed looking at these.”

‘Dancing through the decades' had the children and staff dressing up and performing dances which were popular during the past 50 years; these included the ‘twist' from the 50's and Greased Lightening from the 70's.

As well as looking back at the school's history, pupils have also been marking the anniversary with other events. A time capsule was buried on the school field to which the children added their own work on a snapshot of life in 2008. They also held a balloon release which was sponsored by the school's PTA and the lucky child whose balloon travels the furthest will receive an iPod Nano – rather different from the record players of the 50s!

Local business Pinney Rogers Solicitors have shown their support for the occasion by supplying a commemorative pin badge for every pupil. Each child will also receive a copy of the aerial photograph taken during a fly-over when the whole school turned out to form a human ‘50' on the school field.

Finally the school hosted an evening soiree for past and present governors and staff. Guests were treated to a moving performance from the school choir, followed by speeches from the current Headteacher Mrs Suzanne Ship as well as from the two previous Heads, Mrs Ethel Sanders and Mr Sid Hopkins. Following a toast to the school and a buffet supper, tours of the school were given by current members of staff where displays of the donated memorabilia could be viewed.

Head Teacher Mrs Suzanne Ship commented “It has been a privilege to celebrate Engayne's rich, strong and successful heritage and to be able to share the fun, laughter and learning with our wonderful governors, parents and of course our lovely children.”

16.7.08