A SCHOOL kicked off it centenary celebrations on Monday with an invitation to past pupils, staff and governors of the school to return and see how things have changed over the years.

Gomeldon Primary School has planned a year of celebration to mark the occasion, and the bad weather this week didn’t put a dampener on things, despite a few people not being able to make it on the day.

“We kept it deliberately low key,” said headteacher Pam Bassindale, “as we always knew the weather might be a factor at this time of year, but it was really successful despite the snow.”

The children at the school acted as hosts for the day, proudly showing visitors around their classrooms.

“The children learned as much as the people they were showing around,” added Mrs Bassindale. “It was a lovely two way conversation and our pupils were finding out all about what the school was like in the past as much as the visitors were seeing what it is like now.”

The school then held a Georgian day on Wednesday, for pupils to learn all about what it would have been like to have been a child going to lessons on the first day the school opened its doors 100 years ago.

Later in the year there will be a centenary fair and the school will also be laying a new path in the grounds, set with bricks bearing the names of each of its pupils.

And Monday’s celebrations were extra special for one youngster, Imogen Tanner, who celebrated her ninth birthday on the same day.