01 Mar School Reunion

School Reunion Blog – Why would anyone want to attend one???

For some people it’s going to be fun and interesting seeing old school friends, the nostalgic memories and networking. For others it will be met with disdain and nervousness of meeting up with people they didn’t like or who made their school life difficult.

For me I hope that all pupils regardless of their experiences would want to get together for one more time. I would like to know what happened to the children that always disrupted the classes, how they have turned out compared to the nerdy kids who always sat at the front of the class and answered all the teacher’s questions and completed homework on time and correctly, (I won’t say which one of those groups I was part of!!!!!) What about all the pupils who were good at sports and saw themselves as some great sportsperson? Have they achieved their ambition?

What’s happened to all the teachers, the ones I liked and the ones I probably was not so keen on (for many reasons that I won’t go into at this time?). Those teachers that inspired me and made me believe that I could be whatever I wanted to be regardless of my beginnings.

There are so many answers I would like to know, that is why I would like a school reunion. I haven’t seen many of my school friends since leaving school and it would just be a great way to celebrate our school lives.

What happened to all those people that helped to shape my adolescence? I spent a lot of time with these people and have never seen any of them since leaving school. They played a big part in my growing up and all the fun and exciting things that we use to get up to.

Our school was full of families and generations. The teachers all had been there for a very long time and knew all my older brothers and sisters. It was a real community school.

I have attended other school reunions with friends. However, these reunions never seem to live up to the ‘hype’. I didn’t quite get the concept – that is, if there was one. That’s probably where it went wrong as it probably didn’t have a theme or concept in my eyes. I’ve seen all the publicity portraying the Hollywood glitz and glamour reunions and thought, “that’s what I expect”, but these events never came close to my expectations. I realised that whilst I was attending other reunions, I had never attended one for my school.

That made me think what has really happened to all my old school friends? All the other schools in the local area have had reunions but our school has never had one. Why? Our school was as good as any school in the area!

So, over a glass of wine (or probably a bottle or two), discussions turned to “what happened to old school friends” and “do you ever see this person or that person”? Before I knew it, I had agreed to a plan to organise a school reunion, and because I have an events management company agreed that I would help to plan it. I think it was the wine…

So, I’m attempting to make this the reunion of all reunions and something that everyone will remember.

A small group of us have got together and started

to plan this event (the core planning team). This group has the enthusiasm, experience, innovation, creativity, energy and passion to make this a success and enjoyable for all.

These blogs are going to take you through the journey of my school reunion planning, all the highs and lows and (I’m sure they will be many). So, keep reading to find out how I am getting on.

Oh, by the way I can confirm that so far, we have a date, venue booked, and the planning team have a schedule of monthly meetings. Plus, we have designed a save the date flyer that we have uploaded on to Facebook, emailed and texted out to all of our contacts so far. It is starting to feel real now!!!

My next blog will take you through the next phase of the planning, which begins with how we can find information of our school history and a school badge.

Find out more about our event by following updates on our Facebook page (Oldknow Secondary School Reunion), website (www.ariesevc.co.uk) and this blog page

See you soon with the next stage of our reunion journey.