A mass reminisce took place at Wanstead High School on Sunday with a reunion of old boys and girls to mark the school’s centenary. 450 former pupils came from across the country, while some were visiting from Canada, Australia and France, to mark the occasion.
One woman joined the school in 1943, and also attended the 25th and 75th anniversary celebrations. One couple met at the school aged 16, 62 years ago. The oldest visitor was 93. Visitors were shown round by current pupils, and heard several of the school’s bands playing.
One organiser said: “So many people talked about being back in the headmaster’s office, not being allowed in the quad ever, the girls and boys school prefect shed, the debating society with minutes… The best was the guy who came and asked us to look up his old girlfriends’ names.
Meanwhile the major construction project at the school site, to build the new Wanstead Leisure Centre and swimming pool , is due to be finished next summer .
Sadly the estimate of completion of the building works (including important additional school facilities) by Summer 2025 is out of date. Latest estimate is January 2026 which takes us into Summer 2026 since you cannot transition into different premises in the middle of the school year. Jos Athwal, previously leader of Redbridge Council and now an MP, originally promised completion by 2018!
In March this year the Labour Council said its Communications Team was “currently developing a strategy which will ensure local people and community groups are kept updated on the project progress”. Sadly 6 months later this has come to nothing. Indicative perhaps of how much the Labour Council cares about the project, the ongoing disruption to the running of the school and pupils having to queue for their lunch in the rain?