Happiest days of our lives

Pupils and staff share their recollections of life at Culverhay Neil Fawcett: I remember Mike Fair (headmaster) quoting on Invasion Day (when junior school pupils in their final year are invited to Culverhay just prior to starting senior years): “You don’t know it yet but, these will be the most important and enjoyable years of your lives.” I attended in 1988-’93. He was absolutely right, thank you Mr. Fair, thank you!” Former teacher Tracy Johnson: “I taught at Culverhay School from 2005-2012. It was my first job after ending my teacher training and is certainly the most memorable (so far). I remember turning up for my interview and feeling quite jaded as it was the third one I had had that week, but as soon as I walked into the school I had an overwhelming feeling of ‘this is the place for me’, a bit like when you’re house-hunting and you find the right house. It was a Friday and Mrs Gumm and Mrs Williams were having a bake-off competition during Friday breaks. I remember Mr Bailey arriving with the most enormous spoon in order to tuck in to some tiramisu. I was immediately struck by the warm and welcoming nature of thee school. There was definitely a very special feeling about Culverhay.” Raji Kulatilake: “I came to Culverhay School in September 2000 having spent the last five years of my life living in Sri Lanka. It was a massive culture shock for me, but I was made to feel very welcome and at home by my teachers and senior staff in particular. I’ve studied in a whole range of environments in my lifetime and I can genuinely say I consider some of the best teaching I have experienced to be during my Culverhay years. I was only supposed to be there for a term, with my parents initially wanting me to move elsewhere. However in that short space of time, I made special friendships and felt valued by the teachers, with the resulting feeling of wanting to stay there, which I did.” Annita Wright: “I was headteacher at Culverhay from 1993 to 1997. I have very happy memories of a hardworking staff always doing their best for the students. My most outstanding memory was the atmosphere in the school on the day we learned that one of our PE staff, Jon Sleightholme, had been selected to play rugby for England. It was the last year of the amateur game before it turned professional and, inevitably, we lost Jon to Bath Rugby. Since my retirement in 1997 I have been living in France but I have followed the sad news about Culverhay’s closure from distance.”