St Mary's to complete 50th birthday celebrations

The celebrations began in June 2007 with the town's annual Donkey Derby on the school's playing fields and continued this year with the making of a 50th anniversary tapestry by pupils, now proudly displayed in the school hall. Hundreds of parents, many of them former pupils, and the school's staff, attended a black tie Golden Anniversary Ball in July in a marquee in the school grounds. And all pupils will soon be presented with a year book by the PTA containing a photograph of every one of 211 pupils, along with entries from each class.
Two events in particular will stick out in the minds of pupils and staff, according to head Elaine Kilner.
One was an assembly in the marquee. The other was when the pupils were photographed from the air lined up to spell out the number 50.
Mrs Kilner said: "A parent had a friend with an aeroplane and agreed to fly over with a camera. It was meticulously planned, with clearance from Heathrow, and the pilot had a four minute window. We had one rehearsal. I got the call that they were coming from Northolt, and we all filed out. When we heard the plane the children all stood up and leaned over, to get the maximum effect of their yellow gym T shirts. It was very exciting."
To top it all the school was rated "outstanding" this year in its OFSTED inspection.