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Main Edition
www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Picture special
Visitors flock to see new
Open day marked the end of a three-year journey for
feature By Michael Holmes
michael.holmes@jpress.co.uk @MikeGazette
M
ore than 150 visitors seized their chance to tour Blackpool’s new £14m school complex for the first time. Aspire Academy and Highfurlong Special School, which both moved to their new site in Blackpool Old Road this month, opened their doors for an open day at the weekend. The event marked the end of a three-year-long journey, which started in December 2012 when Bispham High School and Collegiate High School first announced they were to merge. And one key attraction was the original stained glass panels from Blackpool Grammar School, which have been given pride of place on a wall
between Aspire’s library and canteen. Among the visitors on Saturday was 88-year-old Gordon Halliwell, who sat in front of the stained glass in 1938, when he was a pupils at the grammar school in Raikes Parade. Deputy principal John Topping said: “During the morning we were trying to assess exactly when the windows were first erected. We were then joined by Gordon, who informed us that, in 1938, he saw the windows all those years ago.” The new site also features a shared staff room, conference room, and a joint kitchen. Another unique feature to the resort is open-plan bathrooms. While students are still guaranteed their privacy in cubicles containing floor-to-ceiling doors, sinks and mirrors are in full view of CCTV cameras fitted in the corridors. Other open areas include an IT room, the canteen, and the library.
Pictured clockwise from son, Wendy Stevenson, A Trustee’s Dorothy Tatton reinstated stained glass w from Aspire Academy, He Academy Colin Simkins O Teacher of Highfurlong S Sycamore, young pupils v dance studio, Alex (9) and Sheldon admiring the ma and Cheyenne Wilmore a 10 who is hoping to attend the new Academy’s Drama and Dance class