Former Pupils Roll Back the Years to Celebrate Newnham Middle School's New Building

Mayor Dave Hodgson was joined pupils from Newnham Middle School's first ever cohort to celebrate the opening of the school's new permanent classroom block, which is being delivered under the Council's £48million School Capital Investment plan,

The Atlas Centre is a two-classroom block which has been constructed by Kier, which was contracted by the Council to work with the school to design and build high quality facilities which meet the needs of pupils now and in the future. The classrooms will be dedicated to the teaching of history and geography and feature a modern look, new technology and even underfloor heating.

Many of the school's first ever cohort in the early 1960s attended the opening event. The school's guests brought, or sent in, numerous photographs and artefacts from their Newnham days and these have been displayed as a 'living history' timeline in the foyer of the new centre. The 1962 head girl was able to meet the 2015 head girl. The school has also buried a time capsule under the building to let future generations know about Newnham Middle in 2015.

Commenting, Mayor Dave Hodgson, said: "We're delighted to be working with schools like Newnham Middle to develop permanent classrooms which will help them to deliver the high standards of teaching and learning that all children deserve. To see so many former students make the effort to come and help to mark the opening of the Atlas Centre speaks volumes for the positive impact Newnham Middle School made on them and how they carry that with them through life. We hope these excellent new classrooms will help the school to do the same for current and future students here."