Ex-pupils and staff invited to help Derby primary school mark 70th anniversary

Ex-pupils and staff are being invited to help a Derby primary school celebrate its 70th anniversary.

St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy in Alvaston Street, Alvaston, is holding an open evening between 4.30pm and 7pm on June 20 when ex-pupils and staff can tour the school, look through old photos and reminisce about their time there.

On the same day, the Bishop of Nottingham, Patrick McKinney, will celebrate mass with current pupils and staff in the school grounds.

One of the school’s longest serving members of staff, Elaine Sanger, is looking forward to the anniversary celebrations.

A cover teacher at the school, Mrs Sanger teaches classes from reception to year six when she is required.

Next year, she will have been at the school for 30 years, plus two years before that as a volunteer.

She joined St John Fisher as a teaching assistant with a focus on children with special needs.

Prior to that she worked in a school nursery and children’s home in Derby.

Mrs Sanger said: “Children have been my life. When I joined the school as a TA we only had two TAs across the whole school. The headteacher at the time was Sister Laetitia, a nun. As well as being a TA I also looked after the display boards as Sister Laetitia wanted everything to look nice.”

Later, Mrs Sanger became a higher level teaching assistant and studied for a BA Honours in Education while working at St John Fisher, which is part of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust.

She said: “I spent seven years studying but it all paid off. I enjoy what I do. I love teaching different classes and seeing the children progress from reception to year six. Now I see parents who I used to teach picking their children up from school. It’s nice to see the generations come through. Lots of children here will say to me ‘you’ve taught my mum or dad’ and then they ask how old I am! I’ve worked for 11 headteachers and they have all brought nice things to the school.

“I’ve seen lots of changes but I’ve also seen things come full circle. The national curriculum was created, before that it was nuns running the school and it was left to them, as long as they did English and maths. There are some things that have come round again and I’ve thought I remember doing that 20 years ago.

“I have three boys and they’ve all come to this school. I used to tell them not to ask me anything in lessons as I needed to tend to the other children, they were very good about it.”

Mrs Sanger said she cannot envisage her life without St John Fisher, which she describes as “one big family”.

Saul Ratcliffe, headteacher at St John Fisher, added: “I feel extremely privileged to be headteacher of St John Fisher at this historic time. Having been a part of Catholic education since my childhood, I understand the importance of this event, not just for those in our present school community, but for those who have been a member of the St John Fisher community at any point in the last 70 years.

“Having been involved here since September 2020, I have seen a number of changes, mainly from the pandemic, however, one thing that stands out is the support of the staff and parents.

“It will be a great opportunity for the children to be part of this historic event, something I hope they remember for a number of years to come, maybe even as part of the 100th celebrations in 2053!”