Harpur Hill School seeks ex-pupils for 70th anniversary oral history project

The first cohort of junior age pupils arrived at the Harpur Hill School, on the Trent Avenue site in September 1952, the same year that Queen Elizabeth came to the throne.

Present day pupils are working on projects to mark both anniversaries, assembling archive materials which tell the school’s story, and now they looking to document the experiences of previous generations who passed through the same halls.

Governor Anne Rogerson, who also leads the Buxton& District U3A Oral History group which has produced numerous records of local life, is working with year three teacher Lis Carver to develop the idea.

She said: “One focus of the project will be to find stories from past pupils who will talk to us about their school days. We would like this to take the form of the children asking the questions and believe this will mine a rich seam of memories.

“Unfortunately, most people always underestimate the value of their own story, so it is that issue we need to overcome. Any snippet of information on any aspect of school life will all be valuable, for example lessons taught, playground games, school dinners, school trips, prizes, school uniform.”

She added: “We need people from all seven decades if possible to present the whole story of development.”

Anyone who would like to contribute to the project can contact Anne via 01298 26720 or anne.rogerson@harpurhill.derbyshire.sch.uk, or Miss Carver via info@harpurhill.derbyshire.sch.uk.

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