Demolition of the old Copleston High School building is bringing back memories for former pupils of the Ipswich school.
A new state-of-the-art multi-million pound building opened in June, marking a new era for one of the town’s largest schools.
The secondary school and sixth form, which teaches 1,800 students, had been based at its previous historic building for about 80 years.
Principal Andy Green said: “The new building is absolutely fantastic for the students, but there is a lot of nostalgia associated with the old building.
“We are not losing all of the old building, but the vast majority is being demolished.”
Mr Green said the Department for Education and the building company, Wates Group, had held regular meetings with the school and kept them fully updated with the work’s progress.
“I have to say the DfE and building company have been fantastic.”
Demolition may carry on until the spring term. He added: “The demolition work is almost as long a process as building the new school.”
MORE: First look inside brand new Copleston High School building as it opens for lessonsThe new site, built with funding from the Department for Education, boasts new sports and drama studios and science labs, as well as wider corridors and more open space.
New facilities also include a floodlit 3G pitch, replacing the old all-weather pitch, which will be a boost for the whole community, enabling more people in Ipswich to play football at grassroots level.
The 3G pitch received £409,665 funding from the Premier League, Football Association (FA) and the government’s Football Foundation.
A special evening for alumni and friends of Copleston, which would have given generations of former students a chance to say goodbye to the old buildings, had to be postponed in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The event had been due to feature a musical performance by current students and a slide show of Copleston over the years.
Mr Green said strong links with alumni were important and they still intended to rearrange the event, but it might be in a different form because of continuing restrictions due to Covid-19..
“We only want to do it at a time when it is absolutely 100% safe.”
He added: “We won’t be able to have any visitors in the school when it opens in September, but once it is possible to have visitors again, we may be able to take small groups around. I would love to do that.”
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