Old Barkabbeyans’ 100th Anniversary

Headteacher’s message

I was so very proud of the Barking Abbey School community on Saturday, 8th October 2022 when we hosted the Old Barkabbeyans 100th Anniversary at the Longbridge Road Campus.

Our PE Department set up cricket matches on the front field and basketball in the Sports Hall which were appreciated by our visitors.  The students thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the extra-curricular opportunity, with the glorious weather being a bonus.

Members of our Junior Leadership Team were guides for the day, sharing their own experience of school now and hearing about the history of the school from the Old Barkabbeyans and we had an inspirational speech from one of our more recent alumni, Kelvin Akinpelu.

After lunch I was amazed at the rendition of the Old School Hymn, kindly accompanied on the piano by our teacher, Mr Babz Audifferen, it was especially poignant to see how many of the Old Barks knew the words off by heart.

I also shared our plans to mark the 100-year anniversary of the school by re-developing two areas of the school, one on each site, as centenary gardens. To help raise funds for this we are selling commemorative plaques and have set up a link (https://Barkingabbey.eventbrite.co.uk) which explains this plan in more detail and will also enable you to complete an application form.  Please feel free to pass this information along to others who may be interested.  We plan to have an opening afternoon tea in the summer of 2023 where you will be able to come along and see the plaque in situ.

Please CLICK HERE to go to the gallery to view all the images from the day.

You can watch the video from the day below.