100 attend 100th anniversary
Published 15 September 2009
More than 100 graduates from around the UK and abroad including Brunei and France attended the 100th anniversary of the University of Brighton's School of Education at the Falmer campus on Saturday, 12 September 2009.
Some graduated as long ago as 1959 and were part of what was formerly the Brighton Teacher Training College before it merged in the 1970s with what was Brighton Polytechnic and is now the University of Brighton.
They toured the Falmer campus and many were impressed that their former college had become one of the UK's top teaching institutions.
Brighton is the only university in the country to achieve an 'outstanding' rating from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) for management and quality assurance across the full range of primary, secondary and post-compulsory teacher education courses.
Sam Davies, Director of Development and Alumni, said, "Watching some of the alumni meet up with friends they’d not seen in years was amazing".
"Many asked when the next reunion would be and we hope to stage another in 2011, by which time we hope to have been able to rediscover many more of our 'lost' alumni. We were delighted with the level of interest generated by this event and we’ve been able to re-engage with many alumni who were previously 'lost'."
The reunion was hosted by the Development and Alumni Office in conjunction with the School of Education.
During the reunion, graduates took campus tours, sampled taster lectures and caught up with old friends over refreshments and a buffet lunch.
A local jazz band provided entertainment and there was a memories exhibition on display that had been created by current students. It comprised photographs and press cuttings of the School, going right the way back to the 1900s and many of the exhibits were provided by the alumni themselves.
Antoinette Gilding, a graduate from 1971, said: "It was a lovely day. A visit to the gym bought a lump to my throat".
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