Staff and students past and present gathered for an important milestone, when we celebrated our school’s 100th anniversary.

The Marshland High School Centenary Celebration brought together around 650 students, along with staff, trustees, and governors, headteachers from our feeder primaries, the Mayor and Mayoress of King’s Lynn, and former Secretary of State for Education Baroness Shephard, whose late husband was Headteacher of Marshland in the 1960s.

After school, former staff and students, family members, friends, and neighbouring primary school children were invited to join the party on 1 July, which featured an exhibition of photographs of Marshland through the ages, as well as more than 100 birthday cards from a host of famous names.

Lydia Beatty is Head of Culture at our school, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, and helped organise the event.

“I would guesstimate over 150 came to see the exhibition,” she said. “It was lovely seeing them spot themselves in the photos from over the years, and commenting on how much the school had changed. So many told us how much they’d enjoyed their time at Marshland.

“We had over 100 cards, including from Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Sir Mo Farah, the Royal Family, Manchester United, Timmy Mallett, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.”

Besides the exhibition, there was a range of entertainment on offer, including inflatables such as bouncy castles, gladiator duels, and bungee runs, alongside traditional carnival games such as hoopla; while the Marshland School Choir performed a medley of songs from the nineties before leading a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’.

Miss Beatty continued: “It was lovely to see everyone come together, staff and students, to just enjoy the party. A personal highlight for me was so many ex-staff returning after school to join the celebration. Having been here 13 years, it was lovely to see those who have formed a part of Marshland’s history again.”

The occasion was also marked by the burial of a time capsule on the school field, which contained a range of items relating to modern life at Marshland, from photographs, examples of work, and the school uniform, to predictions from current students about what the world will be like when the time capsule is opened in 50 years’ time.

Headteacher Craig Jansen was on hand to help bury the time capsule, and enjoyed spending time with guests.

“A highlight for me was meeting one of our visitors,” he said. “Pam, who is 90 years old, shared her memories of her family’s past involvement with the school.

“Her father was a teacher at the school when it first opened in 1926. She was educated at the school, and later returned as teacher at the school itself.

“I was also delighted to have Baroness Shephard of Northwold, whose husband, Tom Shephard, was Headteacher at Marshland from 1966 to 1970, visit our school, cut our birthday cake, and help bury our time capsule.”

Miss Beatty added: “This was a lovely way to celebrate how special Marshland is. It really is a part of its community, and puts students at the heart of everything.

“We look forward to continuing the success of Marshland High School in 2026 for the next 100 years.”