Decades of former pupils and teachers returned to Commonweal School to celebrate its 90th birthday on Saturday, with mementos from across its history on display.

Since it opened in 1927, Commonweal has seen thousands of Swindonians pass through its doors, many returning to become teachers at the school and help younger generations through their education.

With some of the current crop of year 11s providing tours of the school, which has seen significant changes in recent years, plus old plans, photographs and yearbooks on display, there was plenty to see at the event.

Bob Linnegar, the headteacher of Commonweal who found four of his uncles’ records in the displayed archives, said: “It’s just a wonderful opportunity to celebrate. The ethos of the school has been turning out well-rounded, great human beings who have had an impact in the local area and in the worlds of industry, arts and sciences.”

Terry Root, 90, was among those visiting his old school facilities – even though he was never technically a Commonweal pupil.

He said: “I’m probably the only evacuee here. The East Ham Grammar school was evacuated on September 1, 1939. We came down with our old teachers and used Commonweal School’s classrooms.

“We were in Commonweal for a year, then the second and third years we went to Euclid Street, then we went to the college on Victoria Road.”

“By that time, dad’s shop in Poplar had been bombed so they came over here.”

After a brief stint back in London, working for Unilever, Terry was called up to fight. When he was able to return to Britain, it was to Swindon, where he has stayed since.

He said: “My parents had decided to stay in Swindon and had bought a house, so I went back to stay with them, because I hadn’t been with them since I was 12.”

Diana North, 83, was a Commonweal pupil in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War.

She said: “I was a pupil here from 1945 until 1952. I was very happy here, I think it was a very good school.

“All the corridors were open when we were here. We were here in the winter of 1947, which was very cold, lots of snow – lots of our children didn’t get in.”

Sue Hammond, who helped to organise the event and was a pupil at the school from 1976 to 1980, and head of geography from 1997 to 2003, said that the event was much bigger than had been anticipated when it was first floated a tea party to commemorate staff leaving.

She said: “It spread through word of mouth, a bit of social media.

“We have a few photos displayed from through the decades, and we have got one of the classrooms as an archive room.

“We also have three heads here – the school is quite unique in that we have only had six in total, and one was only appointed in September this year.”