A MAJOR reunion is being planned for ex-pupils and staff of one of Swindon’s best known schools.

Town centre venue MECA will host the gathering of Commonweal old boys, old girls and teachers on Saturday, September 22, beginning at 7pm.

Tickets are priced at £5, and any surplus funds will be divided between four good causes – Prospect Hospice, Commonweal School’s new music department, the Alzheimer’s Society and the Oak and Furrows wildlife rescue centre near Cricklade.

Old boys and girls of the school, as well as former staff, have a strong online presence.

“There are over 2,200 people in the Facebook group,” said Teresa Carter, who heads a 17-strong reunion organising committee.

“All ex-pupils and staff from any year are welcome to come to the reunion.”

Teresa, a member of the class of 1978 who works in IT, added that more than 200 former pupils and staff had so far bought tickets, ranging from people who attended in the 1940s to people who left the school only relatively recently.

People who come to the MECA on September 22 are promised a relaxing evening with drinks and a chance to catch up with old friends and swap stories.

There will also be an opportunity to recreate old school photographs.

Commonweal School opened in 1927 and was for many years a selective grammar school. According to its official history, the switch to comprehensive status came in the mid-1960s.

Since 2011 the school has been a performing arts academy.

Tickets and further details are available from teresa.carter3@outlook.com, and tickets can also be bought at the Chickkks hair salon in Victoria Road.