A MASSIVE free garden party is how teachers at a Springfield school chose to celebrate their school's 50th anniversary.
Pupils and staff past and present and local families are invited to celebrate The Boswells School's golden milestone tomorrow (Friday, July 12).
Headteacher David Crowe said: "We want to create a picnic in the park type atmosphere. The aim of the event is for people to come along, bring chairs and blankets and enjoy the entertainment.
"We have tried to ensure there is something for everyone.
"Entry and the live entertainment are free and then people can pay for any other activities they want to take part in."
From 4pm there will be non-stop entertainment in different zones on the school field, with the finale being a performance by a Madness tribute act closing the show at 8pm.
The entertainment stage will feature a range of dance and drama performances by the school's own students, community groups and local primary schools.
There will be performances from the jazz, wind and samba bands, as well as the schools' various vocal groups.
In the sports village visitors can try they hand at a range of sporting competitions, and be coached in an archery workshop. An inflatable village will provide fun for youngsters while Snakes Alive is bringing a range of reptiles for visitors to meet.
There will be a selection of traditional stalls, plus dodgems and a Ferris wheel, as well as a wide range of refreshments including a hog roast, beer and wine tent and ice-cream van.
The school will also make its first ever broadcast from its new radio station which is currently being installed.
Mr Crowe said: "As an expressive arts school we are always looking at ways we can offer more in this area and a radio station was a very popular idea when it was suggested to the students.
"There's so much we can do with this in terms of pre-recording chat shows, interviews and the 50th anniversary garden party is the ideal occasion to launch the station."
To celebrate the anniversary students can have a gold scallop embroidered on their blazer next to the usual red one. Pupils have worked together to produce a commemorative mosaic to be hung at the front of the school, and a design by student Jacob Ashton, 15, is being placed on mugs which will be sold throughout the year.
An alumni association has been set up and via the website Friends Reunited is tracking down pupils who were there when the school opened.
A number of the first pupils have said they will attend a reunion dinner tonight, Thursday, before the garden party.
John Burke, who was one of the first ever pupils at the school in 1963, said: "It was a time of great change. I think the school was quite revolutionary at the time. It was not a comprehensive but it was very much on that model.
"There was no corporal punishment for the first year but the head brought it in. I remember him announcing it in assembly with a cane on the table."
John now lives in Coggeshall and runs his own company selling engineering parts.