A WELL-KNOWN Worcester school has celebrated 150 years since it moved to its current home in the Tything.

RGS Worcester moved to the road from its previous home close to St Swithun’s Church in the city centre.

The school subsequently grew from approximately 40 pupils to its current size of nearly 800 at the senior school and 1,250 pupils across the three RGS Worcester schools.

To mark the anniversary, pupils enjoyed a taste of what school life might have been like back in 1868.

Headmaster, John Pitt, dressed in full academic dress including a mortar board, gave an assembly in Eld Hall, which was the main hall of the school in the 1860s and is named after Reverend FJ Eld, the headmaster who moved the school to its current location.

Head of History, Jane Waller, taught year seven pupils lessons from Victorian times. The pupils took up their slate tablets for writing tasks and also took part in vocal gymnastics to improve articulation of speech. They also completed ‘desk drill’ - physical exercises performed in class to keep young Victorians fit and healthy.

All of the items used in the lesson were provided by the County Museum at Hartlebury.

RGS Worcester also hosted a reunion of past head boys and girls at a dinner at the school.

Tim Curtis, former RGS Worcester head boy and teacher as well as Worcestershire and England cricketer, gave a speech about friendships and the part the school plays in its surrounding community.

The catering team created a ‘school day’ themed menu for the dinner, incorporating subjects such as science, where diners had to wear goggles and use ingredients to concoct a unique ‘green explosion’ drink, and art, with guests recreating their dessert based on a ‘still life’ of the finished article.

The dinner was held in Perrins Hall, which was built thanks to the generosity of a major benefactor, Charles William Dyson Perrins, whose father was a former pupil of the school and founded the world-famous Lea & Perrins, makers of Worcestershire Sauce.

Each pupil at RGS Worcester received a commemorative school newspaper, which contained stories taken from newspapers from the 1860s, including a news story about plans to build a public-baths within a section of the River Severn.

School news stories from the present day were added to show how education and RGS Worcester has changed over the last 150 years.

Headmaster, John Pitt, said: “We have had great fun marking 150 years of RGS Worcester on the Tything.

“While our school history goes much further back, over 1,300 years, it is always good to celebrate such moments in the past when everything changed. I think the pupils and the returning former pupils have enjoyed learning something of the past and celebrating our school community.”