National radio personalities and Commonwealth Games medallists were among the 200 former Claremont School pupils who gathered for a reunion this weekend.

Magic FM presenter Angie Greaves who was a pupil at the Kenton high school from 1975 until 1981 said it was great to share stories.

She said: "It’s really great to be back in the school hall with all the memories of my years here and hearing all the stories. People have mentioned the names of teachers they remember and it has solidified and brought people together."

Other ex-pupils at the reunion included rock music photographer Jill Furmanovsky, who attended between1965 and 1970 and Commonwealth Games 1962 silver medallist diver Margaret Coldicutt, nee Austen, a pupil from 1958 to 1963, who took her silver medal to the reunion.

Journalist and Channel swimmer Kevin Murphy, 67, at Claremont between 1960 and 1965, paid tribute to the way the school had helped mould his life.

He said: "When I arrived at the school I was an eleven plus failure. When I left five years later I had nine GCE O’Levels, an offer of a place in a sixth form and an offer of a job as a trainee journalist on the local newspaper. I owe that to the school and to the teachers here."

He chose the newspaper.

Anne Mills, now 78, who attended the school from 1949 until 1952, still lives only half a mile from the school.

She said: "The people I’ve met are all younger than me but it’s been really lovely."

She remembered a particular teacher: "His name was Mr Fear and he was a bit fearsome. I didn’t behave myself at school. I was always talking so he made me do a lesson about tortoises."

Other pupils spoke about the punishment routine in years gone by – including having to choose which slipper was going to make contact with their bottoms.

A tour of the school brought back memories of classrooms last seen up to 60 years ago and segregated playgrounds with a meeting place at a corner which was the demarcation line between girls and boys.

What was then Claremont High Secondary Modern has now become Claremont High School Academy.

Current pupils were on hand for tours showing how much facilities at the school have expanded and improved.

The reunion was a joint venture between Martin Rose, 67, who attended the school from 1959 to 1964, and Claremont Academy.

Mr Rose said: "It was a complete success. Everybody wants to come again and we are still hoping to make contact with more people who didn’t come.

"Perhaps they could email me at dance4uk@aol.com for information about further events.

"This reunion was for pupils who were at this school from 1950 to 1980. Now the school would like to organize a reunion who attended the school between 1980 to 1990."

Annette Read, 65, a pupil at Claremont from 1961 to 1966, was on the organizing committee.

She said: "It’s gone a lot better than expected. A lot of people have said how much they enjoyed it."

Assistant headteacher Peter Georghides added: "This was the first time we’ve ever had a reunion at Claremont.

"It gave people the opportunity to meet friends they haven’t seen since they were at school here up to 60 years ago, to speak about teachers they remembered and to share stories.

"Some people brought photographs and reminisced. Now we would like to set up an alumni foundation to facilitate more reunions and set-up a database so people can get in touch with each other."