MICHAEL Portillo joined past and present students from Harrow High School to celebrate its hundredth year.

The former MP, who attended the school in Gayton Road in the 1960s, unveiled a plaque as guests to the Centenary Day ceremony looked on.

He said: “It feels great to unveil this plaque. I have the happiest memories of this school and received a fantastic education here. It taught me to have aspirations and gave me the means to achieve whatever I aspired to.

“This school is a source of pride and joy, and happy and deep memories for all of us that have been associated with it over the past 100 years.”

Current students volunteered to dress up in school uniforms from across the ages and took the visitors, consisting of proud parents, dignitaries and ‘Old Gaytonians’, on tours of the historic building.

Exhibitions on the school’s rich history and a Centenary Assembly, consisting of speeches and memories, also took place.

Headteacher Paul Gamble was full of praise for the school and said: “The school’s motto is ‘excellence for all’, and the principle of excellence for this school will never change.

“We have teachers who work extremely hard to offer pupils as many opportunities as possible.”

Bill Swan, who attended the school in the 1930s before serving with the RAF during the Second World War, looked back fondly on his experience at Harrow High School.

He said: “It’s a completely different sort of school now, but I always love coming back. My fondest memory is simply having been here, because I knew I was well off – not in the monetary terms, but in wealth of education.”

Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West, who also attended Centenary Day, said: “It’s been great to be part of the hundredth year celebrations.

“Harrow High School is on the rise again after a challenging past. The 100 year celebration is a great opportunity for the students to learn about the achievements of former students like Bill Swan and Michael Portillo.”