1977 intake reunion

I am pleased to say that after endless nudges and discussions at numerous Stationers’ lunches, a cadre of comprehensive boys from the twilight years of the school finally got their act together to meet up for an Old School Reunion lunch in Waterloo on 24 January 2026 (courtesy of the lovely Sticky Mango restaurant Coin Street SE1).

It was an emotional event, full of joy and amazement, given that we had not seen one other since the last day of term back in 1982 or the final school prize giving ceremony in 1983. Whilst I am sure it is not the longest period between leaving school and having a reunion it has got to be pushing the upper limits!

One of our number, Dr. Zaki Hassan, a Dubai resident no less, who also attended the OSA Christmas Lunch, decided to fix a date around a January business trip to London and as they say, the stars aligned quickly and everything fell into place.

Our special event started months earlier, through a WhatsApp group set up in September as an open forum for free discussion, ideas, and memories to flow. Initially there were about four in the group, and those names brought in further names. I was astounded at how quickly things gathered steam. By late December, we had 17 members in the group chat, including from far-away places as Massachusetts USA and the North Island of New Zealand. On a good day we might have close to 200 messages on the group covering a range of almost random subjects much as we might have done on the school playgrounds of yesteryear. Clearly, we had a lot of catching up to do! The wonderful thing is how quickly we all fell back into place as friends in spite of the passing of time.

I am not sticking out a limb if I say it was emotional for all of us, ancient friendships were rekindled, stories exchanged and classmates remembered who are no longer with us. All bound together with one overarching common shared experience, the school, the teachers, the camaraderie. It felt like the end of a magically long 44-year school summer holiday then catching up with my classmates to find out what they had been doing during the holidays.

Most of us have kept our youthful looks I am pleased to say, some more than others, and that youthful spirit continued for some into the evening as we headed off to a pre-arranged Karaoke bar under the Waterloo arches, to hammer out some 1980’s school era pop-classics.

We also had one of the older boys at the Karaoke – Ronald Olufunwa. Ronald was in Sixth form as we were a couple of years younger. But he had connected with us and whilst a 3-year age difference seems like an eternity when you are 15 it is non-existent when you are 60!

A great night was had by all, with all vowing never to wait another 44 years before meeting up! We hope to make this large gathering something that happens at least annually from now on, with of course smaller reunions around the 60th birthday party season.

I have attached a couple of pictures of the event; I will spare everyone the videos of us trying to sing. But if anyone remembers us or was in our year groups please do not hesitate to get in touch. I am hoping we can get some of you at our next annual lunch and look forward to booking a larger dining room to accommodate you all!

Attendees from the 1977 - 1982 era were:

Zaki Hassan
Imran Ali
Adrian Broadbent
Ian Fairbank
Douglas Hunte
Badawi Malik
Sal Muhammad
Dak Patel
David Rowlands
Costas Tanti

And Ronald Olufunwa 1980-1983