They’ve arrived. Diggers have started work on the site of the old Phoenix School in Dawley, bringing down the final curtain on a story which began 70 years ago.
Coming soon - houses. Plans have been approved for over 200 homes on what is one of Dawley’s last big green expanses.
But even as the site is transformed, memories will endure of what began in September 1956 as Dawley Secondary Modern School and became Phoenix comprehensive in 1965 and, had the cards fallen differently, would have been the flagship school in what was back then Dawley New Town.
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9. No blazers in a new look for a new school
Pupils modelling the new school uniform for Phoenix School in 1965. It was chosen partly with cost in mind, doing away with expensive blazers. From left, Judith Jukes, Pete Burd, Lynn Stevens and Glyn Oliver, with the bike sheds in the background. | Shropshire Star archive
10. Good sports
A netball team from around 1966 or 1967. Back from left: Pam Houlston, Jennifer Croft, Anne Owen, Barbara Ward, Joy Franks, Helen Jaundrell. Front, from left, Linda Hurdley and Diana Davies. | Shropshire Star archive
11. Tight fit
The secondary modern school became a comprehensive in 1965, and was named Phoenix School to mark the rebirth. This photo is from December 1968. The caption read: "Phoenix Comprehensive School at Dawley is so overcrowded that commercial class pupils have to share the library. There are other cramped conditions in the school." | Shropshire Star archive
12. Treading carefully amid new developments
Pupils pick their way through the debris and mud in September 1971 as the school undergoes big changes. The accompanying story told how new school buildings had been due to be completed that month but work was still continuing, causing din and disruption. | Shropshire Star archive