Project update: Stained glass windows from Collegiate High School have been installed at Armfield Academy

Former head girl, Loren Stoker, memorial gets pride of place at Armfield Academy.
The windows at Armfield AcademyThe windows at Armfield Academy
The windows at Armfield Academy

What’s happening?

Stained glass windows, which were saved from Collegiate High School in Blackpool Old Road, Blackpool, when it was demolished, have been installed at Armfield Academy. Both schools – Collegiate merged with Bispham to form Aspire, which occupies a new building where Collegiate once was – are run by the Fylde Coast Academy Trust.

What do they mean?

Ex-Colleagiate head boy Feisal Shah with the glass at the schoolEx-Colleagiate head boy Feisal Shah with the glass at the school
Ex-Colleagiate head boy Feisal Shah with the glass at the school

Staff at Collegiate raised money for the windows in memory of former head girl Loren Stoker.

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She was just 16 when she collapsed and died from an undiagnosed heart problem in 1994.

Her death shocked teachers and pupils, and her tutor Kim Caunt set about raising cash for the memorial.

Four years and thousands of pounds later , the memorial – called the Achievement Window – was unveiled.

And now, 20 years later, they have been unveiled again, this time at Armfield, based on the site of the old Arnold School, in Lytham Road, South Shore.

That opened earlier this year with a reduced intake.

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Where is the glass?

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The windows are in the Armfield Memorial Hall. Building work continues at the school, and remains on schedule.

Scaffolding at the secondary school building will be dismantled before Christmas, and the windows fronting Lytham Road will be “largely completed” by then as well, the school said.

Work inside will start in the new year.

What else is being done?

The food room in the design and technology building is almost finished, with the block itself almost fully refurbished.

In the Memorial Hall, modern lighting, heating, and audio visual systems will be done in the new year, while the final coats of lacquer have been applied to the traditional wooden panelling.

The refurbishment of the sports hall also nears completion and “will be an excellent facility for pupils”.