After weeks of careful military precision planning and organizing we were delighted to hold the Official Opening Ceremony of Carr Manor High School's new building.   Excited pupils from local primary schools and Carr Manor High were joined by the Lord Mayor of Leeds and other dignitaries and local community groups and organizations, to warmly welcome the Prime Minister and Mrs Blair on Thursday 15 ^th March 2007.

Mr and Mrs Blair were shown around the school on two different ‘tours’. The Prime Minister accompanied Headteacher Simon Flowers and pupils Priyen Limbachia, Akua Kwarteng, Liam Mcmenamin and Thomas Greig to view pupils at work in the Sports Hall, Music areas, Theatre and a Maths classroom.  

At the same time Assistant Headteacher, Alison Mander, took Mrs Blair to see activities in the Food Technology Room (where she tasted some of Harpreet Singh’s pizza!), the Art Rooms and an English classroom along with pupils Lucy Riach, Jayton Sembhi, Liam Sanders and Stephanie Hutchinson.

Pupils in the areas the tours covered were delighted when our special guests stopped to say ‘hello’ and have a chat about the various activities they were undertaking.

Camera Crews, Photographers and Journalists were in abundance and the VIP Party was also joined by a Documentary Film Crew, led by newsreader Fiona Bruce, so additional filming took place during the tours.   Assistant Headteacher Tony Simms performed the ‘Master of Ceremony’ role and invited Mr Chris Edwards, Chief Executive of Education Leeds and Mr Fabian Hamilton, MP for Leeds North East to the platform to deliver short speeches to guests whilst the VIP Party finished their tours.  Thomas Greig, a Year 7 pupil, then formally introduced the Prime Minister to the lectern to undertake the Official Opening Ceremony by unveiling the commemorative plaque. 

The Prime Minister and Mrs Blair were very friendly, informal and gracious visitors to our school.   We feel privileged and honoured that they were able to visit Carr Manor High School and hope that all the guests on the day enjoyed the event as much as we did.  We are now pouring over hundreds of photographs of the occasion and are hoping to distribute these over the next few weeks.