IT WAS a special year for the Southampton school - and the pupils found themselves in front of the Daily Echo lens on plenty of occasions.

The academic year of 1998-99 was, following the change in age of transfer five year earlier, the first in which Regents Park Girls’ School pupils had studied there for half a decade.

During that time they had shown themselves to be budding thespians, staging a wonderful production of Twelfth Night in Year 7, closely followed by Romeo and Juliet and Daisy Pulls It Off.

When they were in Year 9, 80 pupils travelled to France to take part in a two-centre water sports holiday.

Other trips took them to Alton Towers, Euro Disney and Chessington World of Adventures, as well as other numerous visits which had supported the curriculum.

Some of the group were fortunate enough to have benefited from a mentoring scheme which allowed them to gain advice from experienced members of the community who worked in local industry and business.