Blair a hit with pupils
Tony Blair flew into Halesowen today and was given the runaround on the tennis court by a schoolboy.
The Labour leader landed in his private helicopter on the sports field of Windsor High School which has been refurbised to the tune of £1.3 million.
Pupils at the Richmond Street school were eager to catch a glimpse of his arrival – days after he announced he is to stand down as Prime Minister.
After being welcomed to the school by 16-year-old pupil Katie Piller just before midday, Mr Blair took the short walk to the Astroturf sports pitch where he took on Charlie Price at tennis.
The 13-year-old had the premier scampering around the court and was delighted with the experience.
He said: "I will be able to go home and tell my mum I played tennis with the Prime Minister. I was a bit nervous at first but he seems like a nice bloke."
Afterwards Mr Blair had a short tour to see how building work has improved lthe school after a Government funded project which transformed it into a state-of-the-art centre for education and teacher training.
The 2005 refit included new classrooms, conference facilities and a medical centre. Rundown mobile classrooms were cleared to make way for new building.
Work, which took 18 months, included a block of new science labs, a geography suite, two drama rooms, conference suites, a medical centre and nurses office.
Figures released today showed that more than 1,106 schools have been built in the past ten years.
