The cost of the pitch, approximately £700,000, came from the Johnson Matthey Sports and Social Club, the Brian Leslie Racher 2004 Charitable Trust, and other sources.

The official opening ceremony was performed by former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, English football's most-capped player,[4] in September 2009.

Peter Shilton spoke of the huge improvement in the quality of all-weather surfaces, since the early days when as a goalie he had to dress up with Michelin Man-style padding […].

[7] The following year, five of his former teaching colleagues at the school joined one of his other friends to undertake a sponsored 100 km walk from London to Brighton.

Head teacher Michael Firth called the report "flawed" and appealed against its findings, saying, "86% of the lessons were graded as being good or outstanding.

The head teacher said, "It's a brave school that takes on Ofsted, some people said we should just leave it but we have got to have confidence in the system.

[13] In February 2015, the results of an Ofsted re-inspection were announced in which the schools' regulator rated Meridian as 'good' overall, adding that the sixth form had an 'outstanding culture of aspiration throughout most classes' and that the teaching of reading, literacy and mathematics was 'often outstanding'.

[2] In May 2016, Firth formally announced that he would be retiring in July after 37 years at the school; he had first joined Meridian as a geography teacher in 1979.

[17] Subsequently, Kim Horner was the school's acting headteacher for two years, before being replaced by Gordon Farquhar in 2018.