BEAUTY

Local primary school celebrates 150 years

A Summer Festival at Wootton Community Centre planned for Friday June 17 is all set to be a highlight of Wootton Primary School’s 150th birthday celebrations.

The local community is invited to the festival at Wootton Community Centre from 3.30pm to 6pm. There will be bouncy castles, entertainment, stalls, face painting and much more.

Headteacher Rob Crilly said, “We are really excited for our Summer Festival which marks the school’s 150th birthday and we look forward to welcoming and sharing this special event with the wider school community.”

150 years of teaching local children Generations of families have precious memories of Wootton Primary School which has been at the heart of the community for 150 years.

The school now has the capacity for 420 pupils but when it was founded in 1872 by the Church of England the school had space for 150 children. Government grants and private subscriptions enabled the school to be built on Farm Close and Rectory Land. Reports indicate that it was a successful school with a Merit Grant awarded in 1884.

At a thanksgiving service to mark the centenary, the headteacher, Mr Tom Parker, who had been in post for 33 years, reflected on the school’s sense of community. This sense of community won praise from Ofsted during an inspection in 1997.

The headteacher, Vanessa Lucas, was praised for her leadership with the report noting the ‘quality of teaching was good and the school provided a good education for all its pupils’.

A report written in 1994 noted the welcoming environment of the school, then called Wootton County Primary School. It read, “The school is housed in a very old building with a collection of mobile classrooms and toilets, but the school is proud of its happy, hard-working atmosphere and the achievements of the children and the staff.”

Former pupil, Elliott Hodson-Curran, now teaches in Year 6. It promises to be a trip down memory lane for him when he takes Year 6 students on a residential. Teacher Miss Lee, who still works at the school, took him and his classmates on the same trip 19 years ago.

Another former pupil, Dan McGill, is now a teacher in Year 5. He remembers standing on the school field watching the solar eclipse as a Wootton Primary child and then being able to enjoy the experience again but as a teacher this time.

The 150 Good Deeds Challenge Wootton Primary School pupils have been taking part in the challenge to complete 150 good deeds throughout the school year. Deeds so far include the donation of more than 40 books to the children’s ward at Northampton General Hospital with more books heading to Africa to support a charity. Other good deeds carried out by pupils include making Christmas cards and singing carols for elderly residents at a care home, a Santa Fun Run, litter picking, planting trees, preparing breakfast packs for struggling families, donating coats to disadvantaged children and laying poppies on the graves of soldiers who served in both world wars. One pupil raised £469 for Cancer Research UK by completing a sponsored swimathon.

Headteacher Rob Crilly said, “We believe that these ‘good deeds’ will not only help to strengthen our wonderful school values but aim to give something back to the community that have been a part of the school’s journey from the beginning, along with other worthwhile causes.”

Year 3 teacher Jo Smith, who coordinated the book donations, said, “It has been a mammoth challenge, but we are working together as a team. The children are being the best they can be by working as a community and striving to achieve these 150 deeds by the end of the academic year.

“It all ties into our values - working together and respecting each other and showing resilience as well.”

Fellow teacher, Mrs Louise Harries, added: “It has been wonderful to acknowledge what our Wootton children are doing to contribute positively to our wider community, as well as celebrating the good deeds we’ve linked to our curriculum in school.”

The school is on course to hit its target of 150 but are now taking on the challenge to complete as many as possible before the school year is finished. If anyone has any suggestions, please get in touch with the school.

> The school’s reception class has spaces available from September. Please get in touch to find out more and to book a school tour.

Good deed kids: Reception pupils baked and delivered Christmas treats to the community and this year 5 Pupil (left) learned to knit with her gran and donated hats and gloves to neonatal units at Kettering General Hospital and Peterborough District Hospital

Wootton School Children in 1954

Tel: 01604 761 679 office@wootton.northants-ecl.gov.uk

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