200 hundred years of history celebrated as Stratford school marks special anniversary
LOCATED in Broad Street, Stratford Primary School is an elegant Victorian building with pitched roofs and red bricks – in keeping with many of its neighbouring properties in Old Town.
But its history stretches beyond Victorian times. The school is actually 200 years old; an occasion which was marked by the current staff and pupils on 10th November.
Each year group was dressed to represent a different era of the school’s existence with plenty of 70s flower power, 80s shell suits and Victorian flat caps on show.
It was a far cry from the school’s more austere origins, having been founded as a British School by the Rev Thomas Helmore, a non-conformist minister, and his wife Olive Holloway who had opened her own popular school in Hampshire, where she lived.
British Schools were those supported by the British and Foreign School Society. They provided an elementary non-conformist education as opposed to the National Schools, supported by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education, which provided an education in accordance with the teachings of the Church of England.
After the couple were married they moved to Kidderminster where Rev Helmore had been appointed to a new post and from there they moved to Stratford where they found only a handful of the town’s children were lucky enough to be educated.
The school’s archive reports: “When Mr Helmore came to reside at Stratford, not more than 40 children were being educated at the only National School, which was situated in Bull Lane.
“Finding such a lack of opportunities for teaching the poor, Mr Helmore founded and organised British Schools in the Rother Market.
“The active founder of the British Schools not only visited, but taught daily in them, until he trained his schoolmaster, William Pardoe, to take sole charge.’
The records add: “An infant school, quite a novelty in those days, if we except the good old-fashioned dames’ schools, was a source of great delight to those who watched its development under the loving care of good little Mrs Corbett, directed by the indefatigable minister, who taught the tiny creatures to sing and act their school songs and to do a variety of useful exercises which have now become familiar to educationalists.’
The school for boys was founded in 1823 in Rother Street chapel (possibly located behind the current United Reform Church where there is a monument to Rev Helmore).
Two years later, a girls’ school joined them and soon there were 300 children in the British School compared to 40 in the National School.
Over time the school became uninhabitable and in 1881 the School board purchased land which is now Broad Street to build a new school to house 300 children. The British School committee also made arrangements for the school board to take over the management.
Henry Cordingsley took over as master of the new school, Stratford Board School, on an annual wage of £120.
It opened on 19th November 1883, built on an area known as Poor Man’s Land – a site which had been used for vegetable plots.
The building, which is 140 years-old, had five classrooms to house boys and girls of all ages up to 14. The original plans show that there was scope for extensions and these were soon needed as the extra classrooms were built.
Playgrounds surrounded the school and the original logbooks show that the children were encouraged to learn gardening and tended a small orchard.
In the classroom it was all about the Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic.
Over the years the school has been known by many names: The British School, Stratford Board School, Stratford County Juniors, Broad Street Primary and, today, Stratford Primary School.
The building is still very much Victorian but further expansion took place in the 1990s when the then headteacher, Barbara Atcheson, helped raise funds to build a school hall. They were also able to add two more classrooms and a library area.
The current head, Gill Humphriss, said: “I am very proud to be Stratford Primary’s headteacher and to be an integral part of children’s lives as they journey through school.
“To think that teachers past and present have been educating the children of Stratford for 200 years is very humbling. When I look back at the photographs we have in our archive from the 1890s, through the 20th century, I wonder about the children who are for a moment frozen in time and wonder did they achieve their dreams?
“The vision for our school is ‘to create a happy place, where children and adults learn and flourish in a creative, rewarding atmosphere’. In my research of the history of the school this is very similar to Rev Helmore’s vision when he set up the British School in 1823 on Rother Street. Our logbooks make fascinating reading and the curriculum really hasn’t altered in all that time and for me I just want children to have as many experiences as possible so they have choices for their future careers.
“I very much hope our school is still on its present site in another 100 years. We try our best to look after our wonderful Victorian building, keeping it sustainable and supporting climate change through insulation, energy saving lights and caring for it. I think it has stood the test of time better than modern day buildings.
“It certainly keeps our children warm, safe and happy.”
She added: “Our children looked amazing dressed to represent the different timelines.”
The school also created a history/Remembrance trail which was open to visitors.
“The visitors really enjoyed finding out more about our past and reading the stories of ex-pupils,” Mrs Humphriss said.
