Following the 1870 Elementary Education Act which stated that all children between the ages of 5 and 10 years should be in education, an Elementary School was built on the south side of Town Street at the west end of the village and opened in 1876. It was built by subscription to house 90 boys and girls, but up to the early 1900’s only saw 60 children in attendance. On 28th December, a meeting was held to discuss how to finance the running of the school. It was decided that a rate of one and half pence in the pound be put on ratepayers. The school was run by a group of Managers elected from the Church, with the vicar as chairman.
The building was single storey and built of stone with a slate roof. It stood at the rear of a plot of land with a playing area to the front.
A newspaper report taken from the Stamford Rutland Guardian explained what happened at the opening ceremony when it took place on Tuesday 8th August 1876.
“Today the 8th instant marked a day in the local history of Woodnewton, which will not be forgotten by those who participated in the rejoicings there occasioned by the opening of the new church school
Full choral service was held in the parish church at 12.30; the prayers were read by the vicar the Revd H S Bagshawe, the first lesson by the Revd A A Longhurst, vicar of Fotheringhay and the second lesson by the Revd J E Else, curate-in-charge of Kings Cliffe. A very appropriate sermon was preached by the Archdeacon, the Venerable Lord Alwynne Compton whose excellent disourse was listened to by a large and attentive congregation. A collection was made after the service on behalf of the new school which realised £12.16.9d.
The clergy then formed a procession to the school followed by the church choir and the congregation, with banners. The service for the opening of a Church of England school was then gone through after which the Archdeacon declared the school open. The clergy then adjourned to the vicarage for lunch.
During the afternoon upwards of 300 adults sat down in a large marquee specially erected for the occasion in the vicarage grounds, to an excellent tea to which ample justice was done. To enhance the pleasure of the day, the Nassington brass band discoursed sweet music in the grounds
Dancing was freely indulged in until a late hour. The weather was delightfully fine and nothing watever was wanting to add to the enjoyment of the day. The choir was also entertained at the vicarage where dinner and refresments were supplied ad libitum.
On Wednesday the children (200 in number) assembled at the school and marched with their teachers to the vicarage to partake of an excellent tea, given by the vicar in commemoration of the opening of the school: numerous friends resident in the neighbourhood, were present an greatly assisted in amusing the children.
The Nassington Band again enlivened the proceedings, cricket, bat and ball and numerous other games were indulged in, and some racing and jumping by the boys were well contested.
At eight o’clock the children again partook of refreshment, during which time preparation was being made for a display of fireworks; these greatly delighted all present, and at 9.30pm they were dismissed after giving hearty cheers for the vicar and Mrs Bagshaw’s family for the kind entertainment in which all had greatly enjoyed themselves.”
When the last teacher, Pamela Darvill arrived in 1966, she produced a report on the state of the school and the building at that time:
Two school rooms –
- Large room
Lighting – Three single lights on long cords from ceiling
Heating – Coke Stove (a disused Tortoise Stove stood in the corner with a long black smoke pipe.)
- Small room
Lighting – Two lights on long cord from ceiling
Heating – Coke Stove
Fuel for these stoves were kept in an old farm dovecote/shed between the school and school house. The girls’ outside toilets were scheduled for moving into the main building in 1967 (See plans below). No school meals were provided at that time and the school had no telephone.
In 1966, the School Managers were, Chairman – Revd Basil Turner, Mr Jerry Hollowell, Mr Chambers, Mr Len Reed, Mr Charles Atkins and Miss May Collins.
Pamela Darvill was the head teacher but the school also employed a caretaker, who at the time was Mrs Nellie Compton from St Mary’s Hill, but Mrs Margaret Pridmore took over the following year. Mrs Davies was taken on as an assistant teacher at a later date. Children in school at that time amounted to eighteen.
A May Day celebration was held every year and this included a parade of the May Queen and her attendants and all the school children and parents down Main Street and back to the school, where activities such as country dancing and maypole dancing would take place. (May Day Celebrations)
In 1947, the school received a boost of pupils from Apethorpe as the village Church of England School closed down, and all children of primary school age were sent to Woodnewton.
The village started to change in 1950 with house building, and over the next 40 years several developments appeared which brought many additional families to the village. This in turn increased the number of children attending the school. It was recorded in 1973 that 13 children started that year. Unfortunately, these numbers were not sustained, and in the 1980’s the numbers started to drop considerably, and with the impending retirement of Miss Darvill, the Education Department at the Council decided to close the school in 1990.
Subsequently, the school building and land were sold and several years later a house was built on the site.
During the 114 years that the school had been open, fourteen head teachers, one/two junior teachers and several caretakers, together with around a thousand children had passed through this school.
2020