History of the School
In 1870 it was compulsory for schools to be established in parishes where there was no adequate education. Funds were raised by the ratepayers and the schools were run by locally elected boards. A school board of five members under the chairmanship of Mr W H Barnaby was founded in 1874 and the present school was built for the united districts of Grendon Bishop, Bredenbury and Wacton. Mr W H Barnaby donated the present site for the school and also the stone of which it was built. The building cost £1,000! The school opened for the first time on January 4th 1875 and the logbook records 39 children present in the morning and 44 present in the afternoon. It also tells us that the roads were very dirty and the weather, unfavourable!
During 1939 and 1945 a Birmingham school was evacuated and some of its children were sent to Bredenbury. This increased the school’s numbers by some twenty to thirty pupils.
Mr Baron, the Headmaster in 1954, wanted the house so the parish room became the extra classroom until a temporary hut was put up on neighbouring land. In 1959 the school was still using bucket closets but then witnessed the installation of flushing toilets and a kitchen. In the early 1960s there were eighty to ninety children on the books.
In 1961 the Queen Elizabeth Humanities College opened. When Bredenbury Primary School children reached the age of eleven they progressed to that high school. In the 1970s, when Mr Williams was Headteacher, a second temporary classroom was erected in the style known as “terrapin” and then in the 1980s the school was completely remodelled. The temporary huts were demolished and permanent buildings were incorporated into the old building creating the school we are more familiar with today.
In recent years expansion of the buildings has continued, adding some wonderful new space and valued facilities. These in turn contribute towards the outstanding quality of learning that Bredenbury Primary School provides for its pupils today.
If you are an ex-pupil or teacher from Bredenbury Primary School we would be very interested to hear from you!