Bourton-on-the-Water Primary School

School History  

HomeStaff & GovernorsProspectusPerformance Calendar Gallery Newsletters School Policies Parents' Information Contact Us FOBS School HistoryLinks

hit counter

Head Teachers at Bourton-on-the-Water Council School and Primary School - 1902-2007

• George Payne 1902 - 1924
• Bill Wakeman 1924 - 1935
• George ‘Boss’ Harris 1935 - 1955
• Mr ‘Charlie’ Gardner 1955 - 1956 (Acting Head)
• Edward ‘Juggy’ Jarvis 1956 - 1958 (Supply Head)

Primary School

• Hector Gay 1958 - 1978
• Eileen Bassett 1978 - 1988
• Tony Huggard 1989 – 2004
• Mark Turner 2004
• Mike Allen 2005 (Acting Head)
• John ap Jones 2005 - present

School Timeline

• In 1902 Bourton-on-the-Water Council School, built at a cost of £2,797, was originally occupied by infant, junior and secondary pupils.
• In 1908 186 children attended the school.
• In 1958 402 children were on roll.
• The same year the seniors moved to the new Bourton Vale Secondary Modern School, now the Cotswold School, leaving 186 children on roll at the Primary School.
• In 1989 there were 189 children on roll.
• In 2002 there were 252 children on roll.
• In 2007 there are 248 children on roll.

Bourton-on-the-Water Primary School Pre-History

By will, dated 1717, Anthony Collett of Bourton gave a rent-charge of £10 for the teaching of 12 boys in the parish, who were to learn the Church of England catechism. In 1738 the £10 was paid as a salary to the Schoolmaster, but by 1828 the Schoolmaster, who was also the parish clerk, used the money to pay the rent for the School buildings and took additional pupils who paid fees.

The Day School numbered 18 in all in 1825 when there was also a Sunday School with 42 pupils. Other children were presumably taught in Dame Schools as in 1771 the population included two schoolmistresses besides the schoolmaster. Of these latter schools, one was run by Mrs Fox in a cottage in Fox’s yard attended by about ten boys and girls. Another was run by the wife of Stephen Johnson in a cottage opposite Harrington House: another by Mrs Betteridge in a cottage where later was erected the Electric Light Plant! And another by Rachel Dawson and her niece. A small school for boys was kept by John Cook who was reputed to be quite a character. The upper part of the house was occupied and the adjoining cottage was a school with Mr Guest as schoolmaster.

In 1849 the Church School acquired its own building on the corner of Rectory lane for use as a School in union with the National Society.

A British School was established in 1841 in a room built onto the old Baptist chapel and was moved about ten years later to the former Zion chapel in Lansdowne, and in 1868 had a certified teacher and nearly 70 children who mostly paid fees of one penny; an extra penny was charged for instruction in writing.

Previous to the Elementary Education Act of 1870, there were therefore several small schools in Bourton-on-the-Water: the British School held in the Lansdowne Room: the National School held in the Church Rooms and a number of Dame schools.

By 1872 attendance at the British School had fallen to 38 and in that year a School Board for the Parish was formed and took over the work of both the British and National Schools. The two rooms of the National School were acquired from the Rector Rev S.J. Hulme, at a rental of 1/- per annum for three years ending 1st September 1875 and the Lansdowne Room acquired from Dr Thorowgood on the same terms. The upper room at the National School was used for girls and the lower for infants, the British School building for boys. The schools were opened on 6th January 1873; the highest intake number was 208 and average attendance 134. Fees of up to 4d were charged. Collett’s charity was used partly for prizes and partly to fund the Sunday school.

Improvements were made at considerable expense between 1873 and 1899 to satisfy the HM Inspector of Schools but in 1899 both buildings were condemned as unsuitable, thus requiring a new school to be built.

A site for the new School was obtained behind the church and operations commenced in 1901. The new School erected at a cost of £2,797 was opened on 9th April 1902. The accommodation was for 150 children in the mixed department and 68 in the infant department; the average attendance being about 160.

School Boards were abolished by the Education Act, 1902, and on 1st April, 1903 the School was taken over by the County Council.

The Iron Age History of the School Site

On a cold February morning in 2000, County Council archaeologists surveying the development of new classrooms and playground for the Primary School made a startling discovery.  Soil being dug out for the new playground unearthed the unmistakable yellowed shape of a human skull.

Carbon dating and other tests confirmed that the remains were of a girl who had died in her teens more than 2,500 years ago. The skeleton was undamaged and had a complete set of teeth.  The 5ft tall body had been bound and buried in a foetal posture - a very unusual practice in Iron Age Britain.  Common practice was not to bury but to cremate or to throw a body in a pit.  This is the best example of a burial dated from 700 to 400BC yet found in the county.

The School's headteacher at the time, Tony Huggard, recalled, "We had to keep it secret until the bones had been lifted.  As soon as the story broke the metal detectors came.  They could not care tuppence about the skeleton or the site."

The School site subsequently provided a wealth of information about Iron Age life.  "From nearby finds we know that she ate nuts, grain, spelt wheat and other crops and vegetables. The villagers hunted, fished and kept cattle, goats and sheep," commented Mr Huggard.

"The pottery also had a story to tell.  By studying the fats and oils impregnated into the clay we know that the villagers did not eat pork," he added.

Interest in the finds soon spread and the Bourton-on-the-Water Iron Age Girl was featured on the BBC series Meet the Ancestors (The Chosen One) in January 2001.

As part of the Meet the Ancestors series the girl's head was recreated by a medical artist from the University of Manchester.  "She had a curiously asymmetrical face," said Mr Huggard.  "They wondered at first if she would look very ugly, but when they rebuilt her she looked quite normal."

The building of an Iron Age roundhouse at the School was featured on Blue Peter.  Constructed from natural materials in the style that the Bourton-on-the-Water Iron Age Girl would have immediately recognised, the pupils contributing to this permanent reminder of the site’s ancient past.

Mr Huggard said: "It has really brought history alive for the pupils.  It has taught them a lot about the place they live and given them a historical timeline to the past. When you hold the skull it is strange to think that she was a little girl who played in the river, chased the chickens and danced with her friends."

>top