History of the School

Our lovely Victorian school was built in 1877 however has come a long way since then. The main body of the school building is still used, although the Headmaster’s House (which was attached to the school) no longer provides a home for the Head Teacher but is an office, staff room and Head Teacher’s office instead. Over the years the school has been extended and the main building now comprises three classrooms, the main school hall, toilets and resources room – quite a change from when all the pupils were taught in rows in the school hall all those years ago!

Changes have happened in the school grounds too:  we have a new purpose built cabin which was built especially for the youngest members of our school community in 2023; a swimming pool has been and gone; the playground now boasts brightly coloured markings which were upgraded in 2023 by playground marking company, Signet Play . We also have a wildlife friendly garden, a large outside area for Teddy Class, a reading garden and a polytunnel to name but a few.

There have been two books written about the history of our school – the first by a previous Headmaster, Mr David Brown, entitled ‘The First 100 Years’ which covers 1877 – 1977 and the second which was a follow up project in 2002 by the then Headmistress, Miss Sara Griffiths, and her class which covered the following 25 years up to 2002 – perhaps in 2027 there could be a third?

The photographs have been kindly supplied by the Shebbear History Society.