NEW WILLINGTON LOWER SCHOOL WEB SITE IN DEVELOPMENT
WATCH THIS SPACE !!!!!
Telephone Number: 01234 838280
Fax Number: 01234 838280
Address: Church Road
Willington
Bedford
Post Code: MK44 3QD
Map location: click here
Aerial photograph: click here
Choosing a school for your child?
Willington Lower School
"Willington Lower School is a good school and sits in the heart of the Community.”
OFSTED October 2005
Ring or drop in to find out more about the school and to see if we provide the learning environment to suit your child.
e-mail: willington@deal.bedfordshire.gov.uk
Willington School |
 Willington School November 2006  Willington School Group c.1868 |
EARLY EDUCATION IN WILLINGTON
In 1720 there was no schooling available for poor children in Willington. In 1818 6 boys from Willington went to a charity school in Cople. There was a small Sunday school which was attended by around 40 children. J.H. Bowers, the curate wrote that, 'The poor, being generally employed in lace-making, might prefer employment to education. The Sunday school has been necessarily abandoned in winter, for want of a proper master, but the minister is going to resume it, and hopes to make it permanent.' Another Sunday school was started in 1832 and was attended by about 35 children. It was supported by subscriptions from the curate, rector and others; the master was paid from this money. The 1851 Educational Census recorded one Sunday school with 22 boys, 19 girls The Willington Church of England School was built by the Duke of Bedford and opened in 1868. A year later an inspector described it as 'a promising school' [Ref: micf 38/12]. In 1870 it was recorded that there was space for 130 children. In 1875, in common with many church schools, the running of Willington School was taken over by an elected School Board, though it was often difficult to find five people willing to serve on the school board. Decisions made by school boards included the provision of religious instruction which in Willington meant that from 1878: 'The Bible is read and historically explained (Old Testament and New Testament, on alternate mornings), from 9.10 to 9.45 am each day the schools are open.' A survey of Bedfordshire schools was carried out in August 1879 under the Factory & Workshop Act 1878 when the population of Willington was recorded as 275. The school, which was mixed, had 47 children on the books. The breakdown by age was as follows (boys/girls): under 5: 1/3; 5-10: 19/18; 10-14: 3/3 aged 14: none The school log books show the kinds of equipment that the children used and the sorts of lessons that they were taught. In May 1887 the school received 2 dozen copy books, 3 dozen exercise books, 1 ½ dozen Little Readers, 1 box of slate pencils and half a gallon of black ink. Lessons too were different to today. A list of 25 proposed Object Lessons for 1897 included: 1. The cow 2. The elephant 16. Boots and shoes 18. A Butchers shop 23. A clock (Ref: micf 38/12) In 1903, following the Education Act of 1902, the Board School in Willington became a Council School, that is, it was run directly by Bedfordshire County Council as Local Education Authority. Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has a number of school inspection reports for the period just before World War One and then between the wars [Ref.E/IN1/1]. The School Inspector's report for 1911 recorded the following comments for the junior mixed department "This small Village School continues to be carefully, conscientiously and well taught. Order and tone are all that can be desired. The whole written work deserves praise for its neatness and accuracy and both Drawing and Needlework are very creditable". However, as for the infants "The level of attainment in the Infants' Class is not high but the present Teacher has only been in charge a few weeks. She has made a good beginning, the methods are good and there are signs of improvement already". The mixed department continued to receive praise in following reports, as did the infants' department under its new teacher. In 1925 its was recorded that "This is an interesting School to visit, as the scheme proposes much more individual work than is usual in Schools of this type and there are difficulties in the presence of backward or abnormal children which do not allow the good points to be evident at first sight. But there is much real good in the development of these very children [and] in the clear progress of many of those who are more intelligent…"  School Class 1 c.1920s In 1928 the report began "The Head Teacher of this little school has high ideals" but went on to level a number of specific criticisms. The 1930 inspection noted "This school was decapitated and became a Junior Mixed Department in September 1930. The work is gradually improving from that which was done during the last few months of the tenure of the last Head Teacher when the school was mixed". This improvement continued, as noted in 1934 and by 1937 the infants department had been brought back and the report noted "This Junior School, with Infants, is admirably managed…The atmosphere is that of a happy family party and it is a pleasure to visit the school". During the Second World War 25 children from Rye [Sussex] were evacuated to Willington and attended the school. The entry in the log book for 8th August 1940 reads, 'The local and evacuee children have been merged and arranged into classes' [Ref: micf 38/12]. After the 1944 Education Act the school became a County Primary School. An inspector's report for 1956 [Ref.E/IN1/2] reveals that the school had two teachers and 36 children aged 5 to 11. It has "a cheerful atmosphere, aided by gay, colourful walls and good displays of pictures, books, apparatus and nature tables…[it] is one in which the children can and do work happily". The only criticisms were of the penmanship of the older children, setting out of written work in arithmetic and of the comparative lack of music teaching. Photographs courtesy of Willington Local History Group. |