Soon after the establishment of Cambridge, in July 1864, as a military settlement, where at one stage there were 840 men, 80 wives and 240 children were brought up to swell the numbers. The problem of the education of the children now beset the military authorities

The first school established was at the Ten Star Redoubt in the Fort Street area, under the charge of Mr Thomas Spedding. However with the movement of the troops to other areas, the school was discontinued. In 1869. the Common Schools Act, passed by the Auckland Provincial Council, proclaimed ten educational districts of which one was Cam­bridge and Pukekura.

In the same year, a town settler, Mr William Cunningham, called together a few of the townspeople and suggested applying to the authorities for the use as a school of a disused hospital building which stood at the foot of Duke Street Hill leading to the bridges. The building was duly allocated for their use and Mr Cunningham obtained a guarantee of £60 a year from the parents which was to be supplemented by a similar sum from the Provincial Government.

The first master appointed was Mr Bremner.

It was not until 1874 that the first portion of the building used as a public school in Duke Street was erected. One room was par­titioned off to house the public library, but the latter was later transferred to a disused immigrant cottage placed near the site of the present Post Office.

Until 1880, when the Leamington School was opened in Cambridge West, children from both sides of the river attended the Duke Street School. The only other school available was 0 private one opened about the year 1888 by Misses Gray and Cussen with 14 pupils.

Mr W. R. McVeagh recollects the school as a building of two classrooms and a porch, which was also used as a classroom. The first headmaster he remembered was Mr C. J. Ash-well (1876 to 1880), a son of the Rev. B. T. Ashwell, who had come to New Zealand in 1835 and had served as a missionary at the Bay of Islands, Waikato Heads and, in 1839, at Otawhao (Te Awamutu).

Mr McVeagh said that Mr C. J. Ashwell later went to Australia where he is mentioned later by the authoress, Ernestine Hill, as editor of the Murray Pioneer at Renmark.

The Waikato Times of January 13, 1877, mentions an annual meeting of householders.

Mr J. T. Camp presiding. It was Mr Camp who later built a hotel, stables and black­smith’s shop at Tamahere. In a tragic fire, the buildings were destroyed and two of his children burnt to death. The report at this meeting showed committee receipts at £64 and expenditure at £64. £45 had been granted by the Education Board towards repair of the dilapidated school property.

The committee elected consisted of Mr Houghton (chairman), Rev. S. J. Neill, Messrs. J. T. Camp, R. McVeagh and F. J. Brooks (secretary). Mr Brooks was, at the time, manager of the Bank of New Zealand, and after his retirement served for a long period as Town Clerk.

From 1880  To 1883

The committee elected in 1880 included some new members who were to play a pro­minent part in community life in Cambridge— Sergeant-Major Heaney, of the Armed Con­stabulary, Revs. William Evans and W. N. de L. Willis and J. P. Campbell. The committee had to deal with requests from the former headmaster, Mr Ashwell, for compensation for repairs to the residence and from the new headmaster, Mr R. D. Stewart, for further repairs. The committee decided to press for the erection of a new residence. A bell was also purchased, to be erected outside the school and to be used also as a fire bell.

A report on December 23, 1880, refers to the annual examination of the pupils. In geography, reading, recitation and history, the examination was conducted by the Rev. Mr Bull, and in English, writing and elementary physiology, by the Rev. Mr Willis. Prizes were donated by Mrs Hughes for the most popular girl, by Sgt.-Major Heaney for the most popular boy and by Mr Isaacs for arithmetic. Mr Stewart gave two prizes for the boy and girl with the best attendance.

The roll in 1880 was 161 and the average attendance 135. Already, accommodation which was to plague the school for many years, was totally inadequate.

The first official admission register must have been compiled in 1881, from previous existing records, if there were such. It is possible that some of the earliest pupils’ names were not recorded. It is evident that the headmaster in 1881, Mr R. D. Stewart, had entered up the register with insufficient infor­mation as to the original date of entry. Many dates of birth are not recorded, notably in the girls’ enrolments.

Among the oldest boys registered appear the names of Robert McVeagh (22/9/66), Thomas Hicks (4/4/67), Frederick Hosking (20/12/67), David Carnachan (15/9/67), Jeremiah McGarry (4/12/67) and James McVeagh (20/12/67). The name of Frederick Hosking appears first in the register.

Well known Cambridge names that appear in this early register are: McVeagh, Hicks, Armer, Webb, Nixon, Buckland, Arnold, Morse, Burt, Stuart, Reynolds, Clark, Gemmill, Dillon, Brockelsby, Holloway, Forrest, Webber, Riley, Alford and Brooks.

Mr McVeagh describes Mr R. D. Stewart as a small, thin man and a very capable head­master, who gave his pupils a thorough grounding. He was a firm believer in corporal punishment. On one occasion, he caned a girl in the upper standards, a very pretty girl. One of the pupils, a half-caste boy named Henry Wilson, went to her rescue and there was quite a tussle with no referee. The said Henry Wilson was a son of Major Wilson, of “Waterside”, and became later a Judge of the Native Land Court. Another pupil to achieve fame was Sir Albert Ellis, prominent for his work in connection with Nauru phosphate.

At the householders’ meeting in 1881, the Rev. H. Bull presided. The report stated that the roll was 191 and the average attendance 129. The present staff consisted of the head-teacher and three asisstants. The Board had granted £10 to fence the back part of the grounds abutting on the Waikato River, with puriri posts and Hobart Town palings. Out of 100 presented for the examinations 80 had passed — 62 per cent of the average attend­ance. The headmaster, Mr Ralph Stewart, reported that the school had been twice inspected by Mr R. J. O’Sullivan, who had reported very favourably on the pupils and staff.

The new committee consisted of Sgt.-Major Heaney (chairman). Rev. W. Evans, Rev. H. Bull, Messrs Nixon, Mackintosh, Norris and Houghton. At a meeting in 1881, it was decided to call the attention of the Board to the urgent need for increased accommo­dation and the overcrowded state of the school. Attention was also drawn to the neces­sity for enforcing compulsory attendance.

The committee in 1882 was: Messrs Heaney (chairman), Mackintosh, Nixon, Wright, Hosk­ing, Rev. W. Evans and Houghton.

In a report in September 1883 of a meeting of the committee comprising Messrs G. F. Hosking (chairman), Sargent, Hewitt, Wright, Nixon and Rev. R. H. Dewsbury, mention was made of improvements to the girls’ playground. The residence was to be sold by public auction for removal, the ground to be levelled and fenced with the proceeds.

The First School

On July 2, 1883, the High School Depart­ment was opened, the teacher appointed being a Mr Wilson. The 23 pupils listed on the High School roll were.—Girls: A. Morgan, Caroline Nixon, Mary Gillett, Maud Hicks, Emma For­rest, Mary Gane, Christina Gane, Annie Clark, Jane McRae, Mary Selby, Kate Selby. Boys: A. Ellis, H. Wilson, George Hosking, Gerald O’Halloran, William Clark, John Caley, Herbert Williams, Sydney Richardson, Harry Clark, Arthur Selby, Edwin Walker and William Heaney.

To qualify for admission to High School, pupils had to be over 12 years of age. The High School then apparently included stand­ards 5 and 6. A fee of £8/8/- per annum was charged. Parents evidently desired a separate room for these pupils, an attitude described by the Waikato Timer, as “rather snobbish.”

The first High School teacher, Mr W. Wilson, proved both popular and efficient. He was succeeded by Mr Arnold, whose work did not satisfy the chairman, Mr Hosking, who complained that pupils could not do the first ten propositions in the first book of Euclid, they could not do simple equations in algebra and had made no progress in Latin. The greatly incensed Mr Arnold threatened to bring a libel action against the chairman for making such complaints publicly. However, it appears that Mr Arnold was replaced by a Mr Wright who did not get in with the headmaster, Mr Stewart. Friction developed and in November 1883 a special meeting of the committee was called to consider charges and counter-charges by both headmaster and assistant.

Mr Stewart claimed disobedience of instruc­tions and Mr Wright of nothing but downright vulgarity and petty interference by the head­master. Wright claimed Stewart was too domineering, was continually interfering and issued commands and rebukes in a loud and vulgar manner before the whole class.

At the committee meeting, Mr Sargent stated that to carry on the High School successfully it was essential that the head­master should have a high enough educational status to teach, superintend and examine the whole of the subjects taught in the High School. It was detrimental to the school that an assistant teacher should be in a position to give instruction in subjects which the Head­master was not qualified to teach or be able to pronounce on the merits of the teaching. He advocated the removal of the present head, Mr Stewart and the appointment of a headmaster with a degree at a salary of £300 per annum and an assistant to teach High School subjects at a salary of, say, £160 per annum.

Following a request to the Board for a remodelling of the staff, the committee were advised that both Mr Stewart and Mr Wright were to be transferred. At the meeting of householders in January 1884, probably because of the staff dissension and the com­mittee’s action, over 300 were present. A number of candidates for the committee addressed the meeting. The successful candi­dates were Messrs Thompson, Wells, Hewitt, Hosking, Houghton, Hughes and Forrest.

It was said that Mr Stewart was very incensed at Mr Hosking’s attitude and a bitter quarrel ensued, Mr Stewart using epithets which he refused to withdraw. The new head­master appointed was Mr Washington Stewart, B.A., a North of Ireland man and according to Mr McVeagh, a great believer in the efficacy of the cane.

Mr McVeagh states that he had a great love for the New Zealand bush and spent holidays and week-ends riding to Maungakawa to admire the flora and would return armed with a sizable bundle of supple-jacks. He was keen on sports. “When ever we played against the Hamilton School, woe betide us if Hamil­ton beat us,” says Mr McVeagh. “He would harangue us and enquire why the Hamilton boys were better than the Cambridge boys.” It was his custom to entertain the visiting team with a spread of cakes and lemonade and Mr Stevens would reciprocate when the Cambridge team travelled to Hamilton.

“One of Mr. Stewart’s peculiarities which was of great disadvantage to us,” says Mr McVeagh, “was a glass eye; it was hard to tell whether he had his good eye on us, or on the boy in the next seat. He really wasn’t a bad old ‘stick’. Once a week he would distribute sweets among the children in the infant classes.”

The committee had to deal with a com­plaint arising out of the punishment of three girls and a rule was made that corporal punishment should not be inflicted on girls over 10 years of age. Any teacher breaking this rule was to be liable to suspension.

In requesting a new master for the High School, the committee asked for “not some young spark, for there are tolerably big girls in the school, nor a firebrand, nor yet a mere

stick, although his classical attainments need not be very great.” It almost appeared as if Mr Hosking had altered his views on this subject

Out of sympathy with the deposed head­master, many parents had withdrawn their children from the High School and the roll shrank to four pupils, only two of whom had paid their fees.

Later twelve returned but the attendance dwindled to such a degree that the High School department was closed at the end of 1887. An effort by the committee to revive the High School in 1888 was declined by the Board through lack of funds.

From  1884

The report in January, 1884, by the out­going committee stated that the Board had erected a commodious residence for the head-teacher at a cost of £600. This would be the present residence in Bryce Street. The former dilapidated residence had been sold by auction and the proceeds used to improve the grounds, a separate playground being provided for boys and girls.

Out of a roll of 230, the average attendance was 150 and there was 25 per cent failure due to poor attendance.

Among the new committee elected in 1888 were several new names: R. W. Sargent (chair­man), S. Alford, James Hally, J. Fergusson, J. Webber, J. S. Bond, G. Dickinson and J. Hough-ton. It was, reported that the roll was 297. Inspector O’Sullivan had visited the school and 209 of 271 presented had passed.

At a committee meeting in 1889, the head­master reported that the roll had declined to 226. Due to harvesting, the average attendance was low, being only 167. The headmaster reported that agricultural chemistry was now included in the curriculum. £20 wages per annum was offered for a new cleaner.

Forty were present at a householders’ meeting in April 1889, with Mr T. Wells in the chair. It was reported that the drop in attendance had resulted in the removal of a teacher. Inspector Goodwin had visited the school and there had been 95 per cent, passes. Discipline and behaviour were satisfactory. The annual school sports had been most successful. Regret was expressed at the resig­nation of Mr Washington Stewart, who had been appointed as headmaster of Greymouth D.H.S.

The committee for 1889 consisted of Messrs R. W. Savage (chairman), T. Wells, E. Hewitt, James Hally, J. S. Bond, G Dickerson and C. Boyce.

There were 30 applicants for the vacancy of headmaster and from five recommended,Mr R. C. Dyer was appointed. He had previously been first assistant at Ponsonby and had glowing testimonials.

Mr. McVeagh states that Mr. Dyer had the same idea of driving lessons into dull brains with a stick. When punishing a girl, he would blush as though he was not very proud  of himself for hitting a girl. He gave Mr. McVeagh the doubtful honour of being the biggest schemer in the school and called him “The Artful Dodger “ Mr Dyer retired in Cambridge and lies buried in the The Hautapu Cemetery. His son R W. Dyer, practised as a barrister and solicitor in Cambridge and was afterwards appointed as a Stipendiary Magistrate.

A report of a committee meeting in July 1890, with Mr.J.P. Thompson as chairman, referred to the unpunctuality of pupils as disclosed in the inspectors report. The chairman stated he had seen boys playing marbles on the road at times when they should have been school.

In December 1890, Mr. dyer reported that the average was 160. inspector Airey, in his report, said there were 75 per cent passes, much good work in the upper classes and a marked improvement in the behaviour of pupils.

High School Revived

The high school was revived in 1902 with 17 pupils, the only accommodation being a corner of the standard 5 and 6 room. They worked under these adverse conditions until February 1905, when a separate room was built for them. A report in the Independent in November 1904 stated that additions to the school were a classroom, teachers room and a porch.

The headmaster who had succeeded Mr. Dyer was Mr. W. R.C. Walker, B.A., and the committee consisted of Messrs G. Dickinson (chairman) Savage, F. O’Toole, G.W. Venables, T. Wells, Edwards and Hally. The roll was 250 and the average attendance 209.

A report in april 1905 showed that average attendance increased to 215 and the High School roll was 25. in the latter, unsatisfactory attendance caused the chairman to deplore the apathy shown by parents. It was not encouraging to the High School teacher, Mr Brown.

The new committee in april 1905 consisted of Messrs G. Dickinson (chairman), E. B. Savage, E. J. Wilkinson, G. W. Venables, S. Fletcher, J .Hally, J. H. Edwards, F. O’Toole and Chas. Arnold. Through the retirement of Mr Brown, MA., Mr Shanaghan was appointed as secondary assistant. During the year Mr Dickinson presented to the school a banner to be awarded for good attendance. Mr Walker had mentioned that when he assumed charge of the school, he had found there was an idea prevalent among the pupils that Friday was a half-holiday, this resulting in a poor attendance.

Mr Ransome succeeded Mr Shanaghan as High School teacher and later came Miss Gavey.

Manuel School

In 1906, a move was made to obtain a manual and technical school. Parents were circularised, pointing out the advantages of such a school and an executive was formed to push on the matter. It included members of the Cambridge committee and chairmen of other schools: W. S. Brunskill (Taotaoroa), R. Fisher (Pukerimu), M. Butler (Hautapu), A. Blackman (Goodwood), and E. A. De Ath (Maungatautari).

Parents subscribed £128 for this building, and a subsidy was sought from the Auckland Education Board. In February 1908, Mr George George offered to submit sketch plans of the proposed new building.

At the annual meeting of householders, the headmaster, Mr Walker, urged that there should be an enclosure for horses. At present they were tied to a post all day, or turned loose on the playgrounds.

Towards the end of 1908, the Supervisor of Technical Education, Mr George, visited the school. He advised the committee that the Board had made a grant for the manual school and the architect was preparing plans. The amount available including the £128 raised locally, would be £600 for the building and £233 for equipment. It was planned to have the same instructors for woodwork and cookery as for Hamilton.

In July, 1909, the Minister, the Hon. G. Fowlds, visited Cambridge. Mr Lundon, chairman of the committee, was able to inform him that the Council had given a splendid site for the technical school near the Court­house. The committee also obtained from the Minister a grant of £50. This, with £50 raised locally and £125 subsidy from the Board, en­abled the committee to purchase an additional acre for the school grounds.

1909

The headmaster, Mr W. R. C. Walker, appears to have been active in many fields. He held the rank of Major in the Volunteers and was keen on rifle shooting, at one stage estab­lishing a range at the school for the school cadets.

During the next few years, the roll of the school remained static, 228 in 1907 and an average of 182 in 1909. The High School had 44 pupils in 1907 and 32 in 1908.

The year 1909 was highlighted at the school by pupils gaining two junior national scholar­ships and three passes in Matriculation. New names appearing on the school committee were Rev. W. Gow, Messrs E. J. Wilkinson, R. T. Tudehope, A. F. Stone, T. F. Richards, J. A. Hair and J. Watson. For several years Mr Lundon was a very efficient and enthusiastic chairman.

In 1910, the average attendance was 209 primary and 21 in the secondary. In addition co the headmaster, the staff comprised four assistants and two pupil teachers.

In May, 1911, Mr C. Meredith was appointed as assistant teacher at the High School, -a position he held till 1932, when he was trans­ferred to a similar position at Te Awamutu.

In May 1914, Mr Walker was presented with an illuminated address on the occasion of his departure. He had given twelve years’ service as headmaster and had been held in the highest regard. His successor was Mr J. Campbell, formerly first assistant at Mount Albert School. A welcome interest in commit­tee elections was evident in the 1914 meeting of householders when 58 parents were present. The committee elected consisted of Messrs .T. Lundon (chairman), F. C. Bunyard, H. H. Speight, H. Bell, T. F. Richards, J. Rowe, F. Potts, G. Calvert and C. H. Priestley. Towards the end of 1916, the Education Board seriously considered disestablishing the secondary department. The committee viewed many   pupils   going   to   the   Hamilton  High with some concern, because it meant that pupils from Roto-o-rangi, Leamington and Maungatautari would have to travel from four to six miles to catch the train to Hamilton. A deputation, comprising Messrs C. H. Priestley, H. A. Bell and F. C. Bunyard, interviewed the Board which on a guarantee that there would be a roll of 21

The increasing roll of the primary school necessitated the High School transferring to the Manual and Technical buildings and, in 1917, because of the demand for classes at the Manual School, the High School classes were moved to Blackman’s Auction Mart, which they shared with two primary classes till 1920, when the premises were required by the owner.

In 1917, the roll was up to 327; 82 children were crowded into one room in the Infant Department and 99 were taught in the Stds. 3 and 4 room. By July 1920, the roll of the High School had fallen to 12 and the advisability of closing this department was again brought up by Inspector M. Priestley. There were far too

School. The trouble had been due mainly to lack of accommodation, the pupils being pushed around from pillar to post. Moreover, there was no provision for the teaching of languages, the course for boys being confined mainly to the agricultural course.

In 1921, the Board greatly improved the buildings in the Primary School, better access being provided to rooms, with extra passage ways and lobbies. In the same year, Mr Griffith Jones was appointed as headmaster to replace Mr Campbell.

From 1922

By 1922, the primary roll stood at 448 and the secondary was 44. A report published in 1923 showed that there were 13 teachers on the staff. Five new rooms had been added in 1921, thus relieving the acute problem of accommodation.

In 1923, the new site for the secondary department was acquired with the object of erecting a new High School building. The present assistants in the High School were Mr. C. Meredith and Miss de Lambert. The inspectors had reported very favourably on the work of the school and referred especially to the good use of the science laboratory and the work of the girls in making their own school costumes and blazers.

In 1925 it was reported that two further rooms had been added to the Primary School, thus relieving the congestion. Mr.H.D. Prichard, M.A., was appointed as headmaster. The committee was pressing hard for the establishment of a new High School on the Clare Street Site. It was reported that the primary roll was 494 and the secondary 53.

By   December   1926,   the   new   secondary building in Clare Street was completed being   two   large classrooms and a science laboratory.   When the new school was opened in February,  1927, there was a record attendance  of 82  pupils including 50 new entrants and  a   total  roll   of 85. The building was officially opened February  10  by  Mr  A.Burns,  chairman of  the  Auckland 

The removal of the High School pupils to further relieved the accommodation problem at the Primary School. In 1927 a temporary dental clinic was established, soon to be housed in a new building. In 1928 the amenities at the High School were supple­mented by the building of tennis and basketball courts, the unused road was incorporated in the grounds  and  cycle  sheds  were  provided. Typing classes were also started.

In 1929 Mr P. G. Lewis, M.A., was appointed headmaster on the appointment of Mr Prichard as a school inspector. Mr Lewis did not stay long as headmaster, being replaced in 1930 by Mr Sefton. The roll then stood at 435 (primary) and 95 (secondary).

A rather sensational occurrence high-lighted the householders’ meeting in April 1932. Thirty were present with Mr A. N. Macky in the chair. Out of eleven nominations, those elected were Messrs W. R. Garrard, S. N. Ziman, J. H. Ferguson, G. Calvert, V. G. Boulton, H. E. Amyes, P. T. Glanville, L. Morris and J. S. Hooker. At a subsequent meeting of the committee, the members, evidently feeling that the householders’ meeting had not been a truly representative one, resigned in a body.

At a fresh meeting of householders held in May, over 300 were present and 287 votes were recorded. The new committee consisted of Messrs A. N. Macky (chairman), S. N. Ziman (secretary), J. H. Ferguson, W. R. Garrard, H. E. Amyes, V. G. Boulton, W. G. Lane, Geo. Calvert and C. W. Boyce.

The exclusion of the five-year-olds caused a lowered roll in 1933, primary being 355, and secondary, probably due to the depression years, was only 79. The householders’ meeting in 1933, approved of bible teaching in schools. In 1934 Mr P. J. Sefton retired and Mr J. G. Catran was appointed as headmaster.

From 1937

In 1937, at the householders’ meeting in April, the committee reported having held meetings with all district schools, for the purpose of acquiring an intermediate and consolidated primary school. The committee had recommended the purchase of Mr Alfred Gane’s property in Grosvenor Street, an area of ten acres, for the establishment of the school envisaged. The estimated cost was Intermediate and Secondary, £25,000; and Primary, £15,000.

In 1938 opinion veered towards building on to the school in Clare Street, ten classrooms, an assembly hall and upstairs library with the Manual School moved to the new site.

The death of Mr Catran in 1940, came as a shock to staff and parents. He was replaced by Mr T. Kane, MA.

In 1946, five new classrooms were erected on the High School site and a central heating system installed. During the war period and immediately following its conclusion, there had been much instability in staffing.

In June 1946, a special committee of the Board visited Cambridge to seek a site for a new Agricultural High School. Properties inspected were those of Messrs G. A. Walsh, W. O. Cubis and the Beer Estate.

Early in 1947, Mr S. B. Dunn replaced Mr Kane on the latter’s retirement By 1947, the secondary roll was 164 and the primary 486. In the same year a Parent-Teacher Association was formed, the provisional committee being Messrs S. B. Dunn (convenor), F. E. Green, Rev. C. MacKenzie and Mrs A. D. Bluck.

By July 1949, the efforts by the Auckland Education Board to establish an Agricultural High School had reached the stage when approval had been given for the purchase of land and establishment of the school site on the banks of Karapiro Lake, two miles from the Hydro — 1000 acres owned by Messrs T. Hurley and S. Kirkby. When this scheme fell through, Mr Beer’s Fencourt property was seri­ously considered, but finally the project was abandoned.

An epidemic of poliomyelitis early in December 1946 caused the closing of schools till after Easter in 1948. When school resumed the secondary roll stood at 180 and the primary at 450.

Night classes in commercial work and woodwork commenced at the school. In March 1949, tenders were let for the erection of five additional rooms at the High School. Rolls then stood at Primary 491 and Secondary 168

The headmaster, Mr S. B. Dunn, had been pressing for the elevation of the secondary department to the status of a post-primary school but the Board considered this was not yet warranted.

In 1950, the Primary roll stood at 507 and the Secondary at 175. In March 1951, the new High School wing was opened by the Minister for Education, the Hon. R. A. Algie, making altogether 10 classrooms, three specialist rooms and library.

In 1950 plans were prepared for two new manual blocks opposite the school, off Clare Street — one for Homecrafts and one for Wood­work. In that year, rolls stood at: Primary 542, and Secondary 155. The transfer of Forms 1 and 2 to form an Intermediate Department had relieved overcrowding at the Primary School, but by the beginning of 1952, the Primary roll had increased to 560 and the Secondary to 185, resulting in overcrowding and necessitating the use of corridors as class­rooms.

In January, 1953, the High School achieved its full post-primary status under a new head­master, Mr J. L. South, M.A., while Mr Dunn, who was near retiring age, carried on as head of the Primary School. Mr Dunn retired in 1954 and was replaced by Mr L. J. Nobbs. In 1955, Cambridge East School was opened with Mr L. C. Bear as head and a roll of 146.

Until 1961, the Intermediate Department was attached to the High School, but with the transfer of the High School to its new site in Bowen Street, the Intermediate took over the Clare Street School under its first headmaster, Mr J. C. Silcock.

Mr J. Melville followed Mr Nobbs as head­master in 1957 and then came Mr G. F. Robinson in 1961. The present headmaster, Mr J. Mason, took over in 1963. He took an active part in the district centenary celebrations in 1964 and is playing an important part in the present celebration of the school’s centenary.