Wescott Infant School
Wescott School is a small infants school in Wokingham, Berkshire, England.
We are a mixed sex school run by the local Education Authority and have around 150 pupils throughout the year with a three-term intake.
We hope you will enjoy looking around our web site which includes information about our facilities, teachers and their classes, a calendar of events and useful links to other local web sites.
If you would like to view the school prospectus click here .
If you would like to view the most recent School Profile (which replaces the Annual Report to Parents) please click here.
If you would like to view the report of the most recent Ofsted inspection (5 December 2006) click here.
We are very pleased to announce that the school has achieved the Bronze standard of the Healthy Schools Award Scheme and recently been granted the Artsmark Gold award.
Our school will be celebrating its Centenary from 8th January 2006. Please visit the History page to find out more about how we plan to celebrate our first 100 years educating the children of Wokingham.
The Wescott & Westende PTA now has its own web pages at the Westende school web site. If you would like to view the latest news on Wescott PTA activities please click here. |
Our school will be celebrating its centenary in 2006. In preparation for this we are researching the history of Wescott School. If you have any information about any part of the school's history please contact the Head Teacher.
Originally a National School it was founded in 1825 and located in Rose Street Wokingham behind numbers 9-11. In 1901the population of the town has increased three-fold and most of the residents were in All Saints' Parish which was about to be expanded with a substantial group of houses in the fields around Easthampstead Road - Wokingham's first new housing estate. The National School could not be expanded and it was decided to build a new school on the site of the extended town.
The local vicar was included on the new Board at Wescott as Foundation Manager. Wescott Road Council School , named after Thomas Manley Wescott the first Mayor of Wokingham cost £56,500 to build and was opened on 8th January 1906 catering for 222 children from 5 to 14.
The first Head Teacher was a Mr G.M.E. Fryer. There were 11 other teachers and 222 children on the register in the first month.
They celebrated Empire Day on 24th May when the whole school had a morning of special patriotic themed lessons. The morning ended at 11.45am when they gathered together to sing the School Song and then the National Anthem........then they were all allowed to go home for a 1/2 day holiday. Later in the year (May) 45 of the children enjoyed a day trip to London, with a visit to Madame Tussauds and the London Zoological Gardens.
The first teaching staff appointed in 1906 were: |
Mr G.M.E Fryer (Headteacher) Mr H.G. Vickers Miss C.E. Kent Miss L. Dowsett Mr W.H.H. Lodge Miss E. Lewis Miss M. Butler W.A Garwood W. Alder (Mon) E. Fielder (PT) ? Hawkins (PT) E. Lush (PT) | |
Mr Fryer the Headteacher was paid a salary of £175 per year, and the caretaker Mr Butler was paid £1 per week.....and was allowed to take another job during the summer (unpaid) holiday period!
The school buildings were designed by the architect Edmund Fisher who was responsible for the design of a number of schools in the area including:
Cookham Rise Council School, Alwyn Road Council School, Cookham, Swallowfield Council School, Lower Sandhurst Council School, Priestwood Council School, Easthampstead, East Ilsley Council School, Windsor Boys Secondary School, Abingdon Cookery and Manual Instruction Centre, Wallingford Council School for Boys, Waltham St Lawrence Council School, Newbury County Girls School, Three Mile Cross Council School, Hungerford Council School, Cholsey Council School, Maidenhead County Girls School, Lambourn Council School, Wokingham Manual Instruction and Cookery Centre, Thatcham Council School, Childrey Council School, Hermitage Council School,
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1906 1906 1907 1906 and 1910 1907 1907 1908 1908 1909 1909 1909 1909 1909 1910 1910 1910 1911 1912 1912 1912 |
The school was built by W.Watson builders of Ascot. The photograph below shows the building nearing completion during 1905.
Edmund Fisher's design allowed for classrooms which opened onto a central Hall, as opposed to the previous buildings which had one large Hall with moveable partitions to form class rooms when required. Originally Wescott combined both of these features. You can see a plan of the original school layout displayed and a timetable from the early days displayed in the corridor adjacent to the main reception area.
As the town grew and the system changed, Wescott was left to cater for over a hundred children from just under five to seven, when most of them go on to the nearby Westende School.
We are very proud of our school which has a fine record of giving children the very best start in their school careers. Obviously the most important way to achieve this is with the right people guiding and helping the children. However we are also proud of the facilities on offer.
The school is housed in a 'listed building' which was opened in 1906. We have a large multi-purpose central hall which is used for:
Surrounding the hall are 6 bright and cheerful classrooms each of which has its own computer facilities. The school was selected as one of the pilot sites for the new National Grid for Learning. Whilst running a modern school in an old building presents some challenges, the learning environment we have created provides a stimulating and and safe place for the children. |
If you would like to view a 'virtual tour' of the school kindly provided by Romans Estate Agents please click here |
Aerial Photo of the School circa 1950
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Outside the main building there is a large safe play area, with covered shelters and an outdoor activity 'trim trail'. The children are also able to enjoy some cultivated garden areas and a safe wildlife pond. |
Thanks to the efforts of the active Parents Association, the school shares the use of a heated outdoor swimming pool during the summer months, with Westende Primary School. The children are able to have formal swimming lessons during term time and families may also use the pool after school and during the summer holidays. |
After school a variety of activities take place including: Rainbows, Brownies, KFA Youth Moves and Football Training. There is a private Day Nursery located within the playground which has an informal link with the school. There is an after school club held at the nearby St. Crispins Sports Centre, children who attend this are collected from the school and escorted safely to the club each afternoon. |
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Calendar of Events for 2007-2008
September 2007 Thursday 13th September First Youth Moves club
Monday 17th September First Monday football Wednesday 19th September First Wednesday football
October 2007 Thursday a.m. 4th October Harvest Celebration
Monday a.m. 15th October School photographs
16th-17th October Parents' evening
Friday 19th October Staff training day: school closed
Week commencing 22 October Half term holiday
30th & 31st October Life Education Bus
November 2007
December 2007
13th & 14th December Christmas Concerts
Wednesday 19th December Trip to pantomime, South Hill Park
20th December, p.m. Carols Round the Tree
Friday 21 December End of term
January 2008
Monday 7th January Spring term
February 2008
Week commencing 18th February Half term holiday
Monday 25th February Training day: school closed
March 2008
Friday 21st & Monday 24th March Public holiday: school closed
April 2008
Friday 4th April End of term
Monday 21st April Term begins
May 2008
Monday 5th May May Bank Holiday
Week commencing 26th May Half term holiday
July 2008
Tuesday 22nd July End of term
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