Opening of the New School 1924

Eastern Daily Press, May 14th 1924

“I think this is one of the nicest little village schools I was ever in. It is beautifully planned.” The comment was made, by Mr. E. D. Fear, H.M. Inspector of Schools, and referred to the new elementary school built by the Norfolk Education Authority at Deopham. The opening ceremony, which took place yesterday afternoon, occasioned a good deal of interest among the people in the locality. Mr. J. Lloyd (chairman of the managers) presided, and supporting him were Mr. A. G. Copeman (chairman of the Norfolk Education Committee), Mr. W. Towler (chairman of the Building and Sites Committee), Mr. E. G. Gooch (County Councillor for the division), Mr. J. S. Davis (secretary of the Education Committee), Mr. E. D. Fear (H.M. Inspector of Schools), Mr. W. J. Pollard, Mr. H. Bidewell (builder), and Mr. C. W. Bullen (building inspector (Norfolk Education Committee). The following managers were also present: Messrs. H. B. Coldham, E. Nickalls, F. Perfect, and C. Leverett.
From 1903 to 1908¹ the children were educated at the old Church School. This school was condemned ² by the committee on account of the offices ³ and general condition of the buildings. After efforts to obtain the school as a Council School in order that the necessary improvements could be carried out (the committee were unable to obtain the buildings), the children were conveyed to Attleborough ⁴ until 1909, when the committee decided to erect a temporary school, and this school was opened on 10th May, 1909. The temporary buildings have now become unsuitable for use as a public elementary school, and the permanent buildings have been erected. The average attendance at the school is 58.
The plans of the new school were prepared by the committee’s building inspector, Mr. C. W. Bullen, and the erection of the buildings has been carried out in an excellent manner by Mr. Henry Bidewell, builder and contractor, Wymondham. The site contains half an acre and is situated on the north side of the public road from Deopham to Hingham. The buildings, erected with. local red bricks and roofed with slates, have a frontage of 50 feet with a depth of 45 feet, and consist of two rooms for the mixed department, divided by a glared folding partition, with a separate room for infants; all warmed by open fires, and well ventilated on the Boyle system, and giving a total accommodation of 104. The flooring and dodoes are of pitehpine. There are separate cloakrooms for boys and girls, and a teachers’ room, all fitted with lavatory basins end heated with hotwater pipes. The school is well lighted throughout. The front fencing and gates (recessed from public road) and the division fence are of oak, while the boundary fences on the north and west sides of site are neutral and protected with concrete posts and wire. There is a small garden at the back of the offices for instructional purposes. The playgrounds are gravelled and bordered with shrubs protected by glazed rope edging.
Mr. J. Lloyd (chairman) expressed satisfaction at the nice school which had been provided. The buildings reflected the greatest credit on the builder, the architect, and all. concerned. If Deopham had formerly had one of the most dilapidated schools in Norfolk, it had now one of the most up-to-date.
Mr. A. G. Copeman, in declaring the school open—as a matter of fact the scholars were already in possession, and under the direction of the head mistress, Mrs. Hart, sang some songs sweetly and with intelligence—described the causes which had led to a long delay in providing the new school, and how as a makeshift they had had a temporary school, of which he disapproved. Finally on behalf of the Education Authority, he came over and chose a site which belonged to the Crown. Whether the people in Deopham thought it was the best site, he did not know. It was the best he could find. He congratulated the builder. The school was very similar to that he (Mr. Copeman) opened at Rollesby last year. It was, he thought, equally as good, and he knew it was a better site. Some people had asked, “Why don’t you makeshift with a little tin school?” Did they think education could be carried on in any little building? He said no. They wanted to give the children a school that they would appreciate and could look back. upon with pride as the place where they get their education. And they could not have better and healthier surroundings. The children he thought would do much better work there than in any little old building. That was the happiest time in their lives, and whatever they learnt would benefit them in later life. People might say that religion was not taught properly in it, but he maintained that the syllabus was as good as anyone wanted in such a school. But they could not learn without belief in God.. Without that there was no hope for anybody. They must believe that God was watching over their lives and directing the path along which they would go hereafter. And what they would learn in school they would remember. He hoped the teachers would take an interest in the seholars and help them up the ladder, and if they could get scholarships to go to the secondary schools the Education Committee would help them all they could to get some status in life. They had helped many a child and were willing to help many more, and were rather proud when they had a child from a small village who did well in scholarship examination. (Applause.) Mr. Copemen suggested that, if possible, they should go in for nature study, because it helped to make the children happy and to realise the changes of the seasons of the year.
Mr. H. B. Coldbam, in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Copeman for coming to open the school, paid a tribute to his work on behalf of education in Norfolk. They had had enough of the tin contraptions and in the new school the children and the teaching staff would get much benefit.
Mr. E. Nickalls seconded.
Mr. Copeman, in reply, explained how hard Mr. Pollard had worked to get the school, and said it was not his fault that it did not come during the time he was the County Councillor for the district. He did not know what people would say about building a school in bad times, but if education was to be carried out in Norfolk they must build schools where they were wanted; and many more were wanted.
Mr. W. Towler (chairman of the Building and Sites Committee), in proposing a vote of thanks to the chairman, reminded the boys and girls of the importance of their work in school and the part they had to play in qualifying themselves through education in maintaining the British Empire.
Mr. E. G. Gooch, in seconding, acknowledged the service of Mr. Pollard in endeavouring to get a new school for Deopham. That school was a model school for a village, and he was delighted with the character and excellence of the work which had been put into the building, which would remain as a further monument to Mr. Bullen, the architect. It was one of life’s little pleasures, Mr. Gooch remarked, that in democratic England there were occasions when they could leave aside personal feelings and forget even that some of them were party politicians and unite in a common cause. At a function of that sort they could all meet on common ground to advance the cause of education. They were serving the interests of all that day irrespective of creed or party. That school was another milestone on the road to even more than educational progress. He should never despair of the future of England while they maintained an efficient system of education, the benefits of which were placed within the reach of the poorest of the poor. Education was likely to destroy any revolutionary tendencies, and was the best instrument to enable all af them to do service not only for their fellows and for the State, but also for themselves. (Applause.)
Mr. J. S. Davis, in a brief speech, said that what pleased him most was the fact that the parents and the friends of education in Deopham had turned up at that gathering in such goodly numbers. The Education Authority had a duty to perform, which was to provide school accommodation for the children and look after the efficiency of the education that was given to them. The Education Committee could work as held as it liked, but no satisfactory progress could be made unless its efforts were backed up by and received the goodwill of the parents and friends of education. Some folk might be superstitious and say that it was unlucky to open the school on the 13th of May, but he hoped such a superstition would be dispelled and that The 13th of May would be the, luckiest day for Deopham.

Notes

1. It is odd that the dates 1903-1908 are given for the Church School, when in fact it should have stated 1851 – 1908.
2. The story was not so simple as the Education Committee “condemning” the Church School buildings, and were themselves much criticised for the handling of that episode. See here for the full account of the first school’s closure.
3. “Offices” = toilets.
4. There are no other records of children being conveyed to Attleborough until the tin school opened. Morley, Wicklewood and Gt Ellingham are the known targets.

Published: 29/11/22
Last revision: 30/11/22