Loders School Celebrates 150 Years
On Friday 11th October Loders CE Primary Academy celebrated 150 years of learning and teaching in the village.
The week had started with the children of the school going back to 1869, dressing up as their predecessors and learning what it was like to go to school in the Victorian era. They even re-created a photograph from the opening of the school. The children of the school then spent the week learning about the lives of children in Victorian West Dorset, presenting their learning in special project books.
The week culminated in a service of Thanksgiving lead by the Acting Head of School, Ms Claire Pooley, the Reverend Chris Grasske and the children of the school. Many ex-pupils, teachers, head teachers and parents returned for the event. The church bells were rung, as they had been 150 years previously. This was followed by an exhibition organised by the Loders Local History Group in the village hall, who had collected an amazing range of photos and information covering the full 150-year history of the school.
At 1pm (the same time as reported in the Bridport News 150 years ago) a plaque was unveiled on the front of the school by Councillor Barry Irvine, Mayor of Bridport, accompanied by the children of the school council, Mrs Andrea Rice (Executive Head of Acorn Multi-Academy Trust) and Ms Claire Pooley (Acting Head of School, Loders). The wording on the plaque is Loders CE Primary Academy, 150 years of Learning and Teaching in our community. The plaque was kindly donated by the Loders Village Heritage Fund. The whole school and many of the community gathered to watch the unveiling despite the windy conditions.
(Left) The school community, past and present, gathered in Loders Church for the service of Thanksgiving. (Right) Councillor Barry Irvine, Mayor of Bridport, unveils the commemorative plaque accompanied by children from the school council, his wife Mrs Carol Irvine, Mrs Andrea Rice and Ms Claire Pooley.
The day finished with an open afternoon at the school, where children in Years 5 and 6 gave guided tours of the school building to ex-teachers and pupils. The children were very interested in gathering information about what their school had been like and they learnt a lot from the visitors. The visitors in their turn enjoyed finding out about what life is like at school today. One visitor commented ‘The building has changed so much since I was here [over 50 years ago] but it still has exactly the same warm and friendly feel that I loved so much.’
