FEATHERSTONE SCHOOLS
1820
The National Society for Promoting Religious Education was founded in 1811 with the aim of providing a school in every parish to give an elementary education to the children of the poor in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England. The parents had to pay a few coppers a week. A National School was built in Church Lane in 1820 near to Featherstone Parish Church. The Ordnance Survey map of 1849 shows the school and church.
1862
Purston had to wait for its National School until 1861. It was built on the site of the old tithe barn which was owned by Christ Church, Oxford. The land was given for the erection of a schoolmaster's house and school, and the cost of the building was funded by Revd T H Hall of Purston Hall. The school was opened in 1962 and the charge to the parents for educating their children was 3d per week per child.
1865
The school was only one small room and it quickly couldn't cope with the increasing number of pupils. So the south wall was removed and an extra 30 feet added. When finished the Pontefract Advertiser said it was one of the most highly finished and best ventilated rooms in the neighbourhood. In 1866 the archbishop gave it a licence for divine service which was a boon for those at the southern end of the parish who were unable or unwilling to make the trek to All Saint's Church.
1874
The Elementary Education Act was passed in 1870. It provided for the education of children between the ages of 5 and 13, but it was not free or compulsory. The Education Department sent out a circular to all districts to find out what accommodation was already available. The return for Featherstone was:
Featherstone National School 163
South Featherstone Infants' School 74
Purston National School 152
The Department decided no additional accommodation was required for the Featherstone District. There is no published information about South Featherstone Infants' School. It must have been a private establishment.
1882
The 1880 Education Act made school attendance compulsory from the age of five to ten years old. This meant the National Schools would not be able to cope. An election was held for a Featherstone School Board to oversee the building and running of elementary schools.
1883
The School Board decided to build two schools, one in Regent Street for infants and girls, and one in George Street for Boys. The capacity would be infants 150, boys and girls 174 each.
1885
The schools were opened, and the Express commented "The inhabitants of Featherstone are to be congratulated upon having for their children schools of a first class order, where they will be well taught, without the sacrifice of health (by sending them out to work) and at a small cost to their parents".
The boy in the middle of this Girls' School photo is said to be the son of Tinley Simpson the headmaster, whose house is on the right. The Boys' School is shown below.
1887
In spite of it being compulsory, some parents didn't send their children to school and they were taken to court and fined. Some said they were sending their children to Michael White's school which they said was better than the Board school. Nothing is known about Michael White's school.
1889
The Boys' School in George Street was overcrowded so an extension was built to provide an extra classroom.
1891
The 1891 Elementary Education Act provided for the payment by the Government of school fees up to ten shillings per head per year which made primary education effectively free.
1892
The Infants' and Girls' Schools in Regent Street were both overcrowded, and the Education Department said a new school should be built north of the railway line. The School Board did not agree and said there was plenty of room on the present site. After much discussion the School Board won and plans were prepared for a new Girls' School in Regent Street.
1893
The Elementary Education (School Attendance) Act 1893 raised the school leaving age to eleven.
1894
The new Girls' School in Regent Street was opened. The original building used for infants and girls would now be infants only.
The population was still rising and the Boy's School in George Street once again became overcrowded, so another extension was built.
1896
Purston National School was also overcrowded so the infant's department was enlarged, the headmaster's house was changed to a cloakroom and classroom and the old closets were demolished and replaced.
1899
The Elementary Education (School Attendance Act) 1893 was amended to raise the school leaving age to 12. This meant an extra year of pupils and more overcrowding. Another extension was made to George Street Boys' School, and a new school was built off North Featherstone Lane for infants and juniors.
North Featherstone Lane School opened with a school roll of 280 in the mixed junior section and 230 infants so it already had more than it was built for. The School Board decided children north of Featherstone Green would not be allowed to be taught there and would have to go to the National School.
This upset some parents in North Featherstone, so the Board changed their ruling so all children from the station to Lord, John and Duke Streets would attend Regent Street and George Street Schools. This would make space for North Featherstone children to go to North Featherstone Lane School, which is shown below.
The school leaving age was now 13, and the regulations said pupils should have attended 350 times (twice a day) for five years before they could leave. The Featherstone byelaws said a pupil could leave when reaching the age of 13 regardless of attendances so they would have to be altered.
The inspector's report for 1901 said the accommodation at North Featherstone Lane School must not be exceeded, so the School Board had to look for a site for a new school.
1903
The School Board decided to build an extension to the North Featherstone Lane School to meet the inspector's report. The photo shows the original building on the left (with the clock) and the extension on the right.
The schools were taken over by the County Council and instead of being Board Schools were now Council Schools. The School Board became a Sub-committee to the County Council and the members were chosen by Featherstone Council instead of being elected.
1910
Once again the schools were overcrowded so a new school was built alongside the North Featherstone Lane School. It became known colloquially as "The Top School".
1930
The 1926 Haldow report on education recommended when children reached eleven years they should be transferred to a different school. In Featherstone those who passed the County Minor Scholarship examination (the eleven plus) went to the King's School, Pontefract, or the Pontefract and District Girls' High School. Those who didn't at North Featherstone Lane School (Gordon Street) moved to "The Top School" shown above renamed North Featherstone Senior School.. It was impossible to provide a separate school at George Street so a new school was built in Pontefract Road, Purston, called South Featherstone Senior Council School. It was always referred to by the locals as "The New School". The boys and girls had separate classes.
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1938
It was decided to make South Featherstone Senior School a mixed school instead of separate classes for boys and girls. In order to do this the pupils attending from Streethouse were transferred to North Featherstone Senior School (Gordon Street).
1950
A defective roof beam was discovered in Purston School and it was closed. Architects said the whole building had moved four inches towards the road and only one room was safe. After a week the infants were sent to South Featherstone Secondary Modern School and were taught by their own teachers. The juniors went to George Street School.
1952
Purston School was repaired sufficiently to allow the juniors to return. The County Council wanted to rent Purston Church Hall as additional accommodation, but the church wanted more rent than the County Council were willing to pay, so the infants could not return.
1953
At the Pontefract Divisional Education Executive it was said some infants in Purston had to go to Regent Street School because Purston School infants' section was closed. Some had to travel a mile. They had to be accompanied and this was difficult for mothers with younger children and workers to look after. There were three classes at South Featherstone Secondary Modern School with 48 infants in each, and still no sign of a promised new infants' school.
1957
The County Council agreed to buy two adjoining plots of land off Girnhill Lane from Featherstone Council and Nostell Estates for a new infants' school.
The Holme Moss television transmitter began operating in 1951. Now the West Riding Education Committee chose South Featherstone Secondary Modern School as one of six schools to assess the broad effect of the about to start BBC television programmes for schools
1960
The Roman Catholics over an area around Featherstone decided they needed a secondary school. A site was chosen in North Featherstone, and the West Riding County Council bought it for £1,800 and agreed to put a fence round it. The cost of the school would be borne 50/50 by the Catholics and the West Riding County Council.
Girnhill Lane Infants' School was officially opened, although it started to take in pupils the previous year. The photo is a Frith postcard.
1961
Purston C of E School celebrated its centenary. The vicar, Revd I O Jay said he was glad the juniors had returned to the school, but regretted the infants were not able to do so.
Terrapin prefabricated classrooms were built at South Featherstone Modern School to ease the overcrowding brought about by having to accommodate the infants from Purston C of E School.
1963
New classrooms were built alongside George Street School. The photo is from the Wakefield Libraries Collection.
Regent Street Infants' School was chosen to take part in a television educational programme produced by ABC TV.
1964
Featherstone councillors had complained to the Pontefract Divisional Education Committee about the poor state of George Street School, and the lack of progress for a replacement. The reply was the school was already o the County Council list, and it was in hand to buy nearby land for a new school. Indoor toilets were built at George Street and Regent Street Schools.
1966
By nine votes to eight, with three abstentions, the Pontefract Divisional Executive decided Featherstone should not have a comprehensive school in the current building programme. The Featherstone representatives complained their area was being left behind.
1967
The dispute about a comprehensive school went as far as the Department of Education. A statement was issued saying "There should be no separate senior comprehensive school in Featherstone, and Featherstone pupils should attend one of two such schools in Pontefract."
A £25,000 rehabilitation scheme was announced for George Street School. Cr F Smith said I do not think we should have entered into such a scheme. we should have knocked it down.
1968
Cr J H Livesey told the Pontefract Divisional Education Executive there was not a school in the area half as bad by any standards as Purston C of E School. There were outside toilets, only one toilet for a mixed staff, no school hall, the heating was from coke stoves, and the children had to cross a busy road to the church hall for physical training and school meals. Rehabilitation would cost more than a new building.
1969
Cr Norman Longbottom made a tour of Featherstone's schools and said the town was not getting a square deal. he described some temporary classrooms at North Featherstone Secondary School as cattle sheds where children were frozen in winter and roasted in summer. He said he would put press cuttings and photographs in Station Lane to back his campaign for new schools for Featherstone. One early success was a central heating system was agreed for Purston C of E School.
1970
The Government approved the plan for a 720 place 13 to 16 comprehensive school in Featherstone, and a new school in North Featherstone to replace the Church of England School for 5 to eleven year old pupils.
1971
The church congregation were told they would have to contribute £5,000 towards the cost of the new North Featherstone school if they wished it to remain a Church of England school. They set about raising the money, and a good start was made by the selling of the redundant St Peter's Mission Church in Green Lane.
1972
The Council agreed to share the cost of sports facilities at the proposed Featherstone Comprehensive School with the West Riding County Council. It would be £86,000 each. There would be a gymnasium, sports hall, squash courts, bathing and a refreshment room. Inflation increased the cost to £98,900 each. The cost of the school was £710,887.
The Pontefract Divisional Executive Committee agreed the toilet situation for teachers and other staff at both the infants' and junior schools in Gordon Street was clearly deficient, and Portaloos would be installed ""with extreme urgency". At the infants' school there were three toilets, one outside and two in prefabricated buildings, for 18 staff plus domestics. At the junior school there was only one toilet for ten teaching staff, plus secretarial and domestics.
After considering various sites it was decided the new North Featherstone C of E School would be built in North Close.
At a Pontefract Divisional Education Executive meeting it was said the road improvement scheme for the Ackworth Road/Pontefract Road Junction would take part of the Purston C of E School playground which was already too small for the 220 pupils. It was said a replacement school was in the planning stage.
1973
The school leaving age was raised to 16 which caused accommodation problems. South Featherstone had to exclude new pupils in the first week, but the staff provided outdoor lessons, educational visits and other measures. At North Featherstone specialist work had to be reduced. Stephenson prefabricated classrooms were provided for both schools to remedy the situation.
Joe Harper MP visited Gordon Street School after a petition from parents about the state of the toilets. He then wrote to Margaret Thatcher, Secretary of State for Education saying "Apart from a number of higgledy-piggledy out buildings, better described as huts, very little has been done at this school since I was there over 50 years ago. It (the infants' section) is built on the same site as the senior and junior schools and great difficulty is found in differentiating between the huts which belong to the three schools, there seems to be no clear dividing lines. The parents were petitioning for better toilet facilities, under cover. The 5 to 6 years old had to go outside to use them.
"There is no wonder the parents and the school managers and governors are fed up to the back teeth. I realise new schools are planned, but people want something done in the immediate future, and what better that to provide some decent toilets for the very young ones. How the teaching staff cope I do not know, but they do a remarkable job of work under extremely trying conditions."
The reply from the Ministry was the Wakefield authorities were reluctant to provide indoor toilets because of the school's limited life but had agreed to improvements to existing toilets including lighting and heating. The school would be replaced in a major project starting 1976-77.
1974
The governors of North and South Featherstone Senior Schools decided to have two fifth form representatives at their meetings. The pupils chose by ballot. At North Featherstone Senior School Stephanie Blakeston headed the poll with Stephen Oxley close behind, so the governors said send both.
A similar situation arose at South Featherstone Senior School where Colin Kelleher was only a few votes in front of Janet Wigglesworth. So the same decision was made for those two. The Express photo shows from the left, Stephen, Stephanie, Janet and Colin.
Mr E Johnson, assistant area education officer, told a community meeting the comprehensive school would open next June or July. It would cater for 700 children and up to 1,100 when the sixth form was developed. The sixth form would be served by South Featherstone Secondary Modern School, George Street School, and a new school to be built near North Featherstone Secondary School.
South Featherstone Middle School would be adapted, and the Church of England would have a controlling interest instead of at Purston C of E Junior School. George Street School would be virtually a new school by the time adaptations were complete.
There would be first schools for the 5 to 9 age group. These would be Purston Junior, Girnhill Lane, Regent Street, North Featherstone All Saints and Gordon Street.
1975
An open day was held at the new North Featherstone C of E School, to be called All Saints after the church. It was built to replace the 150 years old National School and would cater for 200 children. The photo is from the Express.
The original George Street school was demolished. The photo is from the Express.
1976
The new comprehensive Featherstone High School took its first pupils in January and was officially opened by Sir Harold Wilson in July. The pupils were from North Featherstone and South Featherstone Secondary Modern Schools. The photo of the school is by Bill Henderson, and that of Sir Harold is from the Express.
In October North Featherstone Middle and First Schools in Gordon Street were opened by J H Livesey, chairman of the governors. The photo is from the school's website.
1978
Phase one of Featherstone and Purston First School in Nunns Lane was opened by the chairman of the school managers Cr K Wilson. It was for pupils six to nine years old. Younger pupils would stay at Purston C of E School until this school was extended. The photo of the enlarged school is by Photoair.
1980
It was decided the original Purston First School was no longer fit for purpose, and three classrooms would be added to the new school in Nunns Lane at a cost of £120,000.
1981
The original church school in Pontefract Road, Purston was demolished.
1982
The number of children coming up to school age was falling, and Wakefield District Council were considering closing Regent Street and Girnhill Schools.
1983
After protests from parents it was decided to leave Girnhill Lane open and close Gordon Street instead. That raised even more protests. The final decision was to close Regent Street School and Purston C of E School in Pontefract Road, and transfer the Church of England status to George Street School.
2022
South Featherstone Modern School, closed and empty for many years, was demolished. Photo - Dean Morgan (Featherstone Bygone Days).
