Southwark Park Primary School is celebrating its 150th birthday today and has released previously unseen historical photographs.
The school opened on July 4, 1874, roughly midway through the Victorian era. Imperial troops had just defeated the Ashanti in modern-day Ghana, Tsar Alexander II of Russia had just made a state visit, and Conservative prime minister Benjamin Disraeli had just won the general election.
But inside the walls of Southwark Primary School, teachers would have been firmly focused on the upcoming school year, not least because Southwark Primary School was something of a revolutionary venture.
That is because The Elementary Education Act of 1870 had been passed four years earlier. It was a landmark piece of legislation that laid the foundation for the universal education of children in England and Wales. This led to the establishment of the London School Board which gave local governments the power to run elementary schools. Southwark Park Primary School was among the first such schools in London.
In many ways, it was a typical Victorian school. Girls and boys were taught separately and entered via different entrances. Inside, they could expect strict discipline, enforced by dunce hats and canes. Walls would have been lined with chalkboards and fireplaces, while desks were littered with inkwells. If children needed a toilet break, they would have to use outside lavatories, as was the norm in Victorian buildings. The school underwent expansions in 1899 and 1910.
The original building was designed by the famous architect Edward Robert Robson, who was renowned for the progressive spirit of the schools he designed in the late 19th century. The Architects Journal has since described it as ‘an object lesson in Victorian school design’.
World War Two saw Bermondsey undergo heavy bombing but the school emerged relatively unscathed. However, a large bell in the tower is believed to have been melted down to aid the war effort. Parents at the school, many of whom attended the school themselves, and their grandparents before them, have at times petitioned the school to reinstall the bell. But bombing nonetheless remained a threat, prompting the school to establish evacuation procedures by 1939.
Extra-curricular activities and involvement in the local community has long been a cornerstone of the school’s ethos. For Queen Elizabeth II’s 1977 Silver Jubilee, students planted a tree in Southwark Park. Photos taken in 1984 meanwhile show children enjoying a school trip to Swanage, where they posed in front of Corfe Castle, which dates back to William the Conqueror’s invasion of Britain.
In 2007, the Grade II listed school underwent one of its most significant expansions to date. Children were decanted to a nearby temporary site so more classrooms could be added, taking the school from a one-and-a-half to two-form entry. Architects were confronted with a mix of structurally unsafe but beautiful buildings and huge cracks had appeared in the masonry. Internal spaces were reworked, new classrooms added, and a link block connected the infants to the juniors. Important features, like parquet flooring and fireplaces, were retained.
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Recently, former students, who attended between the ‘50s and ‘80s came to share their memories with the students. Their memories included performing in nativity plays, “messy” inkwells, safety first competitions, and “scary, freezing cold” outside toilets teeming with “big spiders”. Some families have attended the school for three or four generations. One former student, who attended from 1961 to 1969, said: “I really enjoyed myself at this school and have hundreds of fond memories”.
Today (July 4), teachers and students have enjoyed a picnic in Southwark Park. On Saturday, July 6, between 10am and 12pm, the public are invited to visit the school for an open day. Children are also designing a new school logo to mark the anniversary, with the winning design to be selected in due course.
