School History

School History

Did you know that Longwood Primary school was opened in 1931?

On 1^st July Longwood kindly open their doors to the local community and welcome passed pupils back into school to see the many artefacts and photos that they have accumulated over the years in their school museum.

We have lots of interesting facts and information on the history of our school, thanks to the work of the local historian Tony Brookes and his book “A History of the Parish of Fazeley”. We have included some fact here:

As a result of overcrowding at Fazeley School, Longwood County Primary School, as it was then called, was built and opened on 1^st July 1931. Longwood was set in five acres of grounds, which were used as playing fields and for environmental studies.

On roll Longwood had 166 children of which 76 had transferred with their teacher, Mrs Lillian H Walker from Fazeley. Longwood School was built upon reclaimed woodland and said to be “well endowed with springs and streams”. Hence the beautiful mature trees on the school site today which offer extensive shade during our hot summer months.

Much of the schools structure remains quite original although extensions have been added to accommodate the ever growing school. Access to the school from George Avenue has been achieved by the residents of a house allowing passage through their garden. Although this route is not and never has been a public right of way, use of it reduces the journey to school for the little ones and eliminates the dangers of the Sutton Road. Unfortunately the resident has since closed this access for our pupils.

During 1939-1945 war, the number of children attending Longwood swelled due to the influx of evacuees, 130 arriving from West Bromwich in September 1939 and more from Birchington, Margate, in June 1940. LRDC kept monthly records of the number of evacuees sent to Fazeley Parish and these varied between 109 and 135. Our grateful thanks to Tony Brookes for this information collated in his book “A History of the Parish of Fazeley”.