Northwold’s Norman CofE Primary School celebrates 150th anniversary with recreation of official opening ceremony from 1874
Primary school pupils were transported back to 1874 as they celebrated the 150th anniversary of its official opening ceremony this week.
To mark the occasion, all the children and staff at the Norman Church of England Primary School in Northwold spent Tuesday dressed as Victorians, with the youngsters experiencing what a lesson would have been like in that era.
They also recreated the opening ceremony from back in 1874, with the children and staff singing hymns and a passage was read by the Rev Canon Joan Horan as well as prayers which were led by Venerable Richard Harlow who is the archdeacon of Huntington and Wisbech.
The CEO of the Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust - to which the school belongs - Adrian Ball also attended and addressed the audience.
At the end of the day, all the children were presented with oranges and gingerbread in keeping with what the first pupils in 1874 were also given.
The Norman School was paid for by Mrs Norman, the wife of Reverend Charles Norman, who had funded it by doing lots of charitable work locally before it opened in 1874 - with the school’s name continuing to pay homage to her to this day.
Anna Fisher, head teacher at the school, said: “The children had an amazing time, they had fun dressing up and finding out what those lessons were.
“I think they were glad we didn't use the cane.”
Some of the children explained how they found spending the day as a Victorian.
Eleanor said: “I liked practising the curly handwriting, my e looked very lovely".
Mollie said: "I enjoyed sitting in rows and the boys and girls being on different tables.
"We had to stand up when we spoke to the teacher and say our timetables.
"We learned the 3 Rs, Reading Writing, and Arithmetic, but I was scared about hearing about the cane.”
"I didn't like staying quiet,” said Grace.
Ruben said: "We had fun playing with hoops at playtime and I liked seeing the different grown-ups and guests who came to our school.”
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