St Matthew's Primary School

Infobox UK school
name = St Matthew’s Primary School


size = thumb
latitude = 52.20453
longitude = 0.13467
dms = dms
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established = 1836 / 1963
approx =
closed =
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type = Community Primary School
religion =
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Tony Davies
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chair =
founder =
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specialist =
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street = 19 Norfolk Street
city = Cambridge
county = Cambridgeshire
country = England
postcode = CB1 2LD
LEA = Cambridgeshire
ofsted = 110750
staff =
enrollment = 420
gender = Mixed
lower_age = 3
upper_age = 11
houses =
colours =
publication =
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website = http://www.schoolsitesuk.net/stmatthews
website_name =

St Matthew’s Primary School is a primary school in Cambridge, England.

Situated in the [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&q=52.20453,+0.13467&z=15 heart of Cambridge] , St Matthew’s is a non-denominational school catering for around 420 children aged between 3 and 11 (nursery to year 6), also with an affiliated after-school kids’ club.

History

The first schools on the St Matthew’s site were the Barnwell National schools for boys, girls, and infants, opened by the Old Schools in 1836. At the time the site was on the eastern edge of a rapidly expanding Cambridge. The infants’ school was on East Road, the boys’ and girls’ schools accessed through Schoolhouse Lane (off East Road).

National schools were founded by the National Society (founded in 1811), which had the aim of founding a Church school in every parish in England and Wales. The Old Schools was a trust founded in 1704 which at the time managed most of the schools in Cambridge. Previously these were dame schools, but from the early 19th century the trust adopted a policy of supporting Church of England schools.

From the 1870’s the newly established St Matthew’s parish had a complex history of different schools’ sites and movement of pupils between them. There were four schools opened: Norfolk Street infants in 1875, York Street boys in 1878, Norfolk Street girls and Sturton Street infants in 1883.

The Barnwell schools were enlarged and rebuilt towards the end of the nineteenth century. In 1900 (at which time the school leaving age was 12) there was an average attendance of around 700 boys, girls & infants at Barnwell National, and 680 at the St Matthew’s schools in Norfolk Street, York Street, and Sturton Street. Barnwell boys’ school was occupied by the army in the First World War but restored to use afterwards.

In 1931 the Barnwell boys’ and girls’ schools were reconstituted as St George’s Senior School. The pupils at the infants school were transferred to St Matthew’s School, and the seniors at St Matthew’s Norfolk Street and York Street schools were transferred to St George’s (the juniors remaining). In 1933 the Norfolk Street girls’ and York Street boys’ were amalgamated. Under the 1944 Education Act St George’s became East Road secondary modern school.

In 1963 East Road school was closed, being replaced by the current St Matthew’s primary school, with the infants and juniors being transferred from the Norfolk Street and York Street schools, leaving St Matthew’s the only school remaining in the Barnwell area (the Norfolk Street schools survive today as a private house).

The site has now been extensively redeveloped, with much of the surrounding terraced housing being demolished (along Norfolk Street, Caroline Place, and Broad Street), and Schoolhouse Lane being incorporated into the school site. The main entrance is now from Norfolk Street (Caroline Place), with other entrances off Broad Street and Flower Street.

References

* Victoria County History, A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 3, 'The city of Cambridge: Schools', 1959
* Kelly’s Directory of Cambridgeshire 1900 (London: Kelly’s Directories Limited, 1900)
* Ordnance Survey 25" County Series (1:2500) map of Cambridge, Revised Edition, 1927 (sheet XLVII)
* Schools Collection, Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies, Shire Hall, Castle Hill, Cambridge

See also

* [http://www.natsoc.org.uk/society/history/ The National Society]
* [http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/visiting/crocambridge.htm Cambridgeshire Archives]

External links

* [http://www.schoolsitesuk.net/stmatthews School Website]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index.cfm?fuseaction=summary&id=110750 Ofsted Inspection Report (December 2005)]
* [http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/education/schools/ Cambridgeshire County Council]