St James' School Page

Recognising its historic foundation, St. James' School Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School preserves and develops its religious character in accordance with the principles of the Church of England and in close partnership with St. James' Parish Church.

Click here for this month's School News from the Head teacher

Panoramic view of the school site

Worship

The Clergy is involved in the day to day running of our school: Fr Peter is Chairman of Governors.

Fr Peter leads worship in the school each week. On Wednesday morning he leads Collective Worship (Assembly) and Mass is celebrated in school every Friday morning in term time.

The Mass is celebrated with each class individually in a rolling pattern throughout the school. The children and their teacher are responsible for planning this act of worship.

The worship on a Friday is the parish Mass for that day, and a number of parishioners attend each week.

Parents and friends also attend and there are refreshments provided afterwards.

Mass being celebrated in School

The whole school also comes to St James' Church for Mass on important festivals and for the beginning and end of the school term.

The Clergy also assist with RE lessons, in school and also in Church.

'Baptising' Barnaby Bear for Year 3 RE visit to Church

A Brief History of St James' School

In 1859 a Sunday school for boys and girls was built in St. James's parish in a lane, later Guildford Road, off East Hill. A Church day school for infants was opened c.1836 in East Street. Attendance there rose from 52 in 1839 to 95 in 1846, but the school was short of money and, although it survived in 1852, it seems to have closed soon after. A new infant school, under the patronage of Margaret Round, was opened c.1864 in a hired building in East Street. In the 1870s it was usually attended by c.140 children, and from 1878 it received annual government grants. The building was condemned in 1891, and in 1894, when the National branch school vacated its East Hill building, St. James's infants moved there. In 1899, to prevent the establishment of a board school in the parish, the Rector, Fr C.C. Naters, started a girls school and soon afterwards a boys school in the East Hill building, and moved the infants to St. Anne's mission, Harwich Road. In 1906 he closed St. James's boys department, which was threatened by the building of East Ward council school, and moved the infants back to East Hill. In 1930 St. James's Church of England school was reorganized for juniors and infants. In 1949 it was granted Aided status and moved in 1961 to a new building for 120 children, opposite the old one. Seven new classrooms were added between 1962 and 1971 to accommodate c. 345 children.

Saint James' C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School
Guildford Road
Colchester
Essex CO1 2RA

Phone: 01206 865747
Fax: 01206 791589

http://www.st-james-colchester.essex.sch.uk

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