Cookies on Saint James School website

We use some essential cookies to make this service work.

We’d also like to use analytics cookies so we can understand how you use the service and make improvements.

View cookies
Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Community

School History

Index

    1838 to 1902 - West End receives its first National School

    The church of St James was built in 1838 at the top of Church Hill in the south of the parish of West End.

    That same year a new National School was built on the north side of what was Botley Road (now West End High Street) to accommodate 192 children from the village.

    The school was enlarged in 1866 because of local population growth, and an extra room was added.

    Addition of an Infant Department

    In 1871 Mrs Harriet Haselfoot built a seperate school for younger children on Moorgreen Road.

    This school continued until 1894 when it became the National School's infants department.

    1903 to 1970 - Original National School is replaced

    alternative of the image - See caption below
    The new National School was larger and more modern than the original, and would eventually become the Hilldene Centre.

    In 1903 a new National School was constructed at what is currently the location of the Hilldene Center.

    The original National School building became the Old Parish Hall, though this building was eventually demolished and replaced with the supermarket on West End High Street.

    alternative of the image - See caption below
    The text on the Hilldene Centre is still clearly legible and tells us this building was completed in 1903.

    1970 to 2014 - Current building constructed

    alternative of the image - See caption below
    The current school building was erected in the 1970s in a similar architectural style to most UK schools from that era.

    In the 1970s a new school was built in response to the rapid population expansion of the area following WW2, and this building is where we are situated today.

    The previous National School building was handed to West End Parish Council and became the Hilldene Centre in West End.

    2015 - Our school expands to take on infants

    alternative of the image - See caption below
    With the addition of a new cohort of infant pupils our school needed to expand, so in 2017 we built 7 new classroooms as part of a modern extension we called the Camino.

    In 2015 Saint James' Primary School was expanded to include Infant pupils for the first time. We welcomed our first three form intake in Reception.

    In 2017 we completed a new seven-classroom extension so we could accomodate three classes in every year group.

    Our school now has 21 classes of approximately 30 pupils, making us the largest school in West End's history!