At the dawn of the twentieth century there was only a handful of schools in the Whickham and District area. In Whickham there was the Parochial School and one or two private schools, Dunston had the Church School and the Board School and Marley Hill and Swalwell both had Board Schools.
Whickham Parochial School began life as Whickham Charity School in 1714 when Mrs Joan Blakiston left £100 in trust to the Rector of St Mary's Church, the Rev Dr Robert Thomlinson, for the education of 36 poor children in Whickham Parish. In 1742 the first school building was erected in School Lane and was altered and extended in 1825 and 1869, before ceasing to house the school on October 22nd 1971, when it moved to its new premises on The Broadway. This new school was officially opened on February 29th 1972.
The one or two private schools do not appear to be documented. In the "Whickham Journal" No 5, published in 1978, there is an article by Alan Wright in conversation with Grace Hilda Cook, who was born in 1892. She was "educated at a little known private school known as Miss Fanny Stevenson's, which is now the Co-op next to West End Methodist Church." (The Co-op is no longer there and the Whickham Community Church now occupies the church building.) In 1929 a private school, Mrs Easey's Academy, which became Whickham Preparatory School, opened in Church Chare.
In the early part of the century the Parochial School was becoming overcrowded and in August 1909 the Whickham Front Street Infant School and Whickham County Council School were opened. With changes in education required by law and the huge house building programme which began in Whickham in the 1950s, many more schools were needed to meet the educational needs of the town. Whickham Secondary Modern School opened in 1962 and became Whickham Comprehensive School in 1970. In 1966 Fellside Junior School was built, followed by Fellside Infant School in 1968. Washingwell Primary School and St Mary's Roman Catholic School were opened in 1972 and Cloverhill School followed in 1977. Whickham Chase Hall School and Whickham Cottage Nursery School began in the old Cottage Hospital in 1987. Gibside Special School was the last school to be opened in the twentieth century. It was created on the Fellside Infant School site, as this became vacant when the Infant School merged with the Junior School.
Cloverhill was built in 1977 to bridge the gap between the schools in Whickham and Marley Hill. Separate infant and junior schools were going to be built, but the money ran out. It became a 1-form Primary School, initially taking children who were surplus from Marley Hill School. When Cloverhill was due to open the building wasn't ready so the children went to Marley Hill and used the huts. The first headmaster was Mr Robin Foreman, who retired in 1995, when the post was taken up by Mr P. Coker.
There are now 197 pupils in the school with 7 members of staff, one of whom has been there since the school opened, having transferred there from Marley Hill. There are 7 forms in the school which has 8 classrooms. The reception area is going to be extended to make room for ICT work. (Information, Communication, Technology.) Some children now come to the school from outside the Whickham area.
The school had a very good Ofsted Report recently. It was said that the ethos of the school was one of the best that the inspectors had ever seen.
The school has lovely grounds adjoining Sunniside Park and the children do environmental work there. The school is going to create a Millennium Garden with timber seating. The children have also designed squares for a Millennium Tapestry, which are being embroidered by one of the mothers.
Fanny Stephenson's Private School
The Durham Directory of 1870s mentions a private school kept by Miss Fanny Stevenson. "Some Chapters in the History of Whickham" by Helen Bowling records that this school was said to be the one in Church Chare taken over by Mrs Easey. However, in the Whickham Journal No 5, Winter 1978, there is an article by Alan Wright about Grace Hilda Cook. She says that she "was educated at a little private school known as Miss Fanny Stevenson's, which is now the Co-op next to West End Methodist Church." (The Co-op no longer has these premises and the church has become Whickham Community Church - 1999.) Miss Cook was born in 1892 and when she was 11 she went to Rutherford College in Bath Lane.
The Kelly's Directories of 1906, 1914 and 1921 mention Fanny Stevenson's Private School, but it isn't mentioned in the 1925 edition.
Whickham Front Street Infant School and Whickham County Mixed School were opened together in August 1909 and were governed by Durham County Council. The Infant School catered for about 90 children aged 5 to 7 years, while the County Mixed School housed another 270 children from 7 to 14 years. A few pupils were admitted to Blaydon Secondary School at 11 or 12 years of age. This pattern prevailed until 1962, when most of the children over 11 years transferred to the new Whickham Secondary Modern School, which became Whickham Comprehensive School.
The County Mixed School eventually became Whickham Front Street Junior School. In April 1974, when local boundaries reorganisation came into effect, the schools came under the jurisdiction of Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council.
The school buildings were extended in spring 1950 with the opening of a dining room and the prefabricated classrooms. In September 1980 the Nursery Unit was added. In September 1986, the two schools, which had opened together 77 years earlier, were at last amalgamated as Whickham Front Street Primary School, under the headship of Mrs Pat Farrell (later to become Mrs Pearson).
Fellside School was built as a Primary School in 1966 to accommodate the children coming to live in the area as the Grange Housing Estate was being built. Mr Barnes was the first headmaster. The number of children grew so rapidly that a separate Infant School opened in 1968 with Mrs Binks as headmistress. The original building then housed the Junior School.
In 1993 the schools amalgamated, to form Fellside Primary School, in the Junior building with Mrs Stallard as headmistress and Mrs Hogarth as deputy head. This was a very successful amalgamation due, in part, to the fact that the building had been designed as a primary school. A nursery block was added in 1994.
Mrs Hogarth, who became Head Teacher of the Primary School in 1996, feels that the amalgamation of the schools in 1993 was an important event in their history. Although the individual schools were successful in their own right, it is good that the children and the parents have a continuous relationship with one set of teachers in one building. Fellside Primary School is noted for its welcoming atmosphere to children, parents and visitors and this enables it to create an impressive learning environment in which children feel secure and happy.
In 1900 Whickham Parochial School was a mixed school under the mastership of Mr Castles, the Boys' and Girls' Schools having amalgamated in 1897 (not in 1900 as recorded in other publications. See the Log Book held in the Tyne & Wear Archives.) The Infant Department was separate at this stage, although on August 1st 1910 it became an Infant Class, under the general control of the Head Master. In 1900 the Infant Department was under the control of Miss Mary Elizabeth Pratt, who had been a pupil teacher at the school and commenced duties as Certificated Mistress on January 9th 1899.
Mr Castles was meticulous in recording information in the Log Book, however his entries mainly dealt with the attendance, which was governed by the weather, the season and illness. As many of the children came from outlying areas and the roads were unmade, heavy rain or snow made them impassable, preventing the children from attending school. Childhood illnesses often became epidemics earlier in the century and sometimes the entire school had to be closed. In 1918 the school was closed for 9 weeks because of the influenza epidemic at the end of the First World War. In the fruit, and potato picking seasons and at hay making time attendance at school was poor because the children were working in the fields.
The school holidays were not taken at a set time every year. The summer holidays were taken in two parts and the timing seemed to vary from year to year. If the school had been closed for illness then the holidays were shortened. When the hoppings came to Whickham in May the children had two days' holiday.
The school premises were used for social functions and Mr Castles often recorded that they were left in disarray. Furniture was left in the wrong place and/or overturned, beer bottles were left lying around, the Master's back door was once marked with obscene pictures and his doorpost was used as a urinal. (Nothing changes!)
The entry for October 31st 1902 conjures up a lovely picture. "54 children were 'draughted' into the Mixed School today." Taking note of the date, was this done by the spirits that were around at the time?!!
During the twentieth century there were 6 headteachers.
Mr Robert Ord Castles 1881 -
1923: Mr Castles started as a pupil teacher at the school on March 12th
1871, before risnig through the ranks to become the Master in 1881, as the head
teacher was known in those days. His entry in the school log book for January
26th 1923 reads as follows:
"Resigned the Mastership of this school after a service of nearly 42 years
- in harmony with Managers, Teachers and parents. Appointed July 18th 1881 -
left January 26th 1923. Signed Robert Ord Castles.
Mr William W. Rose 1923 - 1956: His entry in the log book for January 29th 1923 reads:- "I took charge of the school today as headmaster, in place of Mr R.O. Castles, who resigned duties on Friday January 26th 1923. William W. Rose.
Mr R.W. Edwards 1956 - 1974
Mr M.L. Mears 1974 - 1983: When Mr Mears retired in July 1983 he presented the school with a miner's lamp to remind the children that the school, which was set up as a charity school in 1714 by Dr Thomlinson, taught the poor children of local miners. Mr Mears said "The lamp will work if you fill it with fuel and ignite it, just as the children's minds will work if they are filled with fuel from the teachers, but the spark must come from the children." He also said that the lamp will remind them that Christ is the light of the world.
Mrs P.A. Pritchard 1983 - 1988
Mr Alan Dobson 1988 - Mr Dobson joined the staff in 1973 as a newly qualified teacher, staying for 1 year. He returned in 1983 as Deputy Head, taking over the headship when Mrs Pritchard left.
Dorothy Cline started at this school in 1931. It was run by Mrs Easey, who used to teach at the Parochial School, and was situated in what is now the Cuthbert Room in the St. Mary's Centre. There was a big table in the middle of the room with forms on either side to accomodate the pupils, about 8. A blackboard stood beside the fireplace. What is now the lounge held two billiard tables which were always shrouded. The pupils had to pass through there to go to the toilets, which were where the kitchen is now. The pupils wore purple blazers with a school badge, WPS in gold on a purple background. The girls wore purple berets and also black velour hats.
When Mrs Rollins took over the school, she moved it to the building where the Healthlands Cafe is now. (Dorothy also remembers a Miss Conner teaching them, but is unsure of exactly where she fits into the picture.) During the war, Mrs Rollins ran the school from her house on Fellside Road, situated on the R.H.S. going up from the Front Street. Dorothy left WPS in 1938 to go to Dame Allan's Girls School. However, when the girls were evacuated from there during the war, Dorothy's mother would not let her go. She returned to WPS on Fellside Road for about a year until the evacuees started returning to Dame Allan's.
St. Mary's Roman Catholic School
Whickham acquired its first Catholic School in 1972. Catholic education in Whickham began in the house of Mr and Mrs McWilliams in Eleanor Terrace. Father Walsh came from Dunston to instruct the pupils of the County School (Front St.) Catholic Schools existed at Byermoor, Dunston and Blaydon. When Father Pickering founded the Whickham Parish in 1948 it was with the intention of founding a school also. Negotiations were begun which were not completed till 1970, when the then Minister for Education, the Rt Hon Edward Short, MP, instructed Miss Alice Bacon (Parliamentary Secretary to the Department of Education and Science) to inform the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle that the new Whickham R.C. School had been accepted and placed on the "Design List".
Work was entitled to begin on April 1st 1970, but there were more snags, including the death of the quantity surveyor, financial difficulties for the appointed building company, the death of the architect in charge of the project and the departure from the firm of his deputy architect. However, a new architect and building firm were appointed and the project was given a kick-start. From then the work proceeded fairly smoothly with excellent co-operation between the builders and the headmaster, Mr Leo Mason, culminating in the opening on April 10th 1972.
The new school was "Open-Plan" with seven teaching areas, 3 for the Infants and 4 for the Juniors. 74 children attended the school, but it was expected that this number would rise to 250. The school has its own kitchen adjoining the hall. In the grounds there was an "Adventure Playground" a lovely field and an adventure area. Future plans included grassing the front entrance grounds at the top end, putting a rockery around the school's frontage and separating the car park from the children's entrance with a flagged and grassed centre-piece.
Mr Leo Mason 1972 - 1985 (Dec)
Mr Arthur Burke 1986 (Jan) -
In 1999 present staff and former staff and pupils reunited with special guest, illustrator Chris Mabbotts, a former teacher at the school, to celebrate 25 years of Washingwell School.
In 1962 Whickham Secondary Modern School opened, replacing the all-age school at Front Street, as part of a programme to replace elementary schools with secondary schools. Whickham children who passed the 11+ went to Blaydon Grammar School. The education in Whickham was under the auspices of the Durham Education Authority, which introduced comprehensive education piecemeal. Owing to the huge growth in the school population because of the large house building programme, Whickham Secondary Modern School closed in 1970 and Whickham Comprehensive School opened on the same site.
The new school had different governors, a new head, Max Williams, and all the teachers had to reapply for their jobs. The 3-form entry modern school became an 8-10 form entry comprehensive school, with 39 teachers and over 600 pupils in its first year. There were children from Swalwell (~1.5 forms) and Dunston (1 form of borderline O level pupils who didn't go to the grammar school ). When Dunston Comprehensive was built in 1972 the Dunston children went there. The school expanded rapidly as J.T. Bell was building 200 houses per year and new primary schools were being built. Children from Marley Hill and Byermoor were coming to Whickham, but Swalwell children were going to Dunston. In 1973 21 additional teachers were appointed.
In 1974 when the boundaries were altered, Whickham became part of Gateshead M.B.C. and Whickham Comprehensive became more of a Whickham school. The children from Winlaton stopped coming and went to Blaydon, which became comprehensive in 1974. In 1976 the school had the first 6th form built up from the comprehensive intake.
There were 4 building programmes in the first ten years to accommodate the increasing number of children and provide extra facilities. The school population doubled in that time. By 1979 Whickham was the largest school in the area and probably the most successful. In 1980 Gateshead M.B.C. decided that it should be just an 8-form entry school as people were using all manner of means to get their children onto the school roll, eg. sending children to live with other members of the family. However, in the 1980s Margaret Thatcher introduced parental choice for the selection of a school for a child, so the intake broadened again and Swalwell children started to return.
When Max Williams took early retirement in 1984 on health grounds (he had cancer) there were 1300 pupils with about 300 in the sixth form. The school was organised into a house system with 6 houses by 1984. There were 82 members of staff. Bill Smith, who was Deputy Head, was appointed as the new Headmaster. In his time, when there was talk of Gateshead having a tertiary college, he tried to get the school to opt out of Local Authority control but the parents voted against it. The school is now under the L.M.S. scheme.
In 1983 Mike Hind, The P.E, Master became a Head of House. In 1984 Gateshead was choosing 2 schools where night classes could be held. Mike Hind was appointed to oversee this at Whickham and he got them off the ground. They are independent of the school structure, they just use the building.