Written by Dexter Chasteauneuf (Year 6 24/25).

St. Giles' Church of England Primary School is located in South Mimms. It is engaging and has lots of friendly sports games with its local schools. It has 88 inquisitive pupils who are all eager to learn. The school is really proud to be rated 'good' by Ofsted and has lots of school trips. The school may be small but it has quite a bit of intriguing history.

In the Victorian times, or the 1800, schools were predominantly for the wealthy. This was because children worked to help support their families, as a result of this only half of British children went to school. Children also had to pay school fees known as the school pence.

Back in this time the schools were unfair. Girls did singing, knitting, sewing, learned a musical instrument and home economics. Boys were thought of as more important and they did Maths, English, Writing and learned proper code of conduct.

Throughout the Victorian era more schools were founded, allowing more children to go to school. The National School for Promoting Religious Education, which was a Church of England organisation. It was founded in 1811, with the goal of using religion and the values of the church as a foundation for children’s education. In 1836, St. Giles' school was founded although it was not yet known as St. Giles' it was then called The National School.

After that, in 1837, a permanent red brick building was built on Blanche Lane, which can still be seen today. The outside looked relatively simple for a Victorian public school but the interior was modest, with no faffing about with lots of decoration!

There were three main parts; an infant school with two classrooms, a two-story teachers’ residence in the middle of the building (back then teachers lived in the school) and a schooling area at the north-eastern end with two main rooms. One of the classrooms in the nursery section was used for storage but it doubled as an air raid shelter during the Second World War.

By 1857 the annual grant was equivalent to £500,000 today! There were 93 pupils. However, in 1870, the annual grants stopped.

Also in 1870, school became mandatory for people between the ages of 5 and 10, and  it was mandatory for both genders in 1880.  By 1884, St. Giles' could accommodate up to 180 students and 5 years later, the school leaving age was raised from 10 to 12 years old.
 

As many families couldn't afford school for their children, all primary education became free and the school pence was abolished in 1891. Two years passed and 150 students attended St. Giles'.

In 1947, Fred Gower resigned from the headmaster role. He was pretty famous in the field of local education and he was also a local councillor. This was when Dorothy Louise Philpot applied for the headteacher and secured the position. She worked at the school for over 40 Years. When she died, she was buried at St Giles’ church and every year when the year 6 pupils leave, they put a flower on her grave.

In 1957 St. Giles’ was moved to the glebe land from Blanch Lane. This move cost £30,000. They moved to be closer to the church. They now have a path that connects them. In 1970 school uniforms were introduced and remains similar to the uniform we have today.

We hope you have enjoyed learning about our lovely school!

References