The Opening of the New School Premises in Gladstone Road

It became necessary to construct new school premises in Gladstone Road because of the rapid expansion of population in the local area.

At the same time the Elementary Education Act of 1870 had increased the number of children eligible for school places when it introduced compulsory elementary education.

So, six years before the school was opened in June 1890, the site was secured, plans drawn up by the architects Hall and Tugwell, and the decision taken to construct the buildings, where possible of local materials (such as red exterior bricks) and with a view of durability!

The design of the building was revolutionary at the time.  The Scarborough Gazette described it as producing “the most satisfactory impression desirable.  The rooms are large, light and airy….”  These rooms were designed to accommodate from forty to seventyfive pupils each – somewhat excessive by present day standards.

Nevertheless, they produced facilities for cooking, science, drawing and needlework, besides reading, writing and arithmetic.

At the opening ceremony, the Rt. Hon. A.J. Mundella M.P. said that twenty years before “there was no such school in England, no such exhibition of work in any school.  if in the future he had to point to a good school he should point to the school he had the honour of opening at Scarborough on the 7th June.

Just as the fabric of the building has withstood the rigours of time, as envisaged by its planners over one hundred years ago, so the school continues to provide a progressive and stimulating environment for this present generation of children.