150 Year Sesquicentennial Appeal

One hundred and fifty years ago this Sunday, on the 23rd of February 1875, five residents of two small rural villages in South Warwickshire held a meeting and decided that it was high time that there was a local school built to educate the children of these two communities. 

Just under two years later, on the 6th of November 1876, the new Wolverton and Norton Lindsey School was opened, housed in a purpose-built building, located exactly halfway between the two villages. 

In 1875 with Queen Victoria on the Throne and Benjamin Disraeli as Prime Minister, it is doubtful that these villagers would ever have dreamt that 150 years later, their building and their school, our school, would continue to be at the heart of the community, educating and preparing generations of children for the challenges and opportunities that they and our country have faced. 

As we celebrate our anniversary, some 150 years later, we are thankful for all the hard-work by generations of teachers, governors, parents, and pupils that has gone into making the school what it is today - a school described by OFSTED as a supportive, welcoming, caring and family-oriented place! 

Launching Our Sesquicentennial Appeal

Over the last few years the school community, in particular through the Parent Teacher Association, has made great strides in refreshing and improving the facilities and appearance of the school.  

Projects such as the refurbishment of the Sensory Garden Area, the repainting of both the Hall and Class 3, new sheds to support Forest School and PE programmes and refurbishment of our Reception outdoor spaces etc. have all been part of a continuing commitment to maintain and improve the school, to ensure that all our children have a suitable environment in which to grow and learn. 

It is inevitable however, that due to the way that the school buildings have grown in an ad-hoc way over the years, that there are a few ‘quirks’ that affect the way the school can use certain spaces.  Also, the passage of time means that there are some parts of the school that need to be renewed and refreshed as they have reached the end of their design life. 

It feels therefore appropriate that at this key anniversary, we seek to ensure that the school is ready to support future generations by resolving some of these quirks and issues - to ensure that not only our current children, but their children have a school fit for the future! 

We are therefore today launching our ‘sesquicentennial appeal’ – celebrating 150 years of education in Norton Lindsey, Wolverton, and South Warwickshire.  Our aim is to raise a minimum of £15,000 pounds over the next 20 months in the run up to the anniversary of our opening on the 6th November 2026.  This figure though large, will represent just £100 for each year we have been in service to our community. 

What we are fundraising for

The three key areas we wish to look at funding are 

1) Library refurbishment, including a new doorway, general refurbishment, and repairs to the roof - giving the children a warm, bright, inspiring environment to discover the magic of reading.

2) Kitchen refurbishment – the current kitchen has reached the end of its life and needs replacing.  This will allow us to continue to provide an up to date, modern facility from which to serve the children’s school lunches.  

3) Support Area – an area at the rear of the staff room which is used for one-to-one support needs urgent refurbishment.  This will give a safe supportive environment for children to receive individual attention.  

We realise that some parents may be surprised we cannot fund these activities from our normal funding, however we only receive a small capital grant each year to help maintain and improve the condition of school buildings and grounds. In 2024 – 25 this grant was £4,923 and whilst we try and ‘stretch’ this grant as much as possible – through parent DIY activities etc - even the day-to-day inevitable small breakages/problems, such as a blocked drain, failed light or broken tap, quicky exhaust these funds!  

How can you help?

Our aim is to involve every child, parent and member of the two communities of Norton Lindsey and Wolverton in one or more fund-raising activities over the next twenty months! 

We have a wide variety of events and commemorations planned – from a pictorial history of the school, through Alumni garden Parties, football tournaments, exhibitions, and exclusive merchandise! 

At this moment we are looking for three areas we need particular help with 

1)We need volunteers to help us run several events over the coming months – we are particularly looking for any volunteers that are willing to ‘own’ a particular event and then work with the wider appeal team to ensure that event happens and is successful.  Full support will be given – you are not going to be left on your own! 

2)We are looking for grants that we can apply for to help fund these activities – many employers have corporate and social responsibility funds for example, and we really would like to try and tap into these grant opportunities.  If you know of any employer/grant provider we could apply to, no matter how small, we will apply! 

3)You can spread the word far and wide –we’d love grandparents and friends to be involved in our activities.  We would particularly like to get the wider community of Norton Lindsey and Wolverton involved – there must be hundreds and hundreds of former pupils of the school out there!  We would be more than happy to take ad-hoc donations from alumni that no longer live nearby, but who are willing to recognise the place the school has had in their life! 

If you are willing to help, please do get in touch via the PTA at chair@wolvertonpta.org.uk or alternatively talk to Emily Stephens or Neil Brown at the School gate or Jane Thirlaway in the School Office. 

We really look forward to celebrating our School and its history – it a particularly exciting time to be a pupil at the School and we will do our very best to ensure that every current and former pupil has an opportunity to help future generations and have a lot of fun on the way! 

A Historical Timeline Of The School