A Brief History of the School 1951 - 1960
The Fifth Headteacher - Miss Hannah Day
When the war was all over the relief is obvious.
Only three times in a hundred years has an entry been put in the log in any colour but black. The first occasion was on V.E. day, when it was bright red, and the school closed for two days to celebrate. The second was V.J. day. The third time really indicated the greatest change in the character of the school since it had been opened. The log entry reads:
"October 4th, 1948. The School opened today as a Junior School, the older children having been transferred to Faversham".
In 1938 Mr. Harris had moved out of the school house to a house in Bearsted, and from then until 1951 he had this far from easy journey every day. Apparently for some years he did it on a bicycle with a small engine attached to the back wheel, and ex-pupils swear he never missed a day. Summer or winter, he was never late for school.
Memories from Mrs Freed Snr:
I remember the winter of 1947-48 when it was so cold that the milk froze in the bottles. Of course we all had to walk to school in those days, from Otterden. At that time, all the pupils of the school stayed until they were 14 but it was changed to pupils moving on at age 11.
There was a stove in the main school, fed with coal. I recall our ironing lessons where we used red-hot cinders from the grate to warm the iron! There was a shrubbery at the front of the school that was completely out of bounds. Mrs Taylor, the infant teacher, lived in the school house.