Today's Sutton Benger School is actually the third school in the village in the last 60 years.
By the early 1960s, with the gradual growth of the village, the school on Seagry Road had become too small, and infants had to be taught in the Village Hall Annexe. The land for a new school was set aside in 1963, and juniors were moved into temporary buildings on the site in February 1965. The school gradually moved from the old building to the new school over a period of several years, although the infants were still being taught in the Village Hall until late 1971.
The ‘new’ school grew over the years, supported by the Friends of Sutton Benger School (FOSBS). This fund-raising group of parents was formed in March 1974. However, the school was still using several ‘temporary’ buildings, including a School Hall that had been in Langley Burrell and was relocated and re-purposed. Funding for a new, modern, purpose-built building was eventually found, and the first phase of this was built in 1996. The school used a mixture of old and new accommodation for several years, until the second phase of the new school was completed.
Can you help?
Do you have any stories or photos of the school(s) from the early 1900s to the late 1900s? We would be especially really pleased to know if you have any photos of the first 'new school' of the 1970s to the 1990s, and would be happy to share them.
Please contact us at: