School History

St James's National School opened in 1844 in a new building in the later St James' Street at Barton End with accommodation for 486 children in boys, girls, and infants departments.
It was built through the efforts of the perpetual curate, Thomas Hedley, who took responsibility for a considerable deficit in the finances.
In 1852, he gave two houses as an endowment. Attendance was 244 in 1847, 493 in 1877, and 469 in 1904. The building was enlarged in 1894, and again in 1909.
From 1931, the school had junior mixed and infants' departments, and from 1935, junior mixed alone.
In 1938, as St James' C of E School, it had an attendance of 324. It became a controlled school in 1949, and in 1984 had 103 children on the roll.
From September 2024 we have 7 classes with 200 children on roll.
A new classroom is currently being built to accommodate an extra class for September 2026.