Mossley school celebrates special anniversary

St George’s CofE Primary School in Mossley recently hit a notable age, turning 150 years old in August.

To celebrate an afternoon tea party was thrown for past pupils and staff.

Opening in 1873, the school has seen thousands of students come through the doors and has even moved locations, originally standing nearer to the market ground.

Shirley Howard, of the Mossley Civic Society, said: “The school was originally twinned with the church and there was an entrance on the church grounds.”

The entrance in question now stands alone in the graveyard, a testament to the history of the school.

To celebrate the history, whilst also looking to the future, the school invited ex-students, staff members and families of St George’s to a couple of hours of tea, cake and sandwiches.

Rachael Gorczyca, a teacher at the school, said: “We are celebrating our 150th birthday, having a little tea party to mark the significant day.”

Alongside the selection of drinks and food available, there was also a selection of historical items to look at, ranging from class photos dating from as early 1940 to logbooks, which held entries written in 1873, from the first day the school opened to the public.

“This is the very first entry - ‘Mr Sykes who was appointed assistant master never put in an appearance’ - so on the first day, the assistant master never even came to work,” Rachael joked.

The logbooks, dating from the start of the school meant, that the full history of the school and the staff was available to look at. In acknowledgement of this, the school has been able to gain funding from the National Lottery Heritage Grant to preserve the books for many more years to come.

Also at the event was ex-student and parish councillor Hamza Aslam.

He said: “I studied here between 2009-2016. The experience at this school is very inclusive, it is a community-oriented school. They are the reason I got interested in history and why I am now going to uni to study it further.”

To find out more about the day, check out the video on Tameside Radio Facebook page.