Pupils see 150-year milestone as window of opportunity

Now the children at Marton Cum Grafton CE Primary, near Boroughbridge, have created something for future generations at the school to look back on.

Pupils have helped to design newly installed stained glass windows that capture and celebrate events from the school’s history.

Children were asked to come up with drawings which have then been converted into panels for the windows in the school hall by artist Jane Littlewood.

Headteacher Marie-Louise Thirlaway said: “The children’s idea includes drawings of Victorian children, children playing hopscotch and also some parachutes which were found in the school fields during the Second World War. It was never discovered whether they had belonged to British or German troops.

“The windows look fantastic and the sun shines through them in a morning.

“The pupils have been learning about the school’s history and this gives them something which they can look back on.”

The school held a special event to unveil the windows, with local vicar the Rev Christopher Parkin performing a service.

Former pupils who left the school last summer having helped to design the panels were also invited back.

The project took around six months to complete and cost £4,000.

The money came from both school fundraising and also a donation from the Eastwood family who have had a connection with the school for many years.

Marton Cum Grafton Primary School marked its 150th anniversary last year, having opened in the same building in 1861.

Over the decades its pupils have included wartime evacuees and the children of farming families.

To mark the milestone the school organised a celebratory open day, with former pupils and teachers invited to attend.

Mrs Thirlaway told the Yorkshire Post that the current pupils had helped to create their own chapter in the school’s history with the new windows.