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the Old Burial Ground. The original school in Chapel Road was purchased by Westend Parish Council in 1905 for use as a Parish Hall and it fulfilled this purpose until its demolition in 1978.
By 1903, using plans drawn up by architects Mitchell, Son & Gutteridge, a much larger school with four rooms (main room 64ft x 22ft, 1 classroom, 1 cookery and 1 infant classroom was under construction by West End builders Haines Bros. The money for this red brick building with slate roof and bell tower was raised by public subscription, through bazaars, concerts etc.. In that year the Reverend C.R. Patey, vicar of St. James Church and Haines Bros insured the building for £1,600.
It had separate gravel playgrounds at the rear for boys and girls (including the infants) and outside earth closets. A special allotment area was set aside for gardening lessons for the boys, to be given by Mr G.H. Elliott the head teacher. Over two hundred pupils, including the infant department at Moorgreen, moved into their new school on 3rd October 1904 and discovered they each had their own hook (peg) for jackets or coats etc. They had previously been exhorted to take pride in their new environment and warned about any wilful damage that might be done.

THE BISHOP OF SOUTHAMPTON ADDRESSING SCHOOLCHILDREN AT ST. JAMES IN 1939

The education of the children, covered a wide age range from four to fourteen years and was undertaken by teachers Mr George Henry Elliott (headteacher), Reginald Haysom, Frank Griffen, Catherine Green and pupil teachers including Julia Townsend and Ethel Atkins (1904).
The Church of England School managers, formed in 1903, had achieved much too. They were: J.R. Blakiston Esq. (The Wilderness), R.W. Fletcher Esq. (Hatch Grange), Col. D. Corrie Walker (Thornhill Park), Harry Haines (Holmleigh), Albert Fray (Hatch Farm) and the vicar, Rev. C.R. Patey. They all took their roles as managers seriously and visited the new school regularly, as shown by the Managers Visiting Book. The vicar was superceded in 1905 by Rev. L.Whigham who visited almost daily and pointed out he would not sign daily or the book would soon be full!
There were initially many problems over lack of equipment, cupboards, mats and furniture but new teachers' desks, chairs and even a piano turned up in 1905. The stress of starting up and running a new school became apparent in 1906 when the headmaster had a stroke whilst writing in the log book. He never fully recovered and Mr Elliott retired in 1914. His replacement was Mr Shelley whose reputation for strictness proved to be true.                                                                                                   Continued on page 3