History of Uffington Primary School

Our school has been at the heart of the community for over 400 years. It was founded in 1617 with a gift from Thomas Saunders, who was a wealthy merchant from Woolstone. We still remember him each year at our Founder’s Day service. Founder’s Day is also where we celebrate the achievements of our year sixes as they prepare to move on to secondary school.

Thomas Saunders’ original school building is now Uffington Museum (which you can visit throughout much of the year). By Victorian times though more space was needed. The Earl of Craven gave land for this and the first part of the current School buildings opened in 1853. The School has been extended several times since, most recently with the addition of White Horse Class (for our Reception and Nursery children).

The School has always had a close relationship with St Mary’s Church, with the Church having supported the creation and expansion of the School over the years. This heritage is reflected in the Christian ethos of the School, and flows through into our School values of Love, Respect and Resilience. We still work closely together throughout the year, including support from the Church for collective worship, and with many School events being held inside St Mary’s.

A previous vicar also had the idea for one of our most memorable local traditions, where each Founder’s Day we catapult sweets for the children from the top of the Church tower into the School field.