Darras Hall Primary School Since 1966

There have been schools on this site in the centre of the Darras Hall Estate since 1966.

The estate was founded in 1911 and the plan of the estate made provision for land at the centre for community use such as shops, churches and schools but the development of the estate was much slower than expected and it was not until after the Second World War that building work really got underway. As early as 1957 there were calls for a school to be provided on the estate but these were turned down, one of the arguments being that most of the parents living there sent their children to private school and there was no need for a local authority school.

By 1961 there were 1,024 houses on the estate and the involvement of Barratt’s, the building company meant that this was projected to rise sharply. The Local Authority relented and in 1965, a new Infant’s School and Junior School was planned to accommodate 560 children. These were opened in September 1966.

The schools were built alongside the road opposite the shops on Broadway on land which has now been reclaimed since these buildings were demolished in 2021. The schools were designed by the Education Authorities in-house architects and were the standard single-storey primary school buildings of the 1960’s constructed out of brick. As with most schools built during the period when there was a minor baby-boom, they were overcrowded from the day they opened and additional mobile caravan classrooms had to be provided.

In 1974 the comprehensive system was introduced into this area both schools became separate First Schools as pupil numbers were still too high. By 1985 this “bulge” had worked its way through the system and pupil numbers had fallen. The school re-opened in 1985 as a single Darras Hall First School it was still the largest First School in Northumberland. The first headmistress was Mrs. Sheila Nicholson and she was followed in 1994 by Diana Hewitson.

As could be expected, given its catchment area, the school had consistently glowing OFSTED reports since these were introduced in 1993. In 1995 when pupil numbers had dropped to 240 it was found to be “above average with a broad and balanced curriculum which is supported by a rich extracurricular programme”.

One of the extracurricular events was the creation of a time capsule in 2001. Amongst other things, it contained a Harry Potter Book, a set of false teeth and a mobile phone. It would be interesting to know if this turned up during the demolition of the school.

Throughout the early 2000’s, there were plans to close the school and to move pupils to a large “Learning Village” on the eastern side of Ponteland. These were strongly opposed by the residents of Darras Hall and by the school managers who fought to retain the school on the estate.

By 2017 the school buildings were outdated. Victoria Parr who was then headmistress said “We have a school built in the late 1960’s for 1960’s children and a 1960’s curriculum. Since then there have been fundamental changes in education and the building limits the opportunities that we can provide to our children and the curriculum we can offer them.”

In that year there was another re-oganisation of the education system in Ponteland moving from a three-tier to a two-tier system and the Local Authority agreed that the new Primary School could be housed in a new building to be built in the playing fields behind the old school which would then be demolished.

The new school was officially opened in 2018. The new school is of a contemporary design very different from the school it replaced. One of its innovative features was a “living wall” created from living plants at one corner running the entire height of the building which unfortunately does not appear to have stood the test of time.

Recently, the school has opted out of Local Authority control and has become part of the Pele Trust.