St.Mary's Broughton Gifford V.C. C. of E. Primary School

A charity school existed in 1782. Francis and Betty Paradice gave £500 to be invested in order to pay £20 per year for a schoolmaster and to instruct 20 children. Any residue of the dividend was distributed at Christmas to the poor of the parish. By 1819 there were 20 free scholars and 12 paid scholars. There were 82 children who attended the Sunday school. In 1828 and 1833 two other schools were founded, catering for 10 boys and 13 girls. Two Sunday and day schools had, in 1846, 54 boys and 50 girls. In 1852 the site and buildings were conveyed in trust by Reverend J. Wilkinson, to the rector and the churchwardens.

In 1853 a building grant of £90 was made by the state and just over £463 was raised by local subscription resulting in the rebuilding of the school by 1856. By 1858, 40 pupils attended the National School, 20 of them free of charge. Richard F. Long added to the trust property in 1871, and in 1872 another state grant provided an additional building. The school masters house was also added at this time. The numbers attending increased to 161 pupils with an average attendance of 93. The school was again enlarged in the early 1900s, having 120 scholars in 1907, divided between three classes. The school log book of 1917 mentions an epidemic of scarlet fever, a visit by the dentist who extracted and filled the pupil’s teeth, and a head inspection for lice. Half day holidays were permitted for picking blackberries and a half day holiday was also held to celebrate Armistice Day in 1918. The Inspector’s report mentions a ‘need for improvement’ which was achieved by 1923, perhaps due to a change in headship.

In 1934 the school was wired for electricity and new dual desks were purchased. A wireless set was added to the school equipment by 1948, and a piano was bought in 1935, and then replaced in 1957. The status of the school was altered in 1952, when it became Voluntary Controlled. The Paradice Charity provided a record player with records, maths equipment and a set of Children’s Britannica in 1967. The school was re-modelled again in 1975, when the head teacher’s house was sold and an extension to the school built, making the design more open plan, and by 2008 had 49 pupils.