Oare Church of England Primary School

Oare School was built before 1859, possibly in 1858 at the same time as the church; Mr Goodman financed the building of the church and assisted with school expenses, with further contributions from Col. G. Wroughton of Wilcot.. The building is describes by the 1859 school census as being built of brick, with a brick floor and gallery and a thatched roof. There were 50 boys and girls taught by the wife of the head teacher at Wilcot School.

By 1913 the building was dilapidated and a new school built in Huish Lane in 1914 when attendance averaged 65. In 1957 the older children were sent to school in Pewsey but in 1973 a total of 93 children attended Oare School. The school benefits from a charity of E. H. Rogers who left £250 to provide an income of about £7 a year for an annual prize to the best child. Awards from this fund were still made in 1972. School records are held in the National Archive at Kew. The current (2013) school prospectus says, ‘The school occupies very pleasant grounds and has its own playing field nearby. Between July 2002 and March 2003, the buildings were extensively remodelled to create a hall, a staff room, larger teaching space for the Year 5/6 class and a new location for the library. A two class extension with disabled access was built for the other two classes to replace a very old mobile and an inappropriate, cramped teaching space. At the same time a new infant playground was created. The whole project cost over £200,000 which was raised through Government Grants, and the extensive support of Governors, parents and the local community. We have a large catchment area as we merged with Wilcot School in 1969. The area now covers Oare, Wilcot, Huish, Draycott, West and East Stowell, Little Abbotts, Sharcott Penning, Prospect, Sunnyhill Lane and West Wick.’ In January 2013 there were 95 pupils registered at the school.