Seagry Church of England Primary School

In 1808 a school was in existence and supported by Catherine, Lady Tylney-Long, living at that time at Seagry House. This school appears to have closed by 1818.

A National School opened in 1850, located on the road to Great Somerford between Upper and Lower Seagry. The Rev. John Hemsted, vicar from 1848 - 1854, was responsible for establishing the school, in addition to rebuilding the church and enlarging the vicarage. When the school was inspected in 1858 the number of pupils attending the school ranged from 30 to 40 boys and girls who were taught by an 'uncertificated mistress in a nice little school-room with boarded floor'. By 1885 there was an average attendance in the school, which was said to have a capacity of 60 pupils, of 25 pupils; in 1889 there were 27. However, such average numbers mask the fluctuations common in school attendance in rural areas where the labour requirements of farmers at various times in the year resulted in periodic absences of children employed to carry out agricultural work. The requirement of the Education Act of 1870 that all children between the ages of five and thirteen should attend school, whether board or voluntary establishments, was regularly ignored by both farmers and parents, the latter of whom might require the additional income brought into the household by their children's temporary employment. The move to free elementary education for all children through the Education Act of 1891 together with the more energetic activities of School Attendance Officers brought some amelioration to this position. Average school attendance figures for Seagry in 1899 were 45.

The Managers' minutes for 1904 onwards show that in the early twentieth century the teaching staff at Seagry school comprised a principal teacher and a 'supplementary' teacher. In 1905 a husband and wife occupied both positions. On 16th August of this year the Managers noted approval of a proposal to increase the salary to Mr. Anstis and also to recommend to the Education Committee that they should grant an increase of £5 which had been applied for by Mrs. Anstis, as she was an 'excellent and painstaking teacher'. Satisfaction with the work of both teachers was confirmed the following year after a visit to the school by HM Inspector on 19th March following which the Education Committee noted 'with satisfaction' that improvement had taken place in arithmetic. In 1915 sixteen year-old Mildred Gee from Great Somerford was appointed to the post of supplementary teacher.

The Managers' minutes note in July 1922 that the Managers' had acceded to a formal proposal by the Board of Education that all children over the age of eleven years should be transferred to Sutton Benger and Great Somerford schools. The number of children involved in this move is not known but must have been low as in May 1923 there were 31 children on the Seagry school roll.

After several decades in which the school roll remained between 20 and 31 pupils, with a dip to 15 in 1952, the 1960s saw great changes for the school. New premises were built and opened in 1963 and in 1969 as part of a review of small rural schools Seagry school was listed for expansion. However, Rodbourne and Corston Church of England School were designated for closure and their pupils transferred to Seagry. The Rodbourne and Corston children joined the Seagry pupils in September 1971 and the school roll now numbered 91 pupils. Accommodation had been expanded by means of portable classrooms with building works to extend the school premises permanently undertaken and opened by late 1974.

The number of children on the register in May 2007 was 76.