St Leonard's School in Langho celebrating 150th anniversary

St Leonard’s CE Primary School in Langho opened its doors to the children of Langho and Billington in 1874.

At its celebration day on December 6, children and staff will be dressed in Victorian clothes and throughout the day there will be no technology used in classrooms.

Instead, there will be learning activities as there would have been in the Victorian times.

The infant class in 1910 (Image: St Leonard's School)

Prior to the Whalley Road school’s opening, a Sunday school took place in a room over the old church porch and vestry of Old St Leonard’s Church in Old Langho, a couple of miles away from the new school.

Following this, in 1834, a larger Sunday school was erected in the southeast corner of the same churchyard.

The ‘new school’ as it is now was built in 1874, with the New St Leonard’s Church being completed a few years later next door.

In 1894, 20 years after the school opened, a new porch, offices, and a children’s dining room were added.

Many more extensions have been added over the years, the last one being in 2016, which enabled the school to house more than 300 children.

The Old St Leonard’s Church still stands and is used several times a year for special services and is supported by the Churches Conservation Trust.

A list of previous headmasters at the school (Image: St Leonard's School)

The school is hoping to reach former students of the school who could provide memorabilia of their time there, including photos, trophies, and school books.

Dawn Lindley, headteacher at the school, said: “We are so excited for our upcoming celebrations. It is great for our children to be part of our wonderful school.

“The school holds so many memories for pupils past and present, and it would be really lovely to hear some of these special times.

“If anyone would like to share their memories, they can contact the school office on 01254 247156.”