Pupils and staff have been celebrating their school’s 150th anniversary.

Staplehurst School first opened its doors to pupils on December 15, 1873, when Queen Victoria was still on the throne.

It had been paid for by public subscription on land then known as Calves Field and located in the High Street in the building that has since become the Village Centre.

In fact, in those days it was two schools, one for boys and one for girls. They shared the building, but had their own entrances. There was a separate section for infants.

The boys’ opened first, under the leadership of headmaster William Oliver. The girls followed three days later, under the headship of Ann Marie Carter. They were paid £90 and £60 a year respectively, but each also got a house on the site.

Children were educated to the age of 13.

From the start head teachers kept a record book of events at the school and, judging from entries by Mr Oliver, one of his main preoccupations was getting parents to send their children to class during harvest time, when the families wanted them working in the fields.

The schools combined into a single primary school in 1939 under the headship of Mr Butcher.

As the village grew, the site became too cramped, and an annexe was opened at the school’s current location off Gybbon Rise in 1972, followed by another a few years later.

When Eric Spear took over as head teacher in 1982, the school had three buildings and two sites – infants and upper juniors at Gybbon Rise and lower juniors still at the High Street.

Mr Spear was determined to see the school unified again and was successful in persuading KCC to building new classrooms to connect the two blocks at Gybbon Rise, enabling the whole school to move there in 1988.

Today the school has 450 pupils on its roll.

Lucy Davenport is the head teacher. She said: “This milestone of 150 years is a testament to the unwavering dedication of our teachers, staff and children who have contributed to the rich tapestry of our school’s history.

“Together we embrace the past, empower the present and envison an even brighter future as we continue to nurture young minds and foster a spirit of excellence.”

The school held a week of activities in celebration, with assemblies conducted by special guests.

Among them was a current Year 1 teacher, Clare Chembalipuram, who shared her memories of being a child at the school.

Eric Spear came out of retirement to talk about his lengthy spell as head, which lasted 22 years until his retirement in 2004.

Also gathered together were a collection of log books, school registers and photo albums from the last 150 years.

Earlier this month members of the Staplehurst community were invited in to view the exhibition, to tour the school and to share a picnic lunch with the children on the playing field.

Serena Hoadley was among the visitors.

She had been employed as a chef in the school kitchens for 10 years, had been a school governor and a teaching assistant.

She was delighted to find in the history exhibition a photo of herself with the cake she baked to celebrate the school’s 125th anniversary – a quarter of a century ago.

She said: “It all seems very familiar, though of course a lot has changed. For instance there’s now a computer suite in what had been the kitchens when I was here.”

Eric Spear, who arrived at the school in 1988, was one of the longest serving heads, but not the longest. He said: “The original heads, Mr Oliver and Mrs Carter each stayed 37 years.

“They started the school logbooks which were still going in my day.

“I remember my predecessor, Ken Yates-Smith, was a nationally renowned figure in copperplate hand-writing and filled them in with beautiful italic script, which made my later entries look rather shabby.

“The buildings have changed dramatically since I first came here, but you know the children are just the same. When I took an assembly on Tuesday I found they were just as well behaved and delightful as ever.”

Mr Spear, who is now 82, said he had “very fond memories” of his time as head.

Among the current pupils that impressed Mr Spear, were three young school “learning ambassadors”, whose job it is to greet visitors and support the staff and other pupils.

Eleven-year-olds Matilda, Cara and Max all said how much they enjoyed being at the school.

Matilda said the teachers were very friendly and always made the lessons fun. She described how they had even presented the SATS tests as Secret Agent training.

Matilda, whose favourite subject is creative writing, is off to Maidstone Girls’ Grammar School in September, and revealed that her ambition was also to become a teacher.

Cara also thought the teachers were very friendly and that pupils could ”talk to them about anything.” She is off to Cranbrook School in September. She praised the school’s buddy system for making sure no-one felt left out.

Max, whose favourite lesson is PE, particularly football, is off to Oakwood Park Grammar School in September. He said he really enjoyed school, and said the other pupils were all really nice too. Max takes guitar lessons at the school.

Caroline Bennett is the chairman of governors. Her own two children had been pupils and had “a very positive experience here.” They have since left, but Mrs Bennett, a governor for the past seven years, has continued her involvement.

She said: “We don’t interfere in the day-to-day operation of the school, but we act as a friendly critic to hold the school to account.

She said: “We look at matters such as the school budget and its online safety policy. It’s very rewarding.”

She moved to the village from London in 2015 and saw becoming a governor as a way to get involved in her new community.

One of the guests was Paddy Riordan, chairman of Staplehurst Parish Council, but also one of its newly elected borough councillors. However, Cllr Riordan’s connections to the school go back much farther.

He said: “I started here as pupil in 1967 and left in 1974. That was under the headship of Ken Yates-Smith.

“Since then, two of my children came here and four of my grandchildren – three are still here!”

He recalled how he was particularly fond of – and quite good at – football, but the head wouldn’t let him play in the school team “because my hair was too long.”

He also recalled how, as a Roman Catholic, he had to sit out the RE lessons.

Cllr Riordan now most often visits the school in his role as a local electrical contractor, but he had been a pupil at the school when it celebrated its 100th anniversary. He said: “The most significant change has been its expansion – thanks to all the new housing the village has received. That began in the ‘60s.

“Of course, the buildings have expanded and improved, and the children now have all kinds of interesting clubs to go to – like the gardening club, but it’s a shame the school no longer has a swimming pool.”

Cllr Riordan was not the only guest who missed the pool.

The school actually at one time had two outdoor pools on its Gybbon RIse site, one for early years and one for seniors.

At first, the pools were seen as a huge bonus, but time left them looking outdated and expensive to run and the pool was eventually done away with around 2007.

Chris Ralph has been involved with the school since 1978. Her own children were pupils at Staplehurst and even though they are now in their late 50s, they still keep in touch with the friends they made at the school.

Mrs Ralph said: “I think that shows what a magical place it is. Of course, it has the advantage of being a village school, so the children here also meet up with each other at other events and activities in the village and their parents probably know each other too; it’s a real community.”

Mrs Ralph, who later that afternoon give a class a talk on what life at school had been like during the Second World War, described herself as a “general dogsbody.”

She used to help with the swimming lessons; she started the school gardening club, and the village playschool.

Asked what had changed most during her time with the school, she said: ”Well the syllabus – and hair-styles!”

The Rev Silke Tetzlaff is the rector at All Saints Church and a frequent visitor to the school.

She said: “I’ve been here 11, nearly 12 years, now. I take a regular assembly, in turn with colleagues from the United Reformed Church in the village.

“It’s such a lovely country school. Many pupils are able to walk to school. Parents tend to know each other.

“As soon as you arrive they sweep you up and make you welcome. The head teacher and all the staff do an incredible job.”

After a picnic lunch, guests were given a tour of the school, viewing live lessons in progress, from the enthusiastic excitment of the early years classes, to the more sedate RE lessons with the senior pupils.

Along the way they were treated to a song by the Year 1 pupils of teacher Louise Underdale.

The school is very keen on music, with an incredibly well equiped music room.

Each year, the school choir joins thousands of other schoolchildren from across the country for the Young Voices event at London’s 02 Arena, travelling to the capital by train.

Humanities lead teacher Liz Cook said: “The children love it.

“We don’t get home till really late, but somehow the children are always full of the adventure the next day – the staff are shattered!”

The school has clearly changed a lot over the past 150 years, as a visit to the history exhibition showed.

Teachers in the early staff photos look very severe, and the school kids are seldom smilling.

Today, one feels, school is just a lot more fun.

But some connections remain. When the old village centre school was closed, the school bell was transferred and given pride of place at the new Gybbon Rise building.

It is still rung enthusiastically by senior pupils every day to mark the start of break and lunchtimes.

Mrs Davenport said: “This has been a wonderful week where we have shared many lovely memories and reflected on our history to commemorate the legacy of our education and community that has shaped countess young lives throughout the years.”

Surprisingly, Staplehurst School was not the first school in the village.

As early as 1659, philanthropist Lancelot Bathurst had left money for a school at Hill House to take in six “very poor” children as well as paying pupils.

It closed in 1832, but was briefly replaced by a parish school in Chapel Lane, that continued until the opening of Staplehurst School in 1873.