We would like to say that we are very much alive and kicking after 114 years educating the children of Watford! We are now known as the Central Primary School, and, as has already been stated, we are in the original building in Derby Road, facing the Harlequin Centre.
We were delighted recently to have received a very good Ofsted report, as reported in your paper. The inspectors described the school as "a school with considerable strengths" and "good value for money" with over 60 per cent of our teaching "good or better" and over 15 per cent "very good or excellent".
The school has a one-form entry, with around 250 children attending, making us probably the smallest school in Watford. Therefore, we are a very close knit school community, with all the children in the school knowing each other and with older children in the school encouraged to take care of the younger ones.
Our nursery class was opened in 1972 with European funding and was one of the first in Watford and is by all accounts considered to be an excellent example of nursery education. This valuable work was acknowledged and highly praised in our Ofsted report.
However, as your readers will know, our nursery is now under threat due to changes in funding from Hertfordshire County Council, and will now only operate on a half-day basis.
We are currently working on the school ground development plan. This work is to include renovating the front of the building and replacing the railings which we believe were taken for the war effort during World War II (we believe this was 1942 - can any of your readers confirm this?).
We are also working to renovate the inside of the building with some help from Herts County Council, and, to this end, have had to deal with major structural problems. We are making headway with this rolling programme and the inside of the school is a pleasant environment.
This work has proved very expensive and unfortunately the age of a school is not reflected in the funding it receives, consequently we are given the same running costs and maintenance costs as a newly built school. Clearly this makes life difficult.
The school plays an active part in community life and is currently working with Watford Council on the Green Zone Launch. The Newton Price Building, in the school grounds, has been granted funding for refurbishment (much needed) and will be used by the school during the day and will be available for community groups outside of school hours.
The school also has a nature reserve, which is based between Water Fields and Radlett Road Park and is a useful resource for the children of the school.
We are currently developing a school museum that would document the history of the school, from the establishment in 1705 of the Elizabeth Fuller Free School in St Mary's Churchyard right up to the present day.
We would appreciate any help or information your readers can give us on the history of the school or our founders believed to be Dr Brett, Rev Newton Price and the Earl of Clarendon.
We are also planning to mark the 300th anniversary of the school's beginning in the year 2005 and intend that the school building and grounds developments will be completed by then and will be seen as one of the gems of Watford's past.
We no longer have the oak-panelled honours board mentioned in one of your responses and could only imagine they were taken when the Watford Grammar School for Boys opened.
We are all very proud of our school and would be delighted to hear from any old pupils who have any memories of happy times at the Central School.
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