Our first ever Foundation Day!

This year, Drapers' Pyrgo Priory School held their first ever Foundation Day.

The children and staff attended a celebratory awards assembly, with School Governors and special guests presenting the awards. The assembly also included heartfelt singing performances by pupils, creating an atmosphere of pride and celebration throughout the school.

Pupils learned about, and celebrated, the history of the school and why it holds such a special place in the community.

Trudy Spillane, Interim Executive Principal at Drapers' Pyrgo Priory said: "This year is the first Foundation Day for our school, of which Priory is 73 years old and Pyrgo Priory is 45 years. We are celebrating all the wonderful events, people and memories wrapped up in our community and look forward to our great future."

A brief history of Drapers' Pyrgo Priory School

The area of Harold Hill was established after the Second World War for families moving from the East End of London to a new suburban area on the edge of a Nature Reserve and woodlands, providing new hope for many.

Drapers' Pyrgo Priory School is located on the original site of Priory Junior School, which opened in 1952 with between 400 and 500 pupils. That same year, Pyrgo Infant School in Tarnworth Road was opened.

In 1968 there was a fire at Priory Junior School, and fifty per cent of the school building was destroyed, included the school office, subsequently all records relating to the school from its opening up until the fire were lost. 

In 1980 Pyrgo Infant School moved to Priory Junior School and the "new" Pyrgo Priory Primary School was created. 

The building was originally created from aluminium from an old WWII air hanger in Hornchurch. Parts of the building we see today were added at different points. For example, the Nursery was built in 1997, the Woodlands Centre in 2013 and the John Shannon Centre in 2016.

John Shannon was the first Head Teacher of Priory Junior School in 1952 and returned to open the centre named after him in 2016. He was 99 years old and ‘bright as a spark’. 

In the garden at the rear of the hall, a bench was put up in honour of a well-known and loved parent, Rose Jarvis. Her daughter, Hannah visited the school to present an annual award in her mother's honour.

At the front of the school and near to the main entrance a circular wooden bench is set around the trunk of a flowering Cherry tree and commemorates a young pupil, Timi Owojori, who died in 2009.  Next to the circular bench and just before the entrance to the reception area of the school a small area was turned over to flowers and became known as Timi’s Garden.

The school has a great deal of outdoor space for children to play and there are wooden carvings in the grounds which were commissioned to celebrate the school’s 60^th birthday in 2012. 

The school uniform of red, white and grey was decided by vote with the school community in 1993. The school logo originally featured an owl logo which was designed by a parent. This was replaced by the current school crest when Pyrgo Priory School joined the Drapers' Trust in September 2016.

The school motto - Everything we are goes into everything we do - has been used for many years. A special stained-glass window with the motto was created by Mr Williams during an Art Day at school, and is located in the main hall where children can enjoy it and be reminded of the message.