Primary school celebrates 150-year anniversary with historical musical

Pupils at Wilby Church of England Primary School are taking part in the production, as well as attending a special service at St Mary's church in the village, and planting flowers.

The musical has been written by headteacher Roisin Wiseman, using key dates and entries from old log books to map out the history of the school and how it was affected by global events like pandemics and wars.

Mrs Wiseman said: “Knowing that we were coming up to 150 years, I started having a look back through the school log books because it’s a wonderful source of information about day-to-day realities for the school.

Wilby Church of England Primary School (Image: Google Maps)

Mrs Wiseman also said the celebrations have helped to bring the school community closer following the pandemic: “We had quite an outbreak in the new year, and they’ve been through school closures, these kids. I think this is a celebration of our school going through all of this and now we’re able to come together to celebrate.

“They’re loving singing together, acting together, every child’s got a line."

“The children absolutely love it; it helps develop their confidence."

Every child from Year Two to Year Six has been given a role in the production, which has already been performed to the school community, and will hit the stage again at Snape Maltings on March 9.

Katherine, who is in Year Four, said: "We can't believe that a school of this size has so much history. Learning all about it makes us feel important, like it's a privilege to be part of history in the making."

Barney, who is in Year Six, added: "Our performance is brilliant because lots of people don't know about us because we are a small school but we are like a hidden treasure."

Andy is also in Year Six and said: "It's amazing learning history from our school log book - it makes you feel like you are going back in time."

Year Four student Edward added: "We're excited that in the future children might be learning about our lives too."

The musical performance includes songs from key dates found in the old log books. (Image: Wilby Church of England Primary School)