Travel back in time as photos show long history of Chesterfield school celebrating 150th birthday – as pupils host dress up day, musical, summer fair and much more

Abercrombie School first opened to pupils, on its old site between Victoria Street and St. Helen’s Street, on August 27, 1873. Back then there were two schools: one for boys and the other for girls, until the schools were joined together to become mixed in 1931. The school then had 313 juniors and 173 infants.

A lot has changed since then and the school some grandparents knew as St. Helen’s Street School, now changed its name to Abercrombie - to avoid confusion with the Girl’s High School when it adopted the name St. Helena.

Another big change was the opening of new school buildings in September 2009 on Higher Albert Street, 400 metres from the old school site. The school has now seven classes as well as a nursery. There are 220 pupils in the main school and 52 part-time pupils in the nursery.

The school is well known in the town and currently holds a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating – with inspectors praising the curriculum, pupils’ behaviour and the senior team that provides ‘strong and effective leadership’.

To celebrate the school’s long and succesful history, pupils have been celebrating this special 150th anniversary with various events during this summer term.

Next week, pupils will be performing a musical called ‘We’re 150 years old!’ Little actors will go back in time to 1873 and then will be travelling through the decades via a Time Travel Remote Control.

On Saturday, July 1, the school will host Summer Fair – open to anyone from the local community. As a part of the celebrations, the school's hall will display retro photographs from days long gone by.