We recently collected the final skip from the Alderman Swindell primary school. We supported the campaign to keep the school open, but sadly the legal challenge failed in January and the school closed its doors in July earlier this year. Alderman Swindell is something of a Yarmouth institution and many North Yarmouth folk have fond memories of attending the school.
The History of Alderman Swindell
The school opened in 1929 and was named after Alderman Theophilus Witter Swindell – a Great Yarmouth based philanthropist with a keen interest in pedagogy. For the rest of the 20th Century and well into the 21st, the school provided an excellent education for children living in the Newtown area of Great Yarmouth.
Campaign to Save the School
Parents, teachers and pupils past and present joined the campaign to save the school led by headteacher Alison Hopley. One pupil received a reply from the Prime Minister’s office after writing to Theresa May. The campaign was ultimately unsuccessful and the school closed at the end of the summer term.
Future of the School
As the proverb goes: “The school is not the building, it’s the children.†The pupils have been relocated to the newly expanded North Denes Primary. Some of the teachers at Alderman Swindell lost their jobs in the merger. Penny Carpenter, chairman of children’s services at Norfolk County Council told the Eastern Daily Press that £500,000 had been put aside for redevelopment of the Alderman Swindell site.
The closing of the school was a very sad time for all the staff and children. We have been very proud to have been able to support them over the last four years.