SB St Bart’s 550 celebrations FOR 550 years Newbury children have been educated at St Bartholomew’s School.

Yesterday (Wednesday) students and staff, past and present, joined together to celebrate the historic milestone.

The school was set up in 1466 on the will of Henry Wormestall and 550 years later, on Founder’s Day, 1,700 pupils enjoy a standard of education rated as Good by Ofsted just last year.

Head teacher Julia Mortimore said: “St Bart’s has a rich history and many of the clues to our origins are evident around the school today.

“Our school logo, motto, uniform, traditions, buildings and House names all form part of our heritage.

“We are delighted that former history teacher, Mrs Val Pollitt, has written a special issue of BartholoNews (the school’s newsletter) for July 6, which explains takes us on a journey through the school’s history.

“The clues to our history are deeply embedded into the values of St Bart’s today. We are proud that we can build on our past and thrive as an exceptional school in the modern world.”

The day commemorated the history of three schools – St Bartholomew’s School, the former Boys’ Grammar School and Newbury County Girls’ School, which merged in 1975 to become the school known today.

A fanfare, composed by Key Stage 3 students and arranged by Sixth Formers, started the day’s celebrations, when it was played at 12.45pm in the foyer.

It was followed by a tree planting ceremony in the Heritage Garden, attended by specially invited guests and Sixth Form students.

The annual Founder’s Day service also took place at St Nicolas’ Church for students in Years 7 and 8, and was particularly significant this year because they were joined by guests closely linked to St Bart’s throughout the years.

In the afternoon 950 students in Years 7-10 all got together on the school field to form the figure 550, which was then photographed from the air using an aerial drone-mounted camera.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying games and activities in House teams.