Littleton House School
As you leave Girton on your way to Oakington, you may have spotted the sign that says Littleton House School. If you've lived here for some years, you'll know that it's not the local primary school, and anyway the odds are that the sign will be removed during the summer holiday - because Littleton House School will be moving away from Girton.
There was a time when this special school catered for over a hundred children, some of them living on site. The school has had an unusual history: founded as a children's home in 1902 by a private benefactress, Mrs Pauline Thomas, in the village of Littleton, near Guildford, Surrey; moved to Oxbridge in 1907, then to Girton in 1919 when it was housed in the Old Rectory; eventually put under the control of the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely LEA; and transferred to new purpose-built premises on the present site in 1973.
There was even a time in its varied history when the children from the school were part of the St Andrew's Church congregation and choir. Many villagerss will also recall that up to the year 2000 there was an annual school gala shared as a major event with the Girton Glebe School. Littleton House pupils had their representatives in children's activities such as Cubs. The school, of course, was not a local catchment area provider, but was taking in pupils from the more distant parts of Cambridgeshire and providing specifically for those youngsters of secondary school age who for various reasons have had emotional and behavioural problems.
Concern for the needs of "special" children is not new. By the end of the 19th century there were plenty of social reformers arguing that, so far as it was possible, all children should be put on equal terms in respect of their right to benefit from education. More than a hundred years later we are still on the verge of making the provision that would cover all the needs of all children. The Warnock Report of 1978 brought the issue into focus, and the recent government White Paper on 16 to 19 education has both renewed the incentive and exposed the problems.
Here in Cambridgeshire, for better or for worse, the LEA has decided that Littleton House School is to be re-housed on the site of its complementary primary school, Manor School in Wilburton. The new educational facility will operate from next September with John Currie, a former special educational needs inspector for Norfolk, as its Head. Information has yet to be released as to the future use of the present Littleton House School buildings and site.
Running such schools is no easy task. Those who work in them with dedication know the price involved in terms of their own emotional and physical demands. Despite the inevitable problems that changing needs and policies have presented, tribute is due to all those teachers, support staff and administrators who have worked over the years at Littleton House. They have demonstrated the conviction that no child should be written off or abandoned when it comes to education.
As Littleton House School begins to pack its belongings, there is a strong feeling of appreciation towards the Girton local community for supporting its endeavours to raise money for charities and for accepting the school in the past as an established part of village life.
Kenneth Hastings
July 2003