St Barnabas School

When I first came to work here I discovered archive material (such as Headteachers log books) going right back to when the school opened in 1897. As I was gathering this in one place we found out about Heritage Open Days. The Headteacher was keen for us to take part as we are very much a community school and it would further reinforce this by throwing open our doors to the immediately local and wider community. In addition this has now become a meeting place for ex pupils to have informal reunions.

Changing perceptions

We also open to challenge the traditional views and perceptions of this school in the wider community, it is set in what was traditionally the working class area of Tunbridge Wells and has a ‘reputation’ in the area, something we have been confounding now for many, many years and these openings have contributed to this. It is now a regular and vital part of the school year.

In different years we have run formal School Reunions, had a historic games day (including Stoolball, regularly played in Kent and Sussex), creative art workshops, community play preparations, and a School Autumn Fair.

This year we had a team of 8 from National Trust Scotney Castle deliver a wide range of family workshops based around the conservation work they do. This came through a chance encounter at the HODs meeting in London. I met Siobhan who was looking for a venue to trial some conservation activities ‘off site’. After that and a few meetings / emails we had sorted a very interesting set of workshops. These were advertised within the school community, to other schools in the wider area and through local social media sites.

Participating in HODs has had an impact on the school in many ways; it has altered the way we are seen by the wider community in Tunbridge Wells and cemented relationships within our own locality. It has also given some families the opportunity to wander around the school without it being a formal open morning and they will then seek me out to ask about the schooling here. I have had a few conversations with people visiting the school on HODs who will come to me after and say I always thought this school was rubbish but it has a lovely atmosphere.

Best bits

I have lots of favourite moments: hearing ex pupils sharing their memories, the laughter coming from the rooms – lots of laughter. This year’s standout moment though was a young boy who had been fascinated by the National Trust team’s workshop on how to fix ceramics, he said he was going home to break some mugs so that he could practice more! I found out later he had been allowed to break one, so possibly we’ve helped inspire a career in conservation?

A bonus has also been subsequently visiting people in their homes because they want to share / give me things to add to the archives. Once I was contacted by an ex teacher who wanted to donate her photo albums from her time at the school to our archive, I had a lovely afternoon drinking tea and listening to her memories.