Rock Hall School reaches milestone

Jun 17 2009 by Sara Nichol, The Journal

AS IT reaches a milestone in its colourful history, a rural Northumberland school is a far cry from the day it began.

Rock Hall School, near Alnwick, began life as a nursery with three children in a converted garden shed.

Now, 25 years and 300 pupils later, staff, pupils and parents are gearing up to celebrate the school’s Silver Jubilee as it goes from strength to strength and now teaches children up to the age of 13.

Founder of Rock Hall, formerly Rock Moor, and co-head Lalage Bosanquet started up the nursery in a shed in her back garden, after moving to the county with a toddler.

Initially with only three pupils, the nursery quickly grew and by 1988 it had expanded into the former house of Mrs Bosanquet’s mother-in-law.

By 1992, the school was bursting at the seams and was forced to move into a former youth hostel and manor house in nearby Rock village, where it remains today, teaching children from the ages of three to 13.

Mrs Bosanquet, of Rock, Northumberland, said: “When I arrived in Northumberland with a screaming toddler, I looked around for a good nursery – there wasn’t one. The only nursery was in Blyth – the rest of the provision was parent-run playgroups meeting in village halls two mornings a week.