Langley Hall Primary Academy is a

Free School Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to procure ...

founded at

Langley, Berkshire Langley, also known as Langley Marish, is a suburb of Slough in Berkshire, South East England. It is east of the town centre of Slough, and west of Charing Cross in Central London. It was a separate civil parish until the 1930s, when the bu ...

in 2011. It was established in a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

listed building under the coalition government's Free Schools initiative.

History

The Building

Langley Hall, at the centre of the village, is a Grade II listed building. The oldest parts of the present building date from the 17th century, but the façade was added in the 18th century.Langley Village website. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
/ref> In the early 20th century the Hall housed a preparatory school for boys and was known as ''Langley Place''. In 1915 it was taken over by the

Actors' Orphanage The Actors' Orphanage was started in 1896 and established as the Actors' Orphanage Fund in 1912. The fund continues but the orphanage closed in 1958. History The charity was started in 1896 by "Kittie" Carson and Mrs Clement Scott The first buil ...

, which moved to Chertsey in 1938. During World War II it served as a Group Headquarters of

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe, strategic bombing of Germany in W ...

. After the war the Hall was used by the

Road Research Laboratory TRL Limited, trading as TRL (formerly Transport Research Laboratory) is an independent private company offering a transport consultancy and research service to the public and private sector. Originally established in 1933 by the UK Government ...

. Then in the 1970s it stood derelict for some years and was damaged by fire before serving a variety of purposes. In 1988 it became the home of Langley College, which formed part of

East Berkshire College Windsor Forest Colleges Group is a group of further education colleges located in Berkshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. ...

from 1992.

The School

A need had been identified for 300 new primary school places in Slough by September 2011 and in October 2010 it was announced that these were on track, although the timetable was tight. Mrs Sally Eaton, Educational Director of The Childcare Company, was confident that a scheme for a Free School, which she and her husband Chris had proposed, could meet the

DfE The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department f ...

's targets. In March 2011 Langley Hall was identified as the site and it was announced that Mrs Jane Sculpher, who had had more than ten years' experience in the field, had been appointed as Head. There would be 225 pupils in the second year and 67 jobs would be created, 30 of them in the first year. There was a plan to create six of the 14 proposed classrooms during the summer. The business plan was signed off by the DfE in April 2011. It would now be possible to appoint staff. In August 2011 it was announced that the scheme was on course and there would be 182 places available in September. Sally Eaton would be Education Director and Chris Eaton would be Finance Manager. The couple had had 25 years' experience in local independent schools and nurseries. The school opened as Langley Hall Primary Academy in September 2011 with 182 pupils aged between 4 and 11. Seven classrooms were in fact ready and there were two reception classes, as well as classes for other years. There was a waiting list of 62. A total of 25 staff had been appointed. In November 2011 the school was officially opened by Sir Christopher Ball, a leading thinker in the field of educational policy.

References

External links

School website.

{{authority control Primary schools in Slough Educational institutions established in 2011 Free schools in England 2011 establishments in England Grade II listed buildings in Berkshire