Our History

Monksmead School

1958 to present day

Hillside Avenue Boreham Wood

The school opened in 1958 as an infant school to ease overcrowding at Furzehill School.  From here children moved up to Summerswood School at the age of seven. 

In 1965 the Deputy Head was Mrs E Gray who was formerly at Furzehill School.  In 1974 the reorganisation of education in Boreham Wood to change from a two- to a three-tier system, led it to become a First School for children aged five to nine years. 

In 1979 Mr John Cooper came from Furzehill School to be deputy and later Headteacher. In 1981 a playgroup was started to provide nursery education for three to four year olds.  The school day in 1998 to 1989 was from 8.55 am to 3.15 pm with an hour for lunch from midday to 1.20 pm.

Mrs Stapley was the secretary in 1983.

In 1986 Leslie Grantham, the actor who was currently appearing in East Enders, was invited to open and attend a fete in order to raise funds for a library.  The event was a success and a complete library was founded on that one event.

A grand piano in the hall was obtained by John Cooper from Campions School after its closure in 1984.  He related that it was donated to Campions by a former music teacher.  The piano made of walnut, was a Beckstein and made in Berlin in 1897. 

In September 1992 Mrs Annie Hardwick was appointed deputy head having come from Saffron Green School.

The emblem on the school badge was a white squirrel on a navy blue background.  Mr John Cooper, headteacher in 2001, explained that the squirrel was adopted as the logo because the area was overrun by them when the school was being built.  When the school status changed to a First School, the badge was dropped from the uniform as sweatshirts were introduced to replace blazers.  In the year 2000 the reorganisation of all the county schools in Boreham Wood to revert to a two-tier system led to a change of status to Junior Mixed Infants and the logo was reinstated as a symbol of the school’s heritage.

The school team houses were named after the schools that were about to close because of the reorganisation of education in the town : Holmshill, Furzehill, Hillside and Lyndhurst.

The current Headteacher is Mrs Lisa Bubb.

If anyone from Monksmead reads this - please update us with the last twenty years at your school!