Pupils' year of celebrations ends in style

Staff and pupils at Baines Endowed VC School, in Thornton, have spent 2017 marking the school’s 300th anniversary.

Every month since February –with the exception of the summer holidays –has seen activities to mark the milestone.

The festivities wrapped up this month with a tree being planted, the Baines Rose, and a time capsule buried at a ceremony attended by governors, trustees and Wyre mayor Coun Alice Collinson.

Headteacher Gill Finney said it was a ‘memorable occasion’.

She added: “Over the year, we have celebrated our 300 years in style, ensuring that the children and community have worked together.

“During February, our year two children travelled to Baines in Marton and had a tea party with them. It was wonderful to see the children joining together and having fun.”

March saw the children enjoy a tradition Easter before arranging plants in the shape of the number 300 in April.

Other activities that followed included a tea party, fancy dress and maypole dancing.

In 2017, James Baines, a draper from Poulton, left a dowry of money in his will to build three schools – Baines Endowed VC, on Station Road; Baines School in Poulton; and Baines Endowed Primary, in Marton – sparking a wave of anniversary celebrations this year across the Fylde coast.

Ms Finney added: “It has been an excellent year and we have all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, thanks to James Baines.”