Our History

There has been a school serving Defford, Besford and Strensham villages for some considerable time, and now the village of Birlingham is included within our catchment area. The earliest school is now the “little room” behind Defford Church, which was replaced in 1872 by the “Old School” in Croome Road. This latter was built, in order to accommodate far more children, by private subscription and grants, and cost the princely sum of £861.12s.0d. Many members of the parish still remember their days at the old school.

Soon after the old school celebrated its centenary, the present school was built (at a cost of £36,355) to provide more up-to-date teaching space, amenities and heating, and opened officially on 12th October 1973 by the Right Reverend Robin Woods, Bishop of Worcester. Mr.Diggs (Headmaster), Mrs.Tomkins and Mrs.Vaughan (teaching staff) transferred from the old to the new school.

Since then the school has seen four head teachers;

Mrs.J.Magowan 1980-1989 Mrs.J.Borley 1989-1995
  Mr.K.Clough 1995-2000 Mrs.J.Brown 2001-

Defford-cum-Besford survived a threat in the mid 80s to close a number of small village schools, and since then has gradually grown due to various housing developments locally, plus the desire of more distant families to available themselves of the excellent education standards maintained at the school.

The steady increase in numbers has meant the need for more teaching space, and a new classroom was built in 1996 together with refurbishment of the building to bring it more in line with current educational needs. It was further extended in 2005 making the Reception classroom much lighter. A smaller quiet room to be used by all the children was created. This means that the school is now in a position to offer all sorts of exciting facilities and features for the education of today’s children, while still maintaining the intimate small village school atmosphere.