John Fletcher of Madeley Primary School is located in Madeley, Telford at the edge of a small 1950s housing estate. The school campus is on the border of the area designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and overlooks open fields and woodland leading down to the Ironbridge Gorge. The local catchment area is varied and consists of several private developments, established housing in the old village of Madeley, a small council estate and the larger area of Woodside.
The primary school came into existence in 2011 following the merger of John Fletcher Junior School and Madeley Infant School and has continued to maintain the strong links that the junior school had with its Anglican/Methodist foundation through St Michael’s Parish Church and, following the closure of Fletcher Methodist, the local Methodist Circuit. John Fletcher Voluntary Controlled Junior School itself replaced the old Madeley Church of England School and Madeley Methodist School when expansion of the new town led to an increase in pupil numbers in the late 1960s.
In February 2018, we celebrated 50 years since the name “John Fletcher” was given to the school with a visit from Richard, Bishop of Hereford and also Rev Rachel Parkinson, the Chair of the Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury Methodist District. They gave blessings in our Collective Worship and answered questions devised by Year 5 and Year 6 about their roles and how the churches support the school. We were very grateful to them for giving their time and helping us launch our 5oth birthday celebrations.
Over the following weeks, the children researched developments across a range of areas over the previous 50 years and looked at how the school has changed over this period. We were very fortunate to receive items from former pupils which helped them to investigate the school’s history.
The celebrations culminated in an Open Day when visitors were able to come into school to see the ‘50’ themed displays around school. As well as current parents and governors, we were also visited by grandparents, neighbours and former pupils (ranging from just a few years ago to two pupils who were in the first year group to attend). It was also a pleasure to unveil the John Fletcher Family Tree which is a stunning piece of artwork made by parents to commemorate this year.