With 400 years of education behind them Grasmere School is looking forward to the next 400 as it celebrated a major milestone.

Grasmere Village Hall was at full capacity as guests gathered for a wonderful evening of entertainments in early December.

The list of guests included several generations of ex-pupils, ex-staff and governors, as well as Mr. Alexander Scott, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Cumbria; Isobel Booler, Children’s Services, Westmorland and Furness Council and many, many friends of the school.

The focus was on the impressive commitment of the Grasmere community to its children’s education, over 400 years.

Education in the Grasmere of 1625 will have looked very different to the Grasmere School of 2025, with its educational trips, technology and opportunities.

The community are currently supporting the school in its aim to build an eco-classroom, so that they can turn the original ‘schoolroom’ into a hall and kitchen.

A spokesperson for Grasmere School said: “We know a great deal about our school, from the 1600s onwards, and we have particularly enjoyed exploring the headteachers’ logbooks and registers.

“They are fascinating and we wanted to use these documents at the heart of our celebratory entertainment.”

The evening began with story telling led by renowned story teller, Dominic Kelly based on the log book entries.

One of the log book entries describes how the children were invited to a magic lantern show, with the story of Aladdin.

Grasmere School still has the actual magic lantern, and the hand painted glass slides, so the story wove together real-life log book entries and imaginative ‘magic lantern’ story telling.

Using Grasmere Village Hall’s amazing new cinema screen to premiere ‘Grasmere School – The First 400 Years’ – a film by Grasmere School with Gorgeous Media.

Janine Bebbington is the film maker who made ‘A Grasmere Nativity’, which went viral during Covid.

She has created another gem of a film, which is available to watch via the school’s facebook page, Grasmere School and Nursery.

The event was catered by The Forest Side, who generously not only provided delicious refreshments, but also helped to judge the school ‘Ginger Cooking Competition’.

Jess from The Yan at Broadrayne and Paul from The Forest Side tasted and judged over 50 entries, ranging from pork and ginger sausage rolls to turkey and ginger sandwiches, via every kind of ginger bread and ginger biscuit.

Grasmere School is looking forward to getting on with the next 400 years, and will be starting the new term by planting trees, which will grow alongside the school over its next few hundred years.