413 children were admitted in the Juniors and 325 children in the Infants on the first day.

A month later, Mr Cheese wrote in the new school magazine "When we opened on Monday morning, September 5th, 1898, there were a great many difficulties to be met. Everything was new, new school, new desks, new books, children, teachers and masters all new to each other. But looking back over the month we may, I think, congratulate ourselves that most of the difficulties have been met and overcome"

Boys and girls could choose to wear a school badge on their caps, hats or dresses.

Sidney, William and Doris were at school when Mr Cheese was headteacher. Here they talk about their schooldays, their lessons and the playground.

Wombwell and Bostocks Menagerie visited Colchester. Teachers and children visit and receive 'much instruction from the lecturer as to the habits of the various animals to be seen.'

Bostocks were keen to find premises in Colchester and in 1928 acquired a site on St John's Street and built the Playhouse.

"Commenced today to supply some of the poorest children in the school with dinners"

The Pageant celebrated 2000 years of Colchester history with historical re-enactments over a week of celebrations. Thousands of people were involved as perfomers, costume and prop makers and about 6000 people went to watch events in Lower Castle Park. Children from St John's Green School were allowed time off for rehearsals and then the whole school closed at lunchtime for the whole of Pageant week.

Coronation tea for the children of the Borough was held on the Recreation Ground.

Two of Marianne Roff's sisters, Lily and Emily,also taught at St John's Green School.

Army teachers Mrs Cousins and Miss Green joined the staff temporarily to assist with the growing number of children attending the school. In October 1915 "five postcards have been recieved from soldiers in the trenches who have had gifts from the Overseas Club". The school had taken part in fundraising to send these gifts in June 1915 and continued raising money throughout the war including for war horses in 1918.

In June 1917 there were several air raids sounded "from the 'Hooter'" and all children took shelter in the covered playground and Infant hall. In one instance there was a rush by parents to collect their children which led to new guidance being issued that children would be sent straight home when the siren went unless other instructions were received from parents. Later that year children were given a half day holiday to go gathering blackberries and horse chestnuts.
In 1918 the school was closed because of the 'flu epidemic.​
In 1919 children celebrated the end of the war with a Peace Tea on the Recreation Ground​.

Archibald Alderton was married to Catharine Alderton who was the first woman to be mayor of Colchester.

Evening classes had been running at St John's Green since 1898. They were set up to extend learning for recent leavers and adults and included the 3Rs, First Aid, Bookeeping and Vocal Music.

May De'Ath and her 3 siblings, Ivy, George and Jean, attended St John's Green school in the 1920s and 1930s. May is one of the girls shown here in the reception or 'Babies' class. The room was built to accommodate 60 children which can be seen on the original floor plan. It is the only room shown without desks and in the photo we can see some of the toys the children had to play with instead.

You can still see the old gas lamp fittings in parts of the old school building

St John's Green football team play in the finals for the Markham Cup against Barrack Street School.

Boys attended on Monday evenings at 7pm and girls went on Tuesdays or Thursday mornings.

170 children were given 1/3 pint of milk at morning break. Playtime was extended by five minutes to allow extra time to drink the milk.

Each child was presented with a souvenir alphabet by W.G. Benham.

Freda Appleton was invited to plant a tree for George V's silver jubilee on the Lexden Road end of the Avenue of Remembrance.

Medals and bags of sweets were handed out along with a coronation souvenir.

I would like to record a growing difficulty in the organization of the school due almost entirely to troop movements.Out of a total of 286 pupils, 63 left and 88 entered this school during the last year, exclusive of ordinary terminal admissions etc'
Mr Everett, December 1939

In the first days of the war St John's Green School was used as an evacuee reception centre for around 4000 people arriving at St Botolph's train station and provided them with 'light refreshments', 'lavatory accommodation and first aid' before they moved on to the surrounding villages. Instead of attending school, 'Home Groups' were arranged to teach infant children in their homes for five hours a week but in January 1940 the groups disbanded and all children were taught at St John's Green. Later in 1940, Mr Everett accompanied evacuees from St John's Green School to Kettering and Miss Roff remained in Colchester and managed both the Junior and Infant departments.

Air raid shelters were built in the playground but guidance was also given to take shelter under tables and in the infant corridor where the window was boarded up. Four Morrison shelters were added in 1943.

At the end of 1940 discussions started about 'communal feeding' (providing school meals) and this began in 1942. School opened during the summer holidays for children to have their meals and milk and by 1944 cod liver oil and orange juice was provided for all children under five. Meals were supplied by the British Restaurant on Magdalen Street. They continued to supply the school meals after the war.

Children celebrated the end of the war in 1945 with a holiday, receiving a commemorative card from the King, a book and vouchers to visit the circus.

On 28 September 1942 five bombs dropped nearby the school. Michael and Joan talk about how they prepared for air raids during the school day and what happened on that day.

A separate canteen building was constructed in the playground and the meals supplied by a kitchen on Magdalen Street. There were three sittings a day. In 1948 Mr Everett and the kitchen supervisor discussed the problem of the children not liking the food, particularly the meat. Mr Everett suggested this was 'owing to the food shortage at home, they can never have it and do not seem to be able to acquire a taste for it.'

In the 1960s and 1970s the canteen was available to hire outside of school time and was used by the Colchester Accordian Band for practice.

In the Juniors children take part in a running a town activity. Mr Everett says ‘The whole idea is to make the children think for themselves and to find things out for themselves rather than to sit still at a desk and be told this is this and that is that’.

Children went to London and visited the Palace of Westminster as part of the Festival of Britain.

St Giles Church Hall was leased by Essex County Council for five years for the school to use. This included the use of the piano. It was used for PE in the 1950s and was still used in the 1980s for fundraising rummage sales.

In 1951 a school bus service was started for children to travel to St John's Green School from the new estates. Listen to how Theresa, Steve and Marion got to school in the 1950s and 1960s.

Mr Everett approached the garrison to ask if their nearby football pitches could be used for boys' football practice. An agreement was reached but by 1954 the school was using the sports field at Shrub End.

The school sends supplies to Harwich to help people affected by the floods.

Children completed a coronation tour map of the countries visited by the new Queen for an exhibition in the school hall. A plane and ship were set up on wires that could move between the different countries as the tour progressed. A commemorative book 'Royalty in Essex' was presented to every child.

The School's diamond jubilee was celebrated with a service at St Botolph's Church and was attended by a large number of parents. This was followed with a Christmas jubilee concert and a summer musical play, Sally.

The wall separating the boys' and girls' playground was found to be unsafe and was removed.

A new stairway was planned to link the downstairs and upstairs of the building.

St John's Green comes first place in the Colchester Schools' swimming gala and wins the shield. They win again in 1963 and 1968.

The pinnacle on top of the tower fell off into the playground. It was blown off in a gale at about 5pm. No-one was hurt.

The Green Howards Regiment band play in the school hall. The Green Howards are the Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Yorkshire Own Regiment.

French started to be taught in school in 1967 and following the Nuffield French Scheme. The trip to France in 1971 was made with Myland School. An annual trip to France continued until the mid-1970s. Between 1975 and 1979 the school visited Ringfield Hall in Suffolk for a 'Countryside Week'.

Attendance at school becomes part-time and voluntary for a short time because of national power strikes.

The number of children at St John's Green School reduced so fewer classrooms were needed. Eventually the whole school moved upstairs with the downstairs classrooms used as learning support, by the Visual Perceptual Unit from 1980 and an Infant Language Centre from 1982. Playgroup was set up in one of the classrooms in 1980 and only moved to its current location at the front of the building in the early 2000s. In 1996 the school roll had increased enough to take over the whole building again.

A new bypass is built alongside St John's Green School

A group of childen went on a five day residential trip staying in a Youth Hostel in Canterbury.

Voluntary lunchtime clubs are set up including stamp club, recorders and sports. A school bookshop is open every Tuesday.

The children stand on St John's Green to see her

Parents are invited to view books and talk to their child's teacher after school on the first Monday of the month.

The go-ahead is given to build a community playground for local children to use outside school hours at the back of the school playground. This was accessed from Walsingham Road. The playground was removed in the early 2020s.

The school was open all day to welcome former staff and pupils and in the evening a reception was held in the Mayor's Parlour at the Town Hall. The Friends of St John's Green School group was set up at the same time.

Centenary celebrations included a party, publication of a book of memories, souvenir tea towels and mugs and planting a new cedar tree in the playground.

She took over from Mrs Evers who was executive headteacher for 2 terms in 2002.

In April 2004 Essex County Council stopped providing school meals so St Johns Green set up their own service. For some time St John's Green School kitchens also supplied lunchtime meals to Fingringhoe and St Michaels Primary Schools. Listen to Theresa Traxler describing school dinners in the 1950s and Sarah Burke talking about her job today.

Mr Billings talks through his day moving between the two St John's Green sites. Listen to the school perform their new song written to celebrate their 125th year.

New schools were planned as the number of families living in the area increased with the redevelopment of former garrison land. St John's Green School expanded onto two sites and gradually increased from one form entry to a three form entry school.

Parents are invited to school in the evening to share food together. Children come ready for a bedtime story.

During Covid the school was not open for all children so only the Abbey Field site was used. Staff were split into red and blue teams and split their working week. Local suppliers supported the school when it became difficult to source stocks of soap and hand sanitiser and temporary hand washing stations were installed in the playground.

School encouraged walking activites such as the 'Tuesday Trot' a walk around the Abbey Field and 'Get Out and Walk'.

Every child is given a commemorative book and book mark. Colchester becomes a city.

Celebratory picnics were held on both school sites
Charles III visited Colchester in March 2023.

A year of celebrations include opening the school for Heritage Open Day, Victorian style lessons, whole school photo and a new school song. Staff and children become historians, recording new oral histories, speaking at public events and sharing their learning with each other. Staff replan their history curriculum as One Square Mile: Heritage on Our Doorstep, concentrating on places within walking distance of the school, and staff and children co-curate exhibitions at the Abbey Field site and Minories gallery.