Mrs Ethelston’s Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is situated in the lovely East Devon village of Uplyme.  Mrs Ethelstons has close links with other schools in both Dorset and Devon, and is a feeder school to The Woodroffe School.

The School was named after Mrs Anne Ethelston, born in 1799, the wife of the Reverend Charles Wicksted Ethelston.

After her death in 1854, Reverend Ethelston decided to erect a building in his wife's memory to house the existing school. Sadly, the main building was not opened until 1873, a year after Reverend Ethelston's death.

This school building has served generations of village children well, but the restricted plot size, location, structure and age of the building mean that it is not able to meet current standards for primary education, nor is there any realistic possibility that future standards can be met, in the longer term, on the current site.

The Uplyme Parish Plan developed in 2005/6, favouring the development of a new school, on the fields adjacent to the Village Hall by almost 4:1. The building of a new school did not progress at this time.

Whilst part of the site, preferred by local residents, lies on the flood plain, a proportion adequate to site the actual school buildings, does not. Further, depths of water modelled, even in a '1,000 year' flood, are actually less than 30cm over much of the remainder of the preferred site.

The new School Project has therefore restarted. I have accepted an invitation to lead a small focussed Group of Governors to work with the Trustees, the Parish Council and Uplyme villagers to secure the long term future of Primary Education in Uplyme village for future generations of village parents, carers, guardians and children.