A pioneering Kettering school that evolved from a movement of progressive education,to provide a healthy outdoor learning opportunities has been demolished.
The Kettering Open-Air Recovery School in Beatrice Road was built to accommodate 40 children with tuberculosis, 40 delicate children and 40 with special educational needs and was based on a ground-breaking design of large windows and open airy rooms.
The precursor of modern day forest schools, the open-air school,was one of the first such institutions in the country, opening a few years after the first outdoor schools were founded in London in 1908.
Open-air schools were believed to be beneficial to children’s health and helped those with various additional needs including a resting shed, formal classrooms and an emphasis on outdoor classrooms and activities - a very modern concept being championed over a century later.
When the school was at Beatrice Road it was called the Open-Air or Outside School and in 1957, children from Corby were admitted to the school for the first time after the completion of a brand-new classroom.
In September 1965, there were 76 pupils on the roll. By September 1970 it had increased to 93, and the number reached three figures 12 months later.
Splitting into two provisions, pupils moved to Kingsley School in Churchill Way for children with special educational needs and Maplefields in Corby, providing education for children with additional, associated and complex needs.
The school site has been cleared apart from a modern sports hall to be converted into a community centre.
1. The Open-Air Recovery School
The school was for 'delicate' children and for those recovering from TB
