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Our History

St Nicholas Church of England School

1968 to present day

St Nicholas Close Elstree

The new St Nicholas School building replaced the school that had been built in 1884 on Elstree Hill South.  It was a purpose built modern school and some of the funds were raised by the Church, parents and patrons.  It opened on January 9th 1968 and was dedicated on 28th March and given the name : St Nicholas C of E Primary School.  The children attended from the age of five to eleven.  However the old premises ran in conjunction taking two of the classes out of the five until 1972 when phase II of the new school was completed. 


Dedication Service - 1974

In 1971 the school was affected by the change in the education system in Elstree and Boreham Wood from two- to three-tier.  Along with the other county schools, even though this was voluntary aided, it now took children from four to nine who went on to schools in Boreham Wood.  In 1996 a mobile hut was added to accommodate twenty-six nursery children and extensions were made to the school and again in 1999. 


Scool Sports Day - 1988

In 2000 Herts CC reverted the local education system back to two-tier but St Nicholas School had already reverted in 1990 independently of Herts CC policy.  This was because parents felt that the children were forced to go to Boreham Wood when their Diocese came under St Albans where, traditionally, they would like the choice to send their children perhaps to another C of E school. 

Stanley Bass took over as headteacher in 1988 to 1995 then Tina Everson until 1998, then Clive Anstey.  In 2000 the school was renamed - St Nicholas Elstree C of E VA Primary School.

The school had an extension which was dedicated and opened by the Rt Revd Christopher Herbert, The Lord Bishop of St Albans on the 17th October 2007 and in recent years a forest school area with a pond has been added.

The school continues to attract pupils from reception to year six from Elstree and beyond and this year the school is celebrating its 140th birthday from 1884-2024.

The current headteacher Mrs Kate Johnston-Grant has been in post since 2009. The school's last church inspection in January 2023 stated "St Nicholas is an inclusive school, with strong Christian values, where pupils and adults are cared for and enabled to flourish".

NB. The school’s previous history can be found on the The Early History of Education in Elstree page.