Welcome

Welcome to Archbishop Wake Church of England Primary School.

We are a busy but friendly school, with lots going on. This website aims to give you a taster of the school, as well as providing up to date information for parents, pupils and the wider community.

We hope that you enjoy your visit to our website, and that you find the information you are looking for. Please feel free to contact the school direct with any queries you may have.

Our vision

Archbishop Wake CE Primary School is a loving, caring, inclusive and forgiving community where we respect, appreciate and support each other and our environment. Learning is challenging, exciting and fun. Children are prepared for the changing world in which they live by learning and applying key skills so that they achieve the best possible outcomes and become independent learners for life. They have opportunities to discover, develop and share their talents, know how to keep themselves safe and healthy and understand their rights and responsibilities as a member of the wider community. On leaving our school, children are well equipped to embrace their future and all it holds with faith in God, each other and themselves.

We warmly welcome you and thank you for your interest in Archbishop Wake Church of England School. Here every child is an individual and everyone is special. This is a caring learning environment where all our children are encouraged to achieve in a variety of ways and fulfil their own potential.

Successes are celebrated and each child's contribution is valued. We aim to provide a wide and balanced range of educational opportunities within a stimulating and purposeful learning environment.
We pride ourselves on the happy, caring and positive atmosphere that exists within the school which enables children to grow in self-confidence and develop a respect for the people and environment around them.

A brief history of Archbishop Wake...

Archbishop Wake CE Primary School is named after Blandford's own Archbishop of Canterbury, William Wake (1657 - 1737). After a long and distinguished career in the church, William provided funding before his death for a school to be opened and educate twelve boys in Blandford:

"His greatest contribution to Blandford life was the bequest of £1000 (later augmented to £1716, a massive sum in those days) for the foundation of a charity school for the education of twelve boys in the town. Such a fund ensured that the school could continue long after his death, and the uniform of long blue coat, yellow stockings and buckle shoes of the ‘blue-coat boys’ was a familiar sight in Blandford for many years. The school was only wound up after World War 2 and the Education Act, but its benefactor is commemorated by the town’s Archbishop Wake School, which has flourished so well that it has moved from the old buildings in Park Road to more modern accomodation to Black Lane, further east in the town. It is fitting that one of Blandford’s greatest sons should be remembered by his services to educating his community." Taken from, 'The Archbishop of Blandford', Dorset Life - a Dorset magazine; https://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2011/02/the-archbishop-of-blandford/

Following the school and charity being wound up in 1946, there was a new junior school opened in Blandford and dedicated to William Wake - Archbishop Wake First School, which then opened in 1974.

The school became established in the town on Park Road. Following the restructuring of the tiered education system across Dorset, Archbishop Wake CE Primary School was relocated into its new and current location on Black Lane in April 2009.