Our History
History of Bickleigh School
Our School was founded in 1841 as a National School. The school moved to its current location in 1960 to expand and serve a larger geographical catchment area. It was at this point the school became a Voluntarily Controlled Church of England School, managed by Devon County Council (DCC).
At the time, a cedar built one storey block and temporary ‘Devon Lady’ classroom housed approximately 60 children. Increasing pupil numbers and the re-organisation of Tiverton schools to a Primary/Secondary system led the DCC to remodel the old building, adding a more permanent four-classroom block to the rear of the school. In 2010, a purpose built Foundation Stage Unit was constructed to accommodate increasing numbers of school-age pupils and Bickleigh-on-Exe Pre-school Ltd.
Following a successful partnership with Bickleigh-on-Exe Preschool Ltd, and subsequent increase in numbers, in September 2018, the two organizations joined and the school changed its age range to include two, three and four year olds.
On January 2012 the school converted to become an independent academy. On September 2015, the school joined a multi academy trust called Ventrus (formerly The Primary Academies Trust). On April 2025 Ventrus joined with the The Tarka Learning Partnership to form the Harbour Schools Partnership. The Trustees of both Trusts worked closely to explore the benefits of a merger to form a single, stronger Trust. Throughout this journey, they held to the principle that all decision-making must place the children and the families at the centre of their actions.