ONE of the region's oldest state schools is gearing up to celebrate a landmark anniversary this year.

Collierley Primary School in Dipton, near Stanley, will be 125 years old in September. Pupils and staff have already started making plans for a big birthday party.

Headteacher Carol Wilson said: "It is an exciting time to be in the school for this piece of history. The staff and the children are really looking forward to it."

After the Education Act of 1870 made primary education compulsory, school boards were set up across the country.

In Dipton, informal classes had always been held in the yard behind the Sportsmans Arms pub.

The board found a more suitable site across the other side of the street. It purchased the land at a cost of 2/6d per yard.

The school, to house 700 pupils, was built with stone from nearby Pontop Quarry at a cost of £7,000. It opened on November 25, 1878.

But the community spirit evident at the school today was lacking when it first opened its doors.

Parents in the mining village were dealt a double financial blow - children at school could not earn money in the pits, plus they had to pay for each child's desk, chalk and slate.

Many refused to send the children to school. In desperation, the board employed gangs of supervisors to drag unwilling pupils out of the pits and back to the classroom.

This history will be brought to life by Dipton drama company, Theatre Cap-a Pie.

It will be working with the school's 85 pupils to create a play, charting the school's history, its life today and how the children see its future. They will also work together to create a school song.

The play will be premiered in the village in October.

The school also plans to hold an open day for past pupils and an evening of Durham-themed entertainment, with North-East songs, stories and traditional food and drink.

The Northern Echo is supporting the celebrations by helping the school set up a website through our Communigate scheme.

For further details, contact the school on (01207) 570298, or visit the website, www.communigate.co.uk/ne/collierleyprimaryschool.