There has been a school on the current site of Denbigh High School in Alexandra Avenue since 1919, when the Council purchased the site.

When the school first opened in 1919, it was called the Luton Modern School for Girls. The original first school buildings were second hand ex-army wooden huts. These wooden huts were replaced in 1930, by the main school building that remains in use today.

In 1944, with the introduction of selective education, the 11+, the school became a grammar school and was renamed the Luton High School for Girls. With the introduction of the Comprehensive School system in the 1960s – the school became Denbigh High School.

The aim of the project was to tell the story of the school over the decades by capturing the experiences and stories of former students and teachers, working along with existing students, as they research the history. We secured the support of the Head Teacher of Denbigh High School and the CEO of the Chiltern Learning Trust, for the project. We created video recordings of former students and teaching staff sharing their experiences of working and learning in school. In parallel we created national curriculum standard historical learning material of the 100 years of history of the school and town. Developing their interviewing skills and improving their oracy skills, the students had an inter-generational discussion with the volunteers, sharing their different life experiences and cultural perspectives.

The video was also seen by all 800 students during an end of term event hosted by the school. For this event, in addition to the video recordings, we facilitated the sourcing of historical photos of the school and significant events in Luton over the last 100 years, which were incorporated into an exhibition.

By raising awareness of the town’s history and heritage and particularly the significant and positive contribution that historical migration has played to the history and heritage of their hometown of Luton. The aim was for the students to gain a greater sense of connection and place with Luton as their home. Learning from the past, we emphasised to these young students their potential to play a vital role in the future of their town.

The following collection of YouTube videos were produced as part of this project

This first video is of former students and teachers sharing their school experiences and a narrated history of the school prepared by students at the school.

This second video is of the journey that Rachel Hopkins, MP for Luton South, had from being a Denbigh High School student to becoming an MP. This video is being used by the school as part of the citizenship programme of learning.

The third video is a Podcast of a discussion amongst the teaching staff that lead on the project

The final video below captures the photographic exhibition created for the Enrichment Week:

 

This Cultural History CIC project has been supported by:

The Beds and Luton Community Foundation, Luton Rising, Small Grants Fund the Heritage Fund, Denbigh High School and the Chiltern Learning Trust.