Churchfields School first opened to the children of Woodford, and the surrounding area, on the 5th January 1874. Originally, Churchfields consisted of two Schools – the Boys and a combined Girls’ and Infants’.
In 1878, the Infants became a separate department. Churchfields continued in the form of a 3-department school with the leaving age raised to 14 in line with the Education Act 1918.
In 1937, it was decided that children over 11 would be transferred to the new South Woodford Secondary School – St Barnabas – now called Woodbridge High School. The Boy’s and Girls’ Departments were amalgamated to form a Junior Mixed School in 1937, the Infants’ retaining their independence except for a short period during the Second World War.
The land on which the Churchfields School was built was part of the Woodford Hall Estate and was offered for sale by auction in 1871. The School Board bought 4 of the 34 plots for a total of £420. The road known now as Churchfields was then called Chelmsford Road East. It is not known why the school was called Churchfields.
In 1885 a new Infants’ School was opened. A further 2 plots were bought in 1888.
The new Girls’ School was built in 1891 to the north-west of the original building.
The Hall was built in 1908 and shared by the Infants’ and Girls’ School. An area of land had already been bought from A. Lister-Harrison’s family before 1921 when two more sections of field were purchased for playing fields by the Essex Education Committee.
Another piece of land, east of the original plots, was bought in 1949 for the construction of the Dining Hall and Canteen – hutted classrooms and the New Hall also stood on this land.
The new Infants School was constructed close by and opened in 1974 followed by a nursery school in 1975.
Design and construction of a new Junior School building was approved in 2004 and construction delayed until 2009.
The old Junior School building was demolished in 2011. The nearby Redbridge Drama Centre is sited in the building that was part of the school.
The school was graded Outstanding in its last Ofsted inspection.
In 2022, the school was featured as a case study of good practice in The power of music to change lives: a national plan for music education by the Department for Education.
