Bristol: opened 1908 (non-residential)
Bristol Open Air School, Knowle
Open: 1913 - 1940 aka Knowle School
Barton Hill Open Air School: opened 1914
(In 1920 the school moved to St George's Park -girls only)
South Bristol Open Air School. Opened 1940 - 1953
Victoria Park Open Air School: Opened 1920
Delamare Fresh Air School
Lym Fresh Air School
Hest Bank Open Air (Camp) School
Joicey Road Open Air School, Gateshead. Opened 1936
Benton Road Open Air School (1929-1963)
Benton Road, Ilford (day school)
Clacton on Sea Open Air School
Fyfield Open Air School, Ongar Road, Fyfield (1925-1956). (residential) This was located in the former building of the Fyfield Industrial and Truant School. It was also known as the West Ham Open Air School)
Grays Open Air School, Cruik Avenue, South Ockenden (1930-1986). Day School
Shaftesbury Open Air School for Delicate Muscular Dystrophy Children 1923 - 1937
Ashley Camp House, Staples Rd, Loughton
(founded by the Shaftesbury Society)
St Johns Open Air School 1897-1970
Turpin's Lane, Woodford Bridge
Oak Bank Open Air School, Robinswood Hill, Gloucester
aka Tuffley Open Air School
Claremont Open Air School, Salford
Manchester: opened 1908 (non-residential)
Strinesdale Open Air School, Oldham
Lyndhurst Open Air School
St Patrick's Open Air School, Hayling Island
Cliftonville Open Air School, Margate
Fairfax House Open Air School, Broadstairs
Holy Cross Open Air School, Broadstairs
Laleham House School for Delicate Children, Cliftonville, Kent (see Cliftonville OA School)
Oak Bank Open Air School, Seal, Sevenoaks
Wren's Warren Open Air School, Sutton Valence
Burnley Open Air School, Bank Hall, Thompsons Park
Nelson - opened 1930
Western Park Open Air School, Leicester
Aspen House Open Air School, Christchurch Road, Brixton Hill (1925-1977). An initial open air school was opened at Aspen House in 1907.
Birley House / Brent Knoll Open Air School, London Road, Forest Hill: opened 1908 - 1927 (day school) Also known as the Horniman Park Open Air School
Bostall Wood / London Open Air School, Woolwich: opened 1907 (non-residential) The first open air school in England - run as a temporary trial by LCC
Bow Road Open Air School, Mile End (1922-1939) (day school)
Brent Knoll Open Air School, Mayow Road, Lower Sydenham (1928-1956) This was the new location of the Birley House Open Air School (see above) (day school)
Busch House Open Air School, Twickenham Road, Isleworth (1938-c1975) (day school)
Charlton Park Open Air School (1929-1962) (day School). This was the new location for the Shrewsbury House Open Air School (see below)
Chelsea Open Air Nursery, Glebe Place (oened 1928). While most open air schools were intended for older children, some opened for very young children (not residential).
Crosby Road Open Air School, Forest Gate (1925-1946) (?residential)
Downhills Park Open Air School, Downhills Park, West Green (opened c. 1924). Day school for girls in the bandstand in the park.
Deptford Open Air School: opened pre-1914
Elizabethan Open Air School, Broomhouse Lane, Fulham (opened in the 1920s, closed 1960). Day School
Foundling Hospital Open Air School, Coram's Fields, Bloomsbury. This day school opened in the grounds of the former Foundling Hospital in 1927 and functioned for around 10 years.
Geere House Open Air School, Stepney Green
Hale End Open Air School, WIngfield House, Walthamstow (1936-1964) aka Wingfield Open Air School
Hazelbury open air school, Edmonton, Enfield
Holly Court Open Air School, Merton Lane, Highgate (1927-1939) Day School
Horniman Park Open Air School (see Birley House above)
Jellicoe Open Air Nursery School, Rochford Street (1918 -WW2)
Kennington Park Gardens Open Air School (1978-1955) (day school)
Kensal House Open Air School, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (1911 - WW2) Day school?
King's Canadian Residential Open Air School (1919-1939)
Knotts Green Open Air School, Leyton Green Road, Leyton (1927-1955) aka Havering Open Air School) Day School?
London Open Air School: opened 1908 (non-residential)
McMillan Open Air Nursery School, Deptford (opened 1914) (not residential)
Montpelier Houe Open Air School, Brecknock Road, Kentish Town 1908-WW2. One of the earliest London open air schools. day school
Nightingale House, Fort Road, Bermondsey (1928-WW2)
Orchard House Open Air School, St Ann's Road, West Green. This was the boys' equivalent of Downhills Park for girls so probably also opened in around 1924. (day school)
Regents Park Open Air Schools (non-residential)
Shooters Hill Open Air School: opened pre-1914 (non-residential)
Shrewsbury House Open Air School (1908-1929. This was one of the first Open Air Schools (day school) following the LLC trial at Bostall Wood).
Springwell House Open Air School, London (non-residential)
St James' Park Open Air School (1918-WW2). Day school in St James' Park itself
Stormont House Open Air School, Downs End Park Road, Hackney (nitlaly the building was the site for the Industrial School for Blind Boys). 1919-WW2 - Day School
Stowey House Open Air School, Clapham Common. Day school which opened in 1920.
Upton House Open Air School, Hackney 1928-WW2
Wood Lane Open Air School, Wormwood Scrubs (1928-WW2). Day school
Woodlands Open Air School, Downham, Lewisham opened 1930. Day school
Woodmansterne Road Open Air School
Stockport Rd, Streatham Vale. Pre-WW2
_____________________________
The Lost Hospitals of London website has lots of information about London Open Air Schools. We are extremely grateful to this site for clarification of some dates and locations.
_____________________________
Liverpool: opened 1908 (non-residential)
Torpenhow Open Air School, The Wirral
Underlea Open Air School, Aigburth, Liverpool, (1930-1970s. Some records are held by the Liverpool Records Office
What are open air schools?
Open air schools, as an idea, was not restricted to England but in fact began on the continent in the early 1900s.
They were first conceived as a way of tackling tuberculosis which affected large numbers of people before the Second World War. The idea behind them was very simple - children would get as much fresh air as possible, spending much of their day outside and perhaps sleeping outside or in wards which were open to the elements. Many of the schools were residential and some children could live there for much of their childhood. Others stayed for only a short time.
While the initial focus on many of the first open air schools was on TB, later the focus shifted to more general health issues which it was felt would benefit from fresh air and exercise. Many of the children going into open air schools would have been described as 'delicate'.
The first open air schools in England were opened in London in 1908.
In his book 'The Open Air School' written in 1914, Hugh Broughton describes the very simple means by which classrooms were designed to allow fresh air in: "the room may be open on three sides while on the fourth there is a blank wall giving accommodation for blackboard pictures and cupboard."
After the second World War, there was a change in open air schools throughout the country as described in
'The Open-Air Schools of Bristol and Gloucester'
by J. Shorey Duckworth (2005): "After the Second World War the situation with regard to open-air education changed dramatically. New treatments, including antibiotics had been introduced and new ideas formulated for dealing with ‘delicate’ children. Standards of living improved and the incidence of TB declined. More and more physically handicapped children were sent to the schools".
Norwich: opened 1908 (non-residential)
Bainbridge Open Air School
Ketttering: opened 1908 (non-residential)
Arboretum Open Air School, Waverley Street, Nottingham. In the 1910s, an open air day school was opened in a public park 'for the recuperative treatment of weakly children'.
Bulwell Open Air School, Opened 1920, became an approved school in 1937 and closed in WW2.
Rosehill Open Air School, St Matthius Road, Nottingham (day school) memories
Thurgarton Open Air School (aloso known as the Home for Recovery of Phthisical (TB) Children). Opened 1910, closed 1920 and children were transferred to Bulwell (see above).
Barnsley: opened 1908 (non-residential)
Doncaster Open Air School, Blaby
Hanchurch Open Air School
Banstead Residential Open Air School, Park Road, Banstead, Surrey (1896 - 1961)
Opened as The Banstead Convalescent & Surgical Home for Boys with open Wounds in 1896
Kingston Day Open Air School, Grange Road, Kingson (1920 until post-WW2)
Limpsfield Grange, Oxted
St Dominic's Roman Catholic Residential Open Air School, Hambledon
St Giles Day Open Air School, Addington, Croydon 1925 - 1977
Brynglas Open Air School, Newport
Corley Open Air School
Haseley Hall Residential School for Boys, Wroxhall
Baskerville Open Air School, Harborne, Birmingham
Cradley Heath Open Air School, Sandwell
Marsh Hill Open Air School aka Erdington Open Air School, Birmingham
Reedswood Open Air School, Reedswood Park, Walsall: opened 1919
Uffculme / Birmingham Open Air School: opened c 1908 (non-residential)
Bradford: opened 1908 (non-residential)
Bermerside Open Air School, Halifax (aka Quarry House School, Northowram)
Daisy Hill School, Bradford. opened 1918
Green Lane School, Bradford Opened 1907 making it one of the first in England.
Moorlands Open Air School, Dewsbury
Odsal Open Air School, Bradford
Sheffield: opened 1908 (non-residential)
Cropwood Open Air School, Blackwell, Bromsgrove
Hunters Hill Open Air School, Blackwell, Bromsgrove
Rose Hill Open Air School, Windermere Drive, Warndon, Worcester: opened 1926
(Became a special school which closed in 2007.
Regency High School is on the Rose Hill site)
Skilts Open Air School, Redditch
Do you have memories of being in an open air school?
Do you know about the open air schools that served your area?
Please help us complete this directory
NOT FOUND WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?
This open air school directory is a new venture, and sadly there are some counties I as yet don't have any information about. If you know of open air schools that are not listed, or are looking for infomation about schools in a particular county, please let me know. Thank you.
hello@formerchildrenshomes.org.uk
| Visitor Counter: | ||||||||
 |  |  |  | |  | | ||