The blessing and official opening of the new £3,000 extension to St. Cuthbert's School at Windermere —the only Catholic school in Westmorland outside Kendal and serving an increasing Catholic population in southern Lakeland —took place on Sunday.
Fr. A. A. Cola. parish priest of St. Herbert's. outlined the history of the school, which opened in 1954 and has been built, equipped and maintained entirely by the parish. "Our bearing of the total cost of the school," he said, "is proof of our determination to provide full educational opportunity for our children. It is a clear demonstration of the strength of conscience of Catholic parents in the area that we are determined to continue doing so at our own expense unless the local educationa authority and the Ministry grant the aided status which is being sought."
Catering at present for 34 pupils from Windermere and Ambleside, St. Cuthbert's is the only non-feepaying independent school in the county and can boast 77 per cent success in the 11-plus examinations.