STILE Common School may be a thing of the past, but it’s memory still lives on.

A history of the Victorian building on Plane Street, Newsome has been produced, chronicling its life from 1876 to 2009.

The book, Stile Common – Do You Remember?, contains photographs and memories from former pupils and staff. It was produced jointly by Kirklees Council, West Yorkshire Joint Services and artiMEDIA.

Dawn Horton, the last headteacher of Stile Common Infant and Nursery School and current head of the new Hillside Primary School is justly proud of what has been produced.

“When I read the book, it provoked the whole range of emotions. Some parts made me cry, some shocked me and some things made me laugh out loud. “I’m really proud to have been associated with a school that was at the heart of the local community for so long.”

Children and staff from the infant and nursery and junior schools will move into the merged school – Hillside Primary School, off Headfield Road, later this year.

The single-storey building, which includes a Sure Start Children’s Centre, will eventually be home to 270 children and has places for 48 in the nursery.

Contractor Morgan Ashurst has the task of creating the £7.4m building.

They have already spent nine months on the site and have currently around 50 men working there to ensure the project is completed and handed over on time on November 2.

The school includes nine classrooms, a large foundation stage space, dance studio, hall, meeting rooms and extensive grounds which will include an outdoor classroom and raised beds for children.

In July the Primrose Hill Treat was revived as part of the celebrations to mark the start of a new era for children in the area.

The school opened in 1876 as Stile Common Board School. It was designed by architect Charles Fowler at a cost of £7,227 15s 6d and was built to accommodate around 800 pupils aged five to 13 years.

Parents had to pay between 1d and 3d for their children to attend and a trust was set up to ensure even the poorest children in the parish were educated.

The school staged a Victorian Day at the beginning of May as part of the treat preparations and traditional sepia class photos were taken, which proved popular with parents.

Copies of the book are available to buy from either the school or the charity shop at Newsome village at a cost of £5.50.