Our Schools' History
Mrs Bland's Infant School, established in 1872, was named in memory of the late wife of Horatio
Bland, a wealthy merchant and trader. The school was built on land given by Horatio Bland and was named in honour of his late wife, Emily Cherry, who was the oldest daughter of the Rector of Burghfield. She died whilst on an expedition to the Holy Land.
In 1874 he built a new museum next to the school for his growing collection of artefacts collected from his global travels. After his death the artefacts were transferred to Reading Museum by his nephew Thomas Garland, and the Burghfield museum became a Parish Room. The school was later replaced by a new Junior School in 1966 which took the name Garland School. The original school building was marked on the Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1970 and is now replaced by a later 20th Century Infant School.
Burghfield Common Federation is now comprised of Mrs Bland’s Infant and Nursery School and Garland Junior School. The two schools were federated in October 2023 with a federated Governing Board. The Executive Headteacher (previously the Headteacher of the Infant School), took over the leadership of the two schools fully in May 2024, following the departure of the Junior Headteacher. The schools serve a diverse, rural town community.