The school was built in 1972 as a temporary school for those families who moved into the Stokes Drive Estate. Many years on, the school is the wonderful school it is today.
The land used to be a Forest!! (As in Leicester Forest).
Birds Nest Lodge was the forest lodge where the Earl of Leicester hunted in 13th,14th and 15th centuries.
In 1526 during the reign of Henry VIII the property became the forest of the crown and the administration went to the Duchy of Lancaster who separated New Parks with a boundary from the rest of the forest.
In 1832 the Leicester to Swannington railway opened, including the Glenfield Tunnel, hence all the road names Stephenson, Brunel, Darlington, Copeland etc. who were Victorian inventors and designers. Comet, Samson, Phoenix were names of the locomotives and Jowett and Stenson were the architects.
The railway line ran along the bottom of the school playing field and the course can be followed towards the city (Forest Way, The Rally Park where a siding can be seen) and away from the city where 2 air shafts and the tunnel end at Copeland, Amhurst/Jowett, New Parks Boulevard can still be seen.
Between 1933 and 1937 Leicester Corporation bought most of New Parks. By 1938 the city of Leicester had begun to spread into New Parks, and the south-east of the parish had become a residential area. Starting in 1945 and into the 1950s council houses, including pre-fabs were built. In 1956 the flats were built.
Between 1950 and 1957 Aikman Avenue shops were built and received a design award from the Royal Institute of British Architects.
During 1958 and 1959 St Aidan’s Church was built. The architect was Sir Basil Spence of Coventry Cathedral fame.