n. 488) Her successor took over with 28 pupils (fn. 489) but left two years later, suffering from shock and worry. (fn. 490) The school received six evacuees (two from Harlesdon and four from Forest Hill) in 1944, three of whom were still at Wicken a month after V.E. Day. (fn. 491)
Another new head tried to make a fresh start at the end of the war but lasted only two years, (fn. 492) defeated in part by the winter of 1947. (fn. 493) Her successor arranged the usual Christmas parents' day in December that year, when the girls of the newly opened prep. school at Wicken Park sent a packet of sweets for each child. (fn. 494) In 1949 school dinners were started. (fn. 495) From September that year Wicken became an infant and junior school, with older children moving to Deanshanger, where a purpose-built secondary modern opened in 1958. (fn. 496) In 1950 H.M.I. recognised that the new head was trying to make up for the problems of the previous twenty years but was not over-generous with praise for the school, which now had fewer than 20 pupils. (fn. 497) Numbers rose to about 30 over the next few years, following the building of a small estate of council houses in the village. (fn. 498)
In 1952 Wicken was designated a voluntary controlled primary, (fn. 499) the rector having recognised that, faced with the need to spend between £4,000 and £5,000 to bring the premises up to date, aided status was not attainable. (fn. 500) Between 1953 and 1957 the county carried out major improvements, installing running water, water closets, a tarmac playground, and new heating. The redundant infants' classroom was converted into a dining hall. (fn. 501) In 1956 the school received a noticeably more favourable report from H.M.I. (fn. 502) By this time numbers were beginning to fall again, and when a new head took over in September 1958 she had only 20 pupils. (fn. 503) There were 12 when she resigned three years later (fn. 504) and in December 1962 the school closed and the 11 remaining pupils transferred to Deanshanger. (fn. 505)
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