The European School at Culham, near Abingdon, is marking the 150th anniversary of its buildings with a series of events this year.

Among the activities are art and literature competitions, scientific and geographical projects and lectures on the history of the premises.

Originally the site was Culham College, a Church of England teacher-training college, founded in October, 1851, by Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford.

The European School opened in September, 1978, with 50 pupils and 10 staff, and for the first year the school and college ran side by side.

Since then, the number of pupils has risen to 930, aged from four to 19, and there are now 110 full and part-time teachers. Full-time staff are seconded for nine years by the ministry of education in their home country.

The school was opened to educate the children of staff seconded by the European Commission to the Joint European Torus project at Culham, the nuclear fusion project which seeks to create an alternative source of cheap energy later this century.

The Commission continues to part-fund the school, which aims to educate children in their first language and develop their fluency in a second.