The School During The War
The First World War is hardly mentioned in the school log books. However, the Second World War receives far more attention, and it clearly caused greater concern.
First mention of World War Two comes 1 September 1939 which states that the 'School was closed at 4p.m. today and the children told not to return until further notice owing to the imminence of war.'
The following entries show how much the school timetable was altered during these first few months of War. The reopened on 18 September, but only for the Juniors, children under 7 were not allowed to return. Then on 2 October 1939 the Infants were allowed to return to school, but only on a half-time basis with half of the classes being seen in the morning, and the other in the afternoon. The school day was normally from 9am-12pm, 1.45pm-4.15pm. However, between November 1939 and January 1940 the school hours became 8.45am-11.45am, 1.30pm-3.30pm, and from July 1940 school didn't commence until 10am. Gradually, as the school got used to the new war conditions it settled into a new routine, and tried to continue as much as normal. |
Brenda Hardingham, who attended the Junior school during the war years, recounts her memories of the time they spent in the air raid shelter in the video below. She recalls that it was damp and dark in the shelter, and that there was competition between students over the contents of their shelter ration tins.
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There was one extraordinary occasion on 3 December 1940 when the children were sent home because there was an unexploded bomb near the school! The logbook entry of this even reads: 'This morning, Tuesday, the children had to be sent home, as an unexploded bomb fell near the school during last nights' air bombardment. Two incendiary bombs had fallen through the roof but these had been dealt with before much damage was done.' The school re-opened on Thursday 5 December, with 48 children present.
Finally, the logbooks reveal that during the summer of 1942, a holiday school was run for the children of war working mothers. This was a radically new thing at the time, introduced to assist women who had gone to work to help with the war effort. Despite this holiday school being made available, it wasn't very successful as only 5 pupils attended in the first year, and 9 in the second.
Similarly, in 1942 the first organised school dinners came into existence. Previously children were sent home to their mothers for lunch, only eating in school on days with exceptionally bad weather. This was again initiated in order to assist women involved in war work who were no longer available to look after their children over the lunch period. Present day school dinners are a legacy of this war initiative. |