Scope and Content
Typical contents for a school log book including: inspectors' reports, closure of school for illness, Sunday school treats etc., the syllabus, the weather, maintenance of the school, attendance and scholarships, teacher absences, staff terminations and appointments. Individual children are rarely named. Production from the school garden is mentioned in detail from 1939 onwards. A few less usual entries are as follows:
page 22. 3 Feb 1936 'the scholars were given a free view of the film of the late King's funeral by the kindness of Mr Hill manager of the Victory Cinema, Sandy.'
page 64. 7 July 1939 'Gas mask drill taken this morning', 12th July 'The air warden and assistants visited to fit gas masks on children who needed larger sized ones.' [this inspection was then carried out annually]
page 65. 28th July 1939 'An ARP dispersal test was held this afternoon at 3.40 pm, the teachers taking the children home in sectional groups to the various areas of Sandy and Beeston.' [these are carried out regularly from this time until abandoned on 24th June 1940]
page 66. 11th Sept 1939 'Owing to the evacuation of London children all the Sandy children in this school have to work in 4 classrooms. The other two classrooms are being used by the London children under their own teachers. 7 private evacuees were admitted as ordinary scholars. 19th Sept 2 more private evacuees admitted. The total number of children in our four classrooms is now 206 comprising 7 standards.'
page 70. 22 Dec 1939 'Mrs Cutland & I finished our duties at this school this afternoon, after over 18 years service.'
page 72. 5th Feb 1939 'Alfred David Padfield...commenced duties as Head Teacher' [S L W Ross had acted head during January]
page 83. 25th Apr 1940 'Mr Douglas, surveyor, called respecting the collection of waste paper by the school. It was arranged that six bins should be provided by the council in which waste could be collected.'
page 86. 15 May 1940. 21 Bus children from Moggerhanger & Blunham schools were admitted this morning...one official evacuee, who has been attending Moggerhanger school is also now to attend here...In consultation with Mr Turner, the Hornsey Evacuee Headteacher, it was decided that the Senior Evacuees & some of the bus Seniors should merge. This is a partial merging, fifteen of the Sandy children being accommodated in one of the rooms used by the Evacuees.'
page 91. 27th June 1940 'Mr A R Pinnock, Assistant Director of Education accompanied by Mr Collins of the Architect's Dept, shire Hall, visited the school to arrange what ARP were to be taken in the school. The Headmaster was informed that it was proposed to cover all the glass of the school with muslin & paint to prevent splintering. In the 4 classrooms around the hall, Mr Pinnock, directed that the desks should be removed from the raised platforms and placed on the lowest level of the rooms, so that the heads of the children would be below window level. He also recommended that the windows should be opened upwards for ventilation, whenever possible, & all framed pictures etc removed from the school walls. It was suggested that the Infants & Girls' cloakrooms should be bricked up & children in the two rooms leading off these cloakrooms, use these cloakrooms for shelter in the case of a raid.' [It took some weeks for the work to be carried out so the school was closed until the 9th August, see page 99 for work done]
page 104. 12th Sept 1940. 'The Air Raid Warning sounded while the children were at play this morning, 10.50 am. The all clear sounded at 11.30 & a lesson was thus lost in each class.' [Air Raids are common for the next two years].
page112-114 Oct 1940 Instructed to take children evacuated privately or with their mothers [as opposed to official evacuees] even though the air raid shelter accommodation was not sufficient for the numbers, more to be provided. Maximum roll to be 300.
page 115. 1st Nov 1940 'The total number of official evacuees in the school is now 70.' [the following week this rose to 76 and continued at around this figure until late 1941.]
page 117. 18 Nov 1940 'Some slight damage was done to the school by bombs, which dropped in Sandy on Friday night about 11pm.'
page 122. 11th Dec 1940 meeting 'to discuss preliminary arrangements for the holding of festivities & activities, for the evacuated & local children in Sandy, during the Christmas Holidays. As most the buildings in Sandy are being used by the Military & for the refugees, & having in view the necessity for a thorough cleaning of the schools, it was decided to request the use of the cinema & to provide there films and entertainers for the children on the afternoon of the second week of the holidays.'
page 134. 10 Feb 1941. 'Miss E Richardson...has been granted seven days' leave of absence commencing today, as she is being married this week. Her fiancé has seven days' leave from the army.' [she married Albert Bayliss on 12th Feb]
SDSandyL1/2 cont page 136. 17th Feb 1941 'A number of the evacuees girls have no aprons, & Miss Dobbyn suggested that aprons ought to be provided for these children by the Evacuation Education Authorities or the local authority. The local children all have aprons. The Headmaster has sent a requisition for calico to make necessary aprons.'.
page 137 20th Feb 1941 'It is Spitfire week in Sandy'
page 145 1st April 1941 'Dr Campbell, local doctor, & two ladies visited this afternoon to carry out the 1st injection of the school children in connection with the Diphtheria Immunisation.'
page 151 7th May 1941. '100 plates & 100 cups were delivered from Messrs Randall, Ironmongers, Bedford. These are for use in connection with the scheme for Emergency Communal Feeding (1 cup was broken).'
page 160. 12th June 1941 'Mr Blood, beekeeper of Tempsford, paid a visit to the school this afternoon. He spent 1/2 hr with the Senior Class answering questions relevant to beekeeping.'
page 182. 18th Nov 1941 'Lady Liddell & Mrs Allison of the Sandy WVS visited at 3 pm respecting the help given by some of the children from the school in making camouflage for netting required by the military.'
page 187. 1st Dec 1941. 'The new dinner scheme for the Sandy School children began today.'
page 190. 8th Dec 1941 'The Scholl was used during the week-end by the Home Guard in connection with local manoeuvres. This morning the school clock was found to be out of order, having been tampered with during the week-end. The correspondent has been informed.'
page 192. 19th Dec 1941. 'after the Christmas Holidays the Hornsey children at this school will be combined with the Hornsey group at the Cof E school...There are now only 27 Hornsey children attending this school & these have been merged with the local children & official evacuees other than Hornsey.'
page 196 23rd Jan 1942 'It is Warship Week in Sandy, so the school is making a special Nat Savings Drive for the week'
page 237. 6th Oct 1942 'Police Sergeant Sandell of Sandy gave a short talk to the assembled school, on dangerous military objects & the dangers of attempting to collect souvenirs and strange objects seen lying about in fields, ditches etc.'
page 258. 12th Mar 1943 Wings for Victory Week 'the children have taken part in the drawing and modelling competitions arranged by the Savings Committee & have gained 18 prizes.'
page 277. 4th Aug 1943 'The school has taken part in the book Drive (National) this week and 7,200 books and magazines have been brought to the school by the children.'
page 285. 14th Oct 1943. 'The boys of Classes I, III, IV & V were weighed & measured after play this morning to see if they were eligible for extra clothing coupons. From 3 to 4.30pm the girls were dealt with...142 children qualify for the 20 extra coupons, most of them on feet measurements.'