Scope and Content
Room dimensions and accommodation under A in index.
Names of staff and pupils likely to have been born after 1923 have not been indexed.
Index used for details of teaching staff, viz:
Marion Grace Ashley, born 23 Oct 1910, appointed 16 Sep 1929
Ruth Mary Atkinson, Born 10 Feb 1907; appointed 1 Apr 1939, resigned 31 Dec 1950
Ada Mary Beck. Appointed 1 Sep 1932, married Mr Brain 31 Dec 1932, resigned 31 Aug 1950
Muriel Louise Cork, supplementary assistant; appointed 1 Oct 1937, resigned 28 Feb 1939
Florence Endersby, caretaker; appointed 1 May 1921, resigned 31 Mar 1929
Kate Caroline Flowerdew: date of birth 7 Oct 1910. Appointed 2 Jan 1929, last day in school 8 Aug 1929
Alice Hale: date of birth 11 Jun 1899. Temporary staff 7 Sep - 18 Sep 1931.
Mabel Harben, nee Chessum. Appointed 21 Sep 1931, left 31 Aug 1932. Re-appointed as temporary assistant 11 Sep 1957, left 6 Apr 1960.
Emma Muncey, caretaker: appointed 1 Apr 1929, resigned 31 Jul 1937
Alice Doreen Morgan: date of birth 6 Apr 1909. Appointed 15 Jan 1930, left 13 Feb 1931.
Mrs L Milton, caretaker; appointed 1 Aug 1938, resigned 31 Oct 1940
George Pringle, headmaster. Appointed 1 Aug 1917, terminated duties 31 Jul 1932.
Ethel Charlotte Raymer: date of birth 11 Oct 1894. Appointed 1 May 1924, left 6 Sep 1931.
Sylvia Sarah Randall, supplementary assistant: appointed 1 Sep 1932, resigned 30 Sep 1937
Routine entries include:
Attendance numbers - affected by weather and outbreaks of illness.
Absences of staff and pupils. Names of pupils absent for long periods.
Visits of director of education, school managers, diocesan inspector, H M Inspector, attendance officers for Bedford and Cambridge (for Tadlow pupils), school nurse, school medical officer, dentist, etc.
Temperature of school premises.
Names of pupils admitted or removed from the school register, and number on school roll.
Empire Day (May): Time table of the Bedfordshire Educational Commission observed.
Ascension day and St. Peter's Day church services.
Supply of equipment and materials.
Repairs and maintenance.
Returns and forms sent to Shire Hall.
Commencement and cessation of staff employment.
School closures when premises required as polling station for elections.
Names of children passing examinations.
Note of equipment and supplies received.
Fire drills (from 1934).
Visits from physical training organiser (from 1936).
Children undertaking passed the preliminary intelligence tests, named pupils who qualified to take the second assessment and those awarded places and scholarships. (from 1949).
Crowning of May Queen and celebrations (From 1959).
Christmas parties, school open days, sports days etc. (from 1956).
Testing of school milk.
Testing of school weighing scales.
Visits of the Arion Children’s Theatre.
Staff attending civil defence courses (post war).
Page 1: 2 Jan 1929. Miss Kate Flowerdew commenced duties as an uncertified assistant to be responsible for needlework and the lower division. 4 Jan 1929 – Ethel Purkiss is absent looking after ill mother [also page 3]. She returned to school on 28 Feb [Page 5]
Page 5: 4 Mar 1929. Dorothy Wisson has an abscess on the brain and is unable to attend school [Returned 22 Apr – page 7]
Page 6: 22 Mar 1929. George & Frank Allen removed from registers as they have gone to Canada.
Page 11: 18 Jul 1929. Half-holiday given for garden fete in the rectory grounds. 22 Jul 1928 – Irene Wisson left school at 11 o’clock at the request of the policeman.
Page 12: 16 Sep 1929. During the holidays Miss Flowerdew resigned and entered college 13 Sep. She is replaced by Miss Ashley.
Page 13: 23 & 25 Sep 1929. Visit of county dentist, following which 35 children asked for treatment.
Page 14: 5 Nov 1929. Resignation of Miss Ashley [duties ceased 29 Nov – page15].
Page 17: 15 Jan 1930. Miss Morgan commences duties as uncertified teacher for lower class.
Page 22: 6 & 9 May 1930. Fred Jennings awarded free place, having been successful in examination.
Page 24: 1 Jul 1928 Letter received regarding bus fares for Tadlow pupils.
Page 28: 8 Oct 1930. Re-organisation of schools – Wrestlingworth children over 11 years of age have to attend Potton School after Christmas. One assistant has to be dispensed with as Wrestlingworth School is to become a junior school.
Page 31: 8 Dec 1930. The building being erected by the Trustees of Potton Foundation will not be ready for occupation by 1 Jan 1931 so the reorganisation of Potton Council School has been postponed and will now take effect 1 April 1931.
Page 33: 6 & 9 Feb 1931. School opened with 33 children, 41 absent. 13 Feb only 26 present. Notice sent to medical officer.
Page 34: 23 Feb 1931. Received from medical officer a certificate for week ending 23 Feb – epidemic illness. 26 Feb 1931 – Miss Morgan tendered resignation; duties to be terminated 31 March. 4 Mar 1931: all children of 11 years of age to commence at Potton School after the Easter holidays. No child of 11 years to be admitted to Wrestlingworth.
Page 36: 14 Apr 1931. Re-opened school as a junior school. All the Tadlow children have gone to Bassingbourn, 17 to Potton and 4 have left.
Page 37: 23 Apr 1931. Special lessons were given on St. George, Shakespeare and the census.
Page 38: 1 June 1931. Pupil absent, attending an examination at the Girls High School, Bedford.
Page 40: 1 Jul 1931. Named pupil gone to Bedford Hospital to secure attention for enlarged tonsils and adenoids and will be absent for some time. 15 Jul 1931. Pupil unable to attend school after cutting finger with circular saw.
Page 43: 16 Oct 1931. Named child taken to hospital suffering from diphtheria [returned to school 1 Feb 1932 – page 47].
6 Nov 1931 – named pupil taken to isolation hospital [returned to school 4 Jan 1832 – page 46].
Page 47: 2 Feb 1932. Read to the children, as requested, a paper on the ‘Disarmament’ conference at Geneva.
Page 52: 29 Jul 1932. George Pringle’s duties as headmaster terminate.
Page 53: 6 Sep 1932. Ada May Beck commenced duties as headmistress, and Miss S Randall as supplementary teacher. Number on books 36.
Page 64: 7 Mar 1934. Copy of interim report of HM Inspector, A E Kenney-Herbert.
Page 69: School to be closed 29 Nov 1934 for Royal wedding [of Prince George and Princess Marina, Duke & Duchess of Kent].
Page 70: 1 Feb 1935. School closed due to outbreak of whooping cough – to re-open 11 Feb.
Page 72: School to be closed 6 May 1935 for the Silver Jubilee [of King George V].
Page 75. School to be closed 6 Nov 1935 for the Royal wedding [of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott]
Page 77: 28 Jan 1936. The school timetable was suspended and the time devoted to lessons bearing on the life of his late majesty King George V. At a quarter to twelve a simple service was held. At noon the school was dismissed and no further school was held during the day.
Page 86: 11 May 1937. School closes for Coronation [of George VI] and Whitsun holiday – will re-open 19 May.
Page 87: 25 Jun 1937. Named pupil successful in the examination for special places and will attend Bedford Modern School next term.
Page 90: 6 Dec 1937. Miss Cork will be absent until 15 Dec in order to sit School Certificate examination.
Page 92-93: 13 May 1938. Copy of diocesan report received 11 May.
Page 97: 21 Dec 1938. Only 23 children present due to cold, snowy weather. All taught in one room due to shortage of coal. 22 Dec 1938 – only 8 children present on morning and 12 in afternoon, due to deep snow.
Page 100: 23 Jun 1939: Head attended a conference of head teachers at Shire Hall, Bedford.
Page 101: 28 Jul 1939: Air raid dispersal practice. 3 Aug – gas mask drill. 11 Sep 1939 – Director of education visits to discuss problems dealing with the education of children evacuated from London owing to the outbreak of war. 12 Sep 1939; school re-opened with the addition of 70-80 London evacuees with their teachers.
Page 104: 2 Feb 1940. Snow drifts blocked the roads to Eyeworth and Hatley. 9 Feb 1940 – gas mask drill.
Page 105: 16 Feb 1940. Poor attendance due to outbreak of German measles in the village.
Page 107: 15 May 1940. 18 Bedfordshire Seniors and 1 evacuee transferred to Potton Senior School.
Page 108: 24 Jun 1940. School to be closed until 1 July so that arrangements can be made for the protection of the children in the event of an air raid. [Did not re-open until 7 August]. 3 Sep: air raid warning at 11.00 am. Children took cover in refuge room until the all clear signal was given 15 minutes later.
Page 109: 30 Sep 1940. 56 evacuees admitted. Henceforth all children will attend school part time – this week the Bedfordshire children in the afternoons and the evacuees in the morning, the order to be reversed the following week.
Page 110: 31 Oct 1940. School closed in afternoon due to air raid warning given at 1.00pm, all clear at 3.15pm.
Page 111: Jan 1941. Poor attendance due to measles, whooping cough and bad weather. 13 Jan 1941 – named Tottenham teacher commenced duties.
Page 112-113: 21 Apr 1941. From today the upper juniors and seniors will attend full time and the infants half time. 30 May 1941 – 16 more evacuees admitted. 9 Jun: from today, all children will attend school full time. One class will be accommodated at the Memorial Hall. 10 July – 26 children inoculated against diphtheria [25 of these received second injection on 24 July].
Page 114: 4 Jul 1941. A police officer visited and gave a talk on ‘safety first.’ 17 July – 21 more children inoculated against diphtheria [22 had second injection 31 July]. 8 Sep – named teacher from Tottenham commenced duties in place of previous Tottenham teacher who has been recalled. 29 Sep – the Hornsey teacher has been transferred to Huntingdonshire.
Page 115: 2 Oct 1941. 29 evacuees and 1 local child inoculated against diphtheria [second injection 23 Oct]. 3 Oct 1941 – since 1 Oct the children in the upper junior and senior classes have attended half time as no teacher has been sent to replace the one sent to Huntingdonshire. 26 Nov 1941 - all children assembled at Memorial Hall to see a film in connection with the Salvage Drive taking place next week. 15 Dec – a Hornsey teacher commenced duties.
Page 116-117: 7 Jan 1942. Teacher recalled to Tottenham; no replacement has arrived. 22 and 29 Jan, 5 and 12 Feb – school closed to enable staff to attend a special needlework course in Biggleswade.
Page 118: 15 May 1942. From today, all children will be accommodated in the school again.
Page 119: 7 Aug 1942. School closes for summer holidays and will re-open 14 September. Arrangements have been made for keeping the school open over the holidays for any children wising to attend. 15 Aug – as only 8 children attended on Friday, school will be closed for the remainder of the holiday. 1 Oct 1942: a police officer visited and spoke about the dangers of picking up any strange objects.
Page 120: 2 Dec 1942. Headmistress Mrs Brain returns to school having been absent since 25 November, due to death of her mother. 22 Dec - Headmistress Mrs Brain absent from 11 -21 December owing to illness and death of her father.
Page 125: 30 Jun 1944. Since Monday 26th, 11 evacuees have been admitted.
Page 125-131: 5 Jul 1944. Copy of report of HM Inspector, which gives a summary of how the school has operated during the war years.
Page 131: 14 Jul 1944. 6 evacuees have been admitted in the last fortnight. 17 Jul – 4 more evacuees admitted. Between 17 & 28 July another 3 evacuees have been admitted.
Page 132: 11 Sep 1944. 10 Bedfordshire seniors and 8 evacuees transferred to Potton Senior School. 13 Sep – the Hornsey teacher has been transferred to Potton Junior School.
Page 134: 11 May 1945. School re-opened after 3 days V E [victory in Europe] holiday. 15 May 1945 – a radiogram has been purchased with the proceeds from a jumble sale, whist drive and dance.
Page 135: 11 Jul 1945. The school canteen opened at the Memorial Hall.
Page 137: 24 Sep 1946. Yesterday 26 children, head teacher and assistant visited London Zoo (educational visit).
Page 138: Domestic science organiser from Shire Hall visited the school and canteen. 13 Jan 1947 – school will not open tomorrow due to lack of coal.
Page 139: school closed 5-12 March 1947 due to lack of coal. 9 May – named teacher leaves to enter Borthwick Training College, London. The education Committee has granted her a year’s leave of absence. Named temporary assistant teacher commences duties 12 May.
Page 141: 19 Nov 1947. School to be closed tomorrow for royal wedding [of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, later Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh].
Page 142: 1 Mar 1948. Appointment of named supervisor for the dinner period, as all children who have dinner at the canteen must stay on school premises during the dinner period. 3 Mar – Police Constable 224 gave a talk on road safety and inspected cycles.
Page 143: 26 Apr 1948. School closed for the Royal Silver Wedding [of King George VI. and Queen Elizabeth]. 7 May – visit from a member of the RSPCA who gave talk on the care and treatment of animals.
Page 147: 25 Mar 1949. Yesterday the juniors and 2 members of staff visited the Town Hall, Bedford to see short ballets by the St. James’ Ballet Company.
Page 148: 30 Jun 1949, Visit of County organiser of music. 5 Jul – school closed yesterday when the infants went to Hunstanton for the day. 15 Jul - school closed yesterday when the children attending the church Sunday school outing visited Whipsnade Zoo.
Page 149: 13 Sep 1949. The boys in the junior class visited RAF Bassingbourn
Page 150: 3 May 1950. Children sent home after dinner due to sudden death of Henry Brain, the husband of the headmistress.
Page 151: 27 Jun 1950. School closed yesterday when the children went to Hunstanton for the day.
Page 152: 21 Jul 1950. School closes for summer holidays. Duties of A M Brain as head teacher terminate 31 August.
Page 155. 12 Jan 1951. School closed for the afternoon to allow all the children to visit the pantomime at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. 8-15 Jan – 2 sisters of the church army visited each morning and took charge of religious instruction.
Page 159: 22 May 1952. School closed for holidays celebrating Whitsuntide and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Page 160: 24 Jun 1953. Afternoon school visit to cinema to see coronation film. 10 Jul 1953 – visit of HM Inspector; paid attention to the state of the playground and the lavatories. Part of the infant room floor gave way and dropped in during her visit, so she examined this and the other fabric of the building.
Page 162: 23 Oct 1953. A police sergeant gave a talk on road safety. 25 Nov 1953 – county architect visited and inspected the school buildings, playground and lavatories.
Page 165: 17 Feb 1954. Visit of school photographer.
Page 167: 6 May 1954. A large piece of the cloakroom ceiling fell. Reported to Shire Hall.
Page 169: 15 Jul 1954. Parents day; over 60 parents watched the children at work and were entertained by a concert.
Page 170: 9 Sep 1954. Part of the tin shelter in front of the lavatories has been blown over in strong wind.
Page 174: 24 Apr 1955 re-organisation; juniors to be transferred to Potton in September.
Pages 175-177: 8 Jul 1955. Copy of Deanery Inspection report. ‘The position of the School at the moment is vague. The managers have applied for controlled status and have been told that is it is granted a new school will be built on an adjoining site. If controlled status is not granted, the School will revert to a 1 class infants.’
Page 181: 9 Apr 1956. Damage to the brickwork of the school porch. Director of Education, School Correspondent and Policeman informed. 16 May – three children attended Potton clinic for injections against poliomyelitis. 10-28 May – new lavatories. 20 Jun – Assistant Director and named man from Bedford County Council called regarding new school.
Page 183: 8 Oct 1956. Work started on new school.
Page 187: 3 Jul 1957. Started using the lavatories in the new school. 22 Jul – started using the new playground.
Page 188: 11 Sep 1957. New extension of the School was dedicated by the Bishop of Bedford and officially opened by County Alderman, chairman of the Education Committee. The school canteen is part of the new building.
Page 191: 22 Nov 1957. Jumble sale held in the new school in aid of the children’s Christmas party.
Page 194: 25 Mar 1958. Ten children attended clinic for injections against poliomyelitis.
Page 195: 22 May 1958. School outing to Whipsnade Zoo.
Page 196: 6 Jun 1958. Playground, drains and old school inspected and declared unsafe as the ceiling is falling. It will not be used until repaired.
Page 197: 11 July 1958. Half holiday for Bedfordshire County Show.
Page 199-201: 2 Dec 1958. Copy of HM Inspector report.
Page 208: 15 Dec 1959. Wrestlingworth School won the County award for architecture. There were 669 entries.
Page 210: 12 Feb 1960. Retirement of canteen cook after 13 years’ service.
Page 212: 5 May 1950. Holiday tomorrow for the marriage of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones.
Page 217: 20 Mar 1961. Wrestlingworth School Boys football team played Potton School Boys (Wrestlingworth lost 3-1)
Page 219: 14 Jun & Jul 5 1961. Visits regarding requisition of land for playing field.
Page 219-221: 19 Jul 1961. Copy of report of inspection of religious instruction held 4 July.
Page 227: 24 Oct 1962. Representative of RSPCA gave a talk ‘The Care of Our Pets.’
Page 229: Jan 1963. Poor attendance due to deep snow. 45.7% attendance one week; school buses not running.
Page 230: 4 Mar 1963. Medical officer spoke to juniors on the dangers of smoking.
Page 231: 22 May 1963. Visit from the Bishop of St Albans.
Page 237: 28 May 1964. Twenty juniors visited St Neots swimming bath. 1 Jun - Representative of RSPCA gave a talk on the Care of animals.
Page 238: 9 Sep 1964. Commencement of French lessons.
Page 240: Feb 1965 – consultations regarding a swimming pool for the school.
Page 241: 9 Mar 1965. Swimming pool ordered from Sussex Pools Ltd. £25 15s deposit paid from the Wrestlingworth School Swimming Pool Fund. 10 Mar – tree given by the Women’s Institute planted at the entrance to the new playing field.
Page 242: 23 Mar 1965. Village sewerage system is completed and the School can be connected.
Page 244: 4 Jun 1965. Commencement of swimming pool installation.
Page 246: 13 Jul 1965. Junior children used pool for the first time.
Page 251: 25 Apr 1966. Employment of a non-teaching assistant.
Page 253: 9 Sep 1966. The old school, built in 1851, has now been demolished. The bell has been retained. 26 Sep – sudden death of Frank Brim on 25 September. He had been school correspondent for many years [funeral 3 Oct – page 254].
Page 260: 26 Sep 1967. No French has been taught this term due to lack of staff [Re-commenced 1 Nov – page 261]. 30 Oct – television has been installed.
Page 264: 7 May 1968. ‘Brooke Bond Film Unit’ showed two films to the top juniors. They were of Ceylon and Africa and of great educational value.
Page 266: 13 Jun 1968. Child suspended after kicking a teacher in temper and trying to jump out of the window. This kind of behaviour has happened before. [Suspension made indefinite 16 Jul –page 267].
Page 273: 4 Sep 1969. Started using Giro System for paying in dinner money to County Treasurer.
Page 274: 8 Dec 1969. Film shown about the work of Dr. Barnardo’s.
Page 277: 13 May 1970. Swimming season started.
Page 280: 21 Oct 1970. Talk on India and the Leprosy Mission.
Page 288. 28 Feb 1972. School did not open till 1.30pm due to the power crisis. Mar 15 - recorder classes commenced.