Dallas Road County Primary School in 2017
© Hilary Chuter
A school half-day holiday was given on 30 June 1919 to celebrate the Signing of the Peace with Germany. Pupils took a full part in the town peace celebrations on Saturday, 19 July 1919. School was closed on the Friday, as the usual Saturday market was held on that day. On Saturday ‘the children were assembled at the school at 9 o’clock to receive a medal and new sixpence in commemoration of the Declaration of Peace; they were then marched to the Town Hall to take part in a Thanksgiving Service presided over by the Mayor. In the afternoon sports were held in the Giant Axe Field. The Boys and Girls respectively won the prizes for the Tug of War, and various other prizes were gained.’
The school logbook focused on daily curriculum and staff attendance. Events such as commemorating the Armistice are not recorded, so it is difficult to assess how far the school was involved in interwar issues. There is one mention of the Peace Art Exhibition in 1922 and a League of Nations Union (LNU) lecture in the same year. In 1924, 27 pupils visited the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. There was an interest in foreign languages, as French was taught in the 1930s. However, the Inspector’s report suggested that the curriculum needed revising and the young teacher who taught it needed some guidance, so it may not have been successful.
References/Further Reading:
Dallas Road Council School Logbook, 1912-41. Archive ref: SMQ/9/1, Lancashire Archives.