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1945 – After the War

Before World War 2, the three departments of the school were separate and there were no school dinners, so a kitchen was not necessary.  Like other older schools, St. John’s had no staff room and no halls for assembly. In 1945 there were still three Head Teachers, with 500 children.  Later, the school was changed into the Infants’ department and the Junior mixed department, each with its own Head.  One of the classrooms had been fitted up as a kitchen to provide for school meals to be cooked on the premises.  A large room which had been two classrooms, separated by a curtain, was used as a hall and dining-room.  A very small classroom was transformed into an office for the Headmaster of the Junior school.

During the war, most buildings were neglected to some extent.  Only really essential maintenance could be carried out.  So, after the war, some refurbishing was necessary.  In the school, a carpenter repaired desks, put a new floorboard in one classroom and fixed a new lock on the Infant porch door.  Two wash basins were installed during the August holidays in 1946.  A new tortoise stove was installed in the hall.  The following year, the school carpenter fitted window boxes on the window sills and painted them.New equipment was now available.  A duplicator, complete with paper, was received and demonstrated.  The model was Ellams F/Cap Diaphram No. “210”. However, much still needed to be done to bring the building, equipment and teaching conditions up to standard.  The H.M.I.’s report in 1947, remarked on the old and dilapidated premises of 5 rooms in the Infant School, one of which was used for games, music and assembly.  The offices were similarly old and decayed and the playground, which was shared by the juniors, had a loose and dusty surface, with stones and bricks from the bomb-shattered church adjoining, lying about on it.