An introduction

Cwm School Records – an Introduction

The closure of Cwm schoo lwas the end of a  little piece of history. A place which had been a focal point for  a small community and holding so many  important memories for so many people. My wife’s family all  went there and so did my own children for a  while. It  always was a warm and comforting place.
I  have had the great privilege of access to the school log books and they are a  fascinating insight, not only into the history of the school but also into the social  history of the area.
They were carefully compiled over almost a  hundred years in by Head teachers, often in elegant flowing long hand. Much of  the first book was written by   Ann Bevan who was Head of Cwm Board School  Infant Department for 34 years following her appointment in 1879. The books  record attendance, the appointment of staff, inspection reports and daily  activity. As a teacher I find the similarities and differences between then and  now very interesting indeed.

The first thing that strikes you is how important the weather was. Indeed the  school record becomes a detailed record of the weather. When it rained heavily  then the children couldn’t come to school, probably because they only had one  set of clothes. If they got wet they had nothing else. The teachers could do  little themselves to dry them, especially if the fireplaces were broken or the  fires not lit. What else could the mothers do?
And of course it rains a lot in Swansea, so there was frequent disruption. The  log keeps saying “School closed due to the severity of the weather.”  The teachers would do their best to dry them  and then amuse them with “singing and games” until it was dry enough to send  them home. On 15 February 1900 it rained so heavily that only 9 children turned  up.
Attendance was compounded by illness.  Dangerous deadly diseases could run through the school almost unchecked. “Many  of the children are in delicate health” it says in 1903.
They were at the mercy of epidemics of  childhood diseases, especially in the winter months. Diphtheria, measles, mumps,  whooping cough, scarlet fever are all regularly recorded. The school would be  closed or holidays extended in an attempt at infection control. In May 1898, 80  children were absent, 75 with measles, 4 with scarlet fever and 1 with  influenza.    In 1911 they closed for 3 weeks due to a  measles outbreak. In September 1919 it is recorded that “one child died this week in hospital suffering from diphtheria.”  These must have been awful times for parents,  facing these silent killers.
What the children were taught in school  also reflects the priorities of the time – the marching lessons, the knitting  and the sewing and the darning. After all you didn’t replace your clothes, you  mended them.
There was also a sense that the school  represented its community and responded to the wider world in a way that we do  not. They didn’t have the constant entertainment we have. Theirs were much  simpler times. So the school would be closed for fairs in Llangefelach and  Llamsamlet or when a Barnum and Bailey show came to town. One day they all went  off to see Bostock and Wombwell’s Menagerie and a good time was had by all. They  closed for a parade of horses in Swansea, a cyclist’s carnival, the Band of  Hope Competitive Festival, the relief of Mafeking in the Boer War, the  assassination of President McKinley. In 1896 they closed the school for the  afternoon so the teachers could attend a bazaar in aid of the NUT at the Albert  Hall in Swansea.
But the school day was also interrupted for  more chilling reasons.
The log book tells us that “Recreation was  suspended this morning until 11.20 am to enable the children to see the troops pass  on the Great Western Railway. It was 28 October 1914 and they were going to  war.

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