Census to be Taken on Westfields Estate
Tardy Authorities

  A census of children on the Rushden Council housing estate is to be taken by the Education Sub-Committee in order to secure information which will convince the reluctant higher authorities that a new school is needed there.

  That the authorities will not easily be convinced was revealed at a meeting of the Rushden Sub-Committee on Tuesday, when Mr. J. L. Holland, the County Secretary for Education, wrote as follows:-

  “Referring to your letter of 19^th January, the preliminaries for building an Infants Department on the Tennyson-road estate were, as the Managers are aware, interrupted towards the end of 1931 owing to the embargo placed on the building of schools by the Board of Education, as instructed by the Government during the financial crisis.  The essential condition under which an exception to this embargo could at that time be made – and the position has since remained unaltered – was that the school accommodation for the district taken as a whole was not adequate for its school population.

  “I doubt at the moment whether this condition would be satisfied in Rushden, even taking the new houses to be built on the Irchester-road estate into account.  Indeed it may be that the new houses will cause a displacement rather than an increase in population, in which case the Board might be justified in asking whether the children could not remain in the schools at which they now attend.  If, however, the Managers are of the contrary opinion and can prove their case, the Committee might feel justified in approaching the Board, but hardly otherwise.

  “This leads me to another point, namely the question of distance.  There is no distance statutorily defined beyond which a young child cannot be expected to go to school, but, if the Managers could give concrete evidence to show that the distance which the attendance of the children in the nearest schools, in which accommodation is available, would entail are too great, there might be a case on these grounds for approaching the Board, but the Board would not be prepared in this connection to consider generalisations; the distances would have to be specified.”

  Mr. Holland added that the evidence would need to be convincing, as the embargo had only been lifted in cases where the necessity was beyond dispute.

Dangerous Roads

  Ald. Horrell said he would like to suggest that a census of the juvenile population be taken.

  Mr. Sugars:  And the distance they are going to school at present.

  Mr. Corby thought they should take every step they could to comply with the letter.  It was true that a good many people had gone to live on the estate from other parts of the town, but there was no doubt that they needed another school there.

  Mr. Capon:  That question of distance would not help us very much.

  Mr. Corby:  There is no distance more than two miles, but the point is that the roads are dangerous.

  Mr. Capon:  That is a better cue than the distance.

  Mr. Sugars said they wanted to make use of all the points.

  Ald. Horrell said the total accommodation was not the point at all.  They wanted the correct information, and they would not get it unless they took a census of the families.  He moved that this be done.

  Mr. Corby seconded and the resolution was carried.

  Mr. Perkins asked who was to take the census.  Some years ago a census was kindly taken by the Urban District Council through the rent collectors, and they gave him the information, which he passed on, and which influenced the authorities no doubt in their decision to buy land on the estate.

Help Required

  The Clerk (Mr. J. Ferris) said that in a similar case at Wellingborough the County Education Authority allowed him a man for a fortnight.

  Ald. Horrell pointed out that there were children in Park-avenue and Purvis-road, which were near the Council estate.

  It was finally decided to ask for assistance in making the census.

  Mr. Capon added that it was common knowledge that the Council were waiting now for permission from the Ministry to build a new road for 60 or 70 additional houses.

  The return for the quarter ended March 31 showed an attendance percentage of 85.3 compared with 85 for the corresponding period last year.  There were 570 boys, 626 girls and 629 infants on the roll – an increase of 19.  One hundred cases of measles affected the attendance at Newton-road School.

  In answer to Mr. Freeman, the Clerk said that children could be admitted to school at the age of 3 years 9 months.

  The Rev. C. J. Keeler remarked that every seat at Moor-road School was full.

  Mr. Perkins:  If a child cannot get into one school there is no power on earth that can legally prevent it going into another school if there is sufficient accommodation.

More About Milk

  At a subsequent meeting of the School Managers Mr. Freeman asked if the Co-operative Society had been included in the list of vendors of milk for the school supply.

  The Clerk:  No, because they do not supply Grade A milk.  They only supply pasteurised milk, and the County Medical Officer directs Grade A milk.

  Mr. Freeman:  There seems a conflict of opinion among the medical officers as to the merits of pasteurised and Grade A milk.

  “It is all my eye” declared Mr. Corby.

  With reference to the Managers’ request for the installation of electric lighting at Newton-road School, Mr. J. L. Holland wrote suggesting that no good purpose would be served by placing this matter again before the committee.

  Mr. Freeman:  Let the committee take the responsibility, not Mr. Holland.  I move that it go before the committee.

  Mr. Baxter:  I will second that.

  The Managers agreed.

  The Clerk announced that the Alfred-street headmaster’s proposal to provide newspapers for the scholars to study had been turned down by Mr. Holland.

  At Mr. Capon’s suggestion it was decided to send a message of sympathy to Mr. Reid, headmaster of Alfred-street School, whose wife is in hospital.

  Members in attendance were Mr. L. Baxter (chairman of the Education Sub-Committee), Mr. E. A. Sugars (chairman of the Managers), the Rev. C. J. Keeler, Messrs. F. Corby, F. Green, L. Perkins, M.B.E., C. W. Horrell, C.A., W. E. Capon and E. Freeman.

The Rushden Echo and Argus, 20th July, 1934, transcribed by Gill Hollis No Infant School for New Estate “Surplus Accommodation Already Exists” Rushden Protest   Rushden has been refused permission to erect a juvenile school on the grounds that surplus accommodation already exists in Rushden schools.   At Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Rushden Education Sub-Committee, it was decided to impress upon the County Education Committee the fact that though there was surplus accommodation, it was mostly in Newton-road, on the other side of the town, and too far away for infants on the new estate.  The most conveniently-situated school for them was Moor-road, and that was already over-crowded. Expense Not Justified   The reason for the refusal was along the lines of the 1931 Circular.  Further school buildings could be erected if the number of infants which could not be accommodated in the existing schools was sufficient to justify the expense.  In Rushden, however, the number of infants had fallen from 557 to 513 since 1929.   The Managers could rest assured that as soon as the 1931 Circular relaxed their application would receive further consideration.   Mr. F. Corby admitted that the Medical Officer had reported that the birth rate of the town had fallen, but he considered this question was quite apart from a consideration of numbers.   Ald. C. W. Horrell, on being informed that there was surplus accommodation for 200, said:  “Then we are sunk!”   Mr. A. Allebone:  Under the old scheme of housing these children, they did not have to go far.  Since then Rushden has increased in area, and the small children now have too far to travel.  With more traffic on the roads, it is the dangerous side of the question one has to consider when estimating the need for the new school.  They are simply dealing with the question under the old circumstances.   Mr. F. Corby:  They know that as well as we do!   Mr. Allebone:  Had they not recognised the need they would not have bought the land in Tennyson-road.   The chairman (Mr. L. Baxter) pointed out that the surplus accommodation was mostly at Newton-road.  There was none in Moor-road, the nearest school to the new estate.   Mr. Horrell suggested they point out to the Education Committee that the population of the town had moved from the Newton-road area, and naturally the schools there had plenty of accommodation surplus.   This suggestion was agreed to. Attendance Figures   The school-attendance figures presented by the Clerk revealed that the percentage attendances during the quarter ended June 29 had been:  Newton-road Mixed, 90.7; Alfred-street Mixed, 90.4; Intermediate, 92.6; South End Mixed and Infants, 86.6; Newton-road Infants, 89; Alfred-street Infants, 83; Moor-road Infants, 82.2.   There were still 82 infants away from Moor-road, and 83 from Alfred-street on account of measles – half both schools.  There were 16 cases of chicken-pox at South End, in the lower part of the school.   Mr. Corby pointed out that from the detailed analysis it could be seen that Newton-road Infants now numbered 252.  This school had recently had to sacrifice a teacher because the role was below 250.   Mr. Allebone explained that it was a fluctuating attendance, the Clerk adding that the average was 223, and that was what counted.   Mr. L. Baxter presided, supported by Messrs. A. Allebone, C.C., F. Corby, C. W. Horrell, C.A., F. Green, E. Freeman, E. A. Sugars, the Rev. C. J. Keeler, and A. Chambers, with the Clerk (Mr. J. Ferris).   Mr. E. A. Sugars presided at the meeting of School Managers which followed.