The Croydon Archives:

The Timeline - Log Book and School Record

JRGS Log Book

School Record

First things first! The Log Book Reference Number is SCH63/1/1, and the School Record Reference Number SCH63/5/1; click on either graphic to access a larger version.

All pictures reproduced on, or referenced by, this web page and all the other Timeline pages are Copyright of Croydon Council, and are reproduced by kind permission of Croydon Local Studies Library and Archives Service. The originals are viewable, by appointment, at the Local Studies Library, Katherine Street, Croydon.

In looking at the following pictures, there are several interesting things to note. Firstly the entries are not being made as a historical record - there is no mention of the address of where the school opened, for example. Secondly, the author does not necessarily name himself - it was assumed that you KNEW who it was! Thirdly, there are a lot of references to staff absences. Why? It appears that across Croydon, staff were allowed a fixed number of days sick. If they exceeded that, then their pay was docked. The amount that they lost was agreed by a full meeting of the Education Committee, held on a monthly basis!

Very often this caused great hardship to the staff concerned - and in most cases (based on reading through the Education Committee Minutes of 1922 ref. CBC/2/1/5) the following month the Committee considered an Appeal from the member of Staff concerned. Usually they relented if the sum was small (less than about £2). For larger sums in the respect of the appeal, the stern words "In respect of Mr. XXX, no recommendation is made" appear in the minutes.

Fourthly, it seems that in a lot of cases, teachers themselves learnt "on the job" and the Log makes frequent reference to staff absence for the purpose of "Examination" - and also records their success or failure.

This was particularly important for the original Handicraft teacher at John Ruskin - a Mr. Chinnock. Mr. Chinnock fell foul of a change in salary rules in 1922. Up until that point he was considered a Qualified Teacher - with a maximum salary of £402.

Then the Government changed the rules! They decided that teachers of Handicraft who were employed after 1st April 1914 were no longer to be considered Qualified - there is no reason given as to why. Mr. Chinnock fell into this category. For him the maximum salary was now to be £192. Poor guy - the Education Committee declared that he had been overpaid by £62 and was therefore not entitled to any further payment until March 31st of the following year.

This caused him some hardship, as you may imagine - think how you would cope if your own salary were cut by that amount. Luckily the minutes show at a subsequent meeting that the hardship was recognised and he was awarded an ex-gratia payment of £15/month, dependant on him taking the appropriate exams - which he did, and passed.

Life was quite hard for teachers - and there is evidence of on-the-job examination right up until the Fifties. Indeed, in Mr. J. C. Lowe's time his own salary was dependant on the number of boys of specific ages being in the school - and the Log shows an agreed count, signed both by him and an un-named Education Committee official.

Finally, there was an obsession with checking Registers! It appears that the Education Department carried out spot checks on the correctness of Class Registers. In most cases there is a short entry saying "checked registers" - and signed by the Official. In one case he found an error! There is then a full page (almost) explaining the reason why this happened - and the headmaster clearly blames the new teacher for "not following my instruction" regarding the taking of registers.

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