Girls 1900 - 1916
This register is badly broken with many loose pages. The entry for each pupil runs across two pages, none of the pages are numbered so I cannot be 100% sure that I have linked the pages. The register has also been poorly kept with odd spellings of personal & street names, much crossing out and overwriting. The standard of penmanship is poor, many names reduced to a squiggle, many capital letters using the same squiggle. Each pupil's entry occupies one line. In many instances a note has been added to say that the pupil has been re-admitted. Directly under the note, in the following line is another note giving leaving details - I assume that the two notes relate to the one pupil but as the second note is in the next pupil's line I have transcribed it for that pupil. Several entries have what looks like another surname added above the first name - I cannot tell what is happening here. The admission numbers in the register are all over the place.
Girls (Infants) 1916-1937
Abysmal handwriting. Capital letters, names & numerals are in most cases reduced to an unreadable mess. I have had to guess whether it is Rose St or Ross St and I have based 'May' & 'Mary' on the length of the squiggle.
Mixed 1940-1958
Neat up to about half way. From there on the register was kept in a number of hands ranging from neat to a scribbled mess. Where there are blanks in the entries, I have shown these as '…'
Girls 1923-1940
The handwriting is generally good, but in several cases, where the pupil has left & been re-admitted several times, the dates could belong to the entries either side. Where there is a solitary '?' in either the leaving date or reason for leaving columns - this is as per the original. Where there are blanks in the entries, I have shown them as '…' There has been some interlineations but in several cases I cannot tell to which entry it belongs. I assume - SMO = Senior Medial Officer; MSS = Municipal Secondary School; NSS = Newport Secondary School. Many children left on 16 Nov 1934 for Maesglas - did a school open in in the new housing estate? Wooloston House was at one time a hospital & Alteryn was likewise an isolation hospital for infectious diseases. I have no explanation for Entry 1640.
Mixed Infants 1947-1948
Generally neat handwriting but someone used a pen that was akin to a brush, the writing being thick & blobby
Mixed 1990-1991
Very neat.
Boys 1916-1937
Abysmal handwriting, a scribbled mess, the youngest of the pupils could have done better.
Girls 1910-1923
Most (but not all) of this register was kept in a neat & clear hand
Mixed Infants 1937-1949
Abysmal handwriting, a scribbled mess, the youngest of the pupils could have done better. One person appeared to be using a brush instead of a pen, another used a pen that was only fit for the rubbish bin.
Mixed Infants 1949-1956
Handwriting varied from neat & clear to a scribbled mess with blobs, blots & overwriting.
Mixed 1958-1990
Generally neat with much of the text printed. Where a pupil left & was readmitted several times the clerk tried to cram 3 or 4 dates into a space designed for one.
Mixed Nursery 1967-1990
Handwriting varied from neat & clear to a scribbled mess. One clerk had a problem with the spelling of names & places & could not differentiate between Francis & Frances
Log Books (Extracts)
What one class does, they all do week in week out, year in, year out.
Log book 1953-1996
For obvious reasons I have left out entries for named pupils/parents involved in exclusion, fighting, stealing &c
Marshes Rd Boys 1901-1916
I believe (I may be wrong) that Marshes Rd was the first Council school to be built for the area, erected 1880. When it became too small the present Crindau School was opened in 1902 but the Marshes Rd building was still being used as an extension. This register was kept in a hand that ranged from middling to poor with lots of overwriting. Admission numbers are all over the place, I have used my own
Marshes Rd Boys 1890-1901
This register was kept in a hand that ranged from middling to poor with lots of overwriting. Some of the notes relating to pupils who were re-admitted are suspect in that they could belong to the entry preceding or following the line in which they are written.
Marshes Rd Girls 1880-1900
This register was kept in a hand that ranged from middling to poor with lots of overwriting. There are a number of boys mixed in with the girls
Many thanks to Dave Woolven for his time and skill transcribing many of the schools' records.