Lydiard Park Temporary County Primary School
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After the Second World War a collection of prefabricated huts that were used by Swindon for housing families on their housing list who could not obtain a council house. In 1951 some of these buildings were converted by Wiltshire Education Committee and in September 1952 it opened with a class of 24 children between the ages of five and seven years. In May 1954 the school was reorganised for both Juniors and Infants and consisted of three temporary buildings separated by what were described in 1957 as ‘uneven ill-kept patches of grass’ but this was rectified in 1958. In two of the buildings were three classrooms, cloakrooms and a small office while the other provided toilets and washing facilities. There was a hard surfaced playground and a colourful garden created by the teachers and pupils providing the ‘one attractive feature on the estate.
This area, four miles from Swindon was very isolated, with little public transport and no telephone; some of the families were itinerant, some children aged up to nine arrived at the school and had attended no other. It seems to have served the children of people displaced by the war who may have had difficulty coming to terms with post-war Britain.
There were 65 children at the school in 1955 and 75 in November 1957. In that month the headmistress and staff were praised for achieving so much in difficult conditions.
This area, four miles from Swindon was very isolated, with little public transport and no telephone; some of the families were itinerant, some children aged up to nine arrived at the school and had attended no other. It seems to have served the children of people displaced by the war who may have had difficulty coming to terms with post-war Britain.
There were 65 children at the school in 1955 and 75 in November 1957. In that month the headmistress and staff were praised for achieving so much in difficult conditions.