Marlborough Road Girls' School Log Book
Volume 2   1915 - 43
4.9.39 England declared war with Germany on Sunday, 3rd. Sept. 1939. This morning all children were sent home for a week at least, by Director’s orders.
11.9.39 Schools re-opened.
9.10.39 Mr. Tom Jones, H.M.I., called in school this morning, to ascertain number of evacuees and refugees attending this school.
22.1.40 Schools closed for the day as most pipes are frozen.
9.2.40 School closed for afternoon - half-holiday granted on account of visit to Cardiff of Their Majesties the King and Queen.

Miss Evans left school at 10.30 to attend Parade of Voluntary Organisations as Air Raid Wardens.
1.3.40 St. David’s Day was celebrated by a varied programme consisting of songs, dances and plays in the Hall. Miss Roberts, a former Head Mistress, addressed the Girls on the present war and how we can all help to win it by our own individual efforts - to be courageous, brave, cheerful, self-sacrificing and to be economical.
1.7.40 Very few girls in the Hall this morning at 9 a.m., owing to disturbed night through the presence of "enemy planes" overhead. At 9.30 - time to close registers, there are only 176 girls present. The closing postponed until 10 a.m. Registers closed at 10 a.m., instead of 9.30 a.m.
2.7.40 A circular came to school this morning, stating morning session for school, until further notice, to be from 11 a.m.-12 noon. Afternoon session as usual: 2 - 4.30.
14.8.40 Warning Siren sounded at 9.55 a.m. All girls and staff were in Air Raid Shelter until 10.45. Registers marked, although there were only 128 girls present out of   215.
27.9.40 Schools close this evening for two weeks, as extension to our usual Summer Holiday. The children have been in the Air Raid Shelter three times today, the Warning Siren having been sounded that number of times.
 

6.1.41

 Schools re-opened...... On 2nd. January, 1941 Cardiff experienced its first heavy Air Raid. Alert sounded at 7 p.m. and raiders passed at 1.25 a.m. On Saturday night, January 4th. another raid was made upon us from 6 p.m. till 6.45 a.m. on Sunday morning. Attendance this morning 203 children out of 252.
4.3.41 A terrible catastrophe took place last night, to our beloved school. Through enemy action, the whole of the Senior School, which housed the boys and the girls, suffered irreparable damage. High explosive bombs were dropped in this district and it is surmised that a stick of bombs demolished our building. Children asked not to come to school, until -
17.3.41

Schools resumed this morning in the following buildings:-

a) Standards 1 and 2 in our Infant Dept......,
b) Standards 3 and 4 in Roath Park Girls’ School......,
c) Forms 1, 2, 3 and 4 at Albany Rd. Girls’ School.......

I, Mary Jenkins, will consider Marlboro’ Inf. Dept. as my headquarters but will visit, daily, the above schools....as ....last week I was repeatedly urged to retain the entity of my school to the utmost of my power.

The interim - 4th. -17 th. March has been spent in salvage work. ....It has been found impossible to enter the débris in Sts. 1, 2, 3 and Form 2 classrooms but a great deal of stock from other classrooms as well as the three sewing machines and the Gramophone has been retrieved, and is now in use.
21.3.41 No. on Books = 236. Average attendance = 157.
24.3.41 Miss Cronin and Miss Thomas have been transferred......as classes have been amalgamated.
11.4.41 Nine of our girls did not take the Scholarship Examination, as they intended - they were privately but temporarily evacuated.
29.5.41 Most of the Staff and I spent our morning at Roath Park School with our own little girls, whose mothers registered their names yesterday to be evacuated tomorrow.....to a safer area.
30.7.42 School closes for Midsummer Holiday of one month. Skeleton staff on duty at Albany Rd. School during holiday period........This arrangement due to decision of Committee that Schools be kept open for voluntary attendance of children whose mothers are engaged in War Work.
25.9.42 Twenty Senior girls accompanied by Miss Bancroft visited "Dig for Victory" Exhibition at City Hall this morning.
22.4.43 School closed at noon for Easter Vacation. This is the end of Marlborough Road Girls’ School as a separate School. It has been decided that as from May 3rd. (the date Schools reopen after Easter) our School shall be amalgamated as follows:- Std. 4, Forms 1, 2, 3 and 4 to join Albany Road Girls’ School, Stds. 2 and 3 with Roath Park Girls’ School; Std. 1 to join Marlborough Rd. Infants’ School.
 

Mary Jenkins was Headteacher until 8 December, 1941, after which she was transferred from Marlborough to Windsor Clive Girls’ School.

Dorothy Thorne was Acting Headteacher of Marlborough from 9 December, 1941 until 22 April, 1943.

 

Extracted from Marlborough Road Girls' School Log, Glamorgan Record Office,
Cathays Park, Cardiff. 28.5.98.