One surprise when a new Church of England School opened in Oxford was the state of the children’s teeth.

School dentist Mr Morgan visited the school in New Marston in September 1929 and found a “staggering number of 71 children in need of treatment”.

He spent four days “making extractions of children’s teeth”, and removal of teeth on this scale continued throughout the 1930s, according to the school logbook.

The school in Marston Road - now known as St Michael’s - was officially opened on May 24, 1928 and the first pupils arrived on June 4 after the Whitsun holiday.

By September, there were 74 pupils, a figure which rose to 87 the following January.

Oxford Mail:

Pupils in 1959

Before the school opened, children from New Marston attended the National School at Old Marston. When that school became overcrowded, the overflow was sent to St Clement’s School.

When room ran out there, a temporary school was opened in the Scout hall in William Street in 1927, with Evelyn Chandler as headmistress.

The new school was built nearby on land given by Mrs G H Morrell, from the famous Oxford brewery family. An appeal was launched to pay for the new building and £1,700 was raised in six months.

Oxford Mail:

A tree planting in 2000

Mrs Morrell was invited to open the school - the Oxford Chronicle newspaper described the ceremony as “quite a happy event for the parishioners”.

She was presented with bouquets by two pupils, Josephine Hawes and Robert Rawlins, and “three hearty cheers” were given to her.

The ceremony included a performance by the City Military Band and a parade by Scouts and Guides.

For the first time, New Marston had a school of its own, although the growing number of homes being built in the area meant infants had to be taught in the Scout hall for several more years.

Two extra classrooms were completed in 1936 and three more in 1938 when 283 children were on the roll.

The logbook records that pupils enjoyed a day’s holiday and a party to mark the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937, and outings to Bournemouth in 1938 and to Southsea in 1939.

In the early part of the war, the school shared its premises with pupils and staff evacuated from Star Lane School in West Ham, London – Marston children had lessons in the morning and the Londoners in the afternoon.

The logbook has several references to Air Raid Protection officials visiting the school to check on gas masks and children being trained to use the on-site air raid shelter.

When the war ended, a victory celebration was held and “the arrival of furniture and food for the party caused much excitement among the children”.

Miss Chandler retired after 20 years as headmistress in 1947.