When St.Luke's school was built in 1911, in memory of Charlotte Formby and her son Richard, it must have been widely welcomed.The old school with its earth closets, was clearly unsuitable. Not, however, by Rev. Robert Minnitt, the Vicar at the time The site in Jubilee Road was too far from the Church. He even threatened to open a National School in competition !

We have, in our Archives, the School Log Book from 1898 to 1920 and the glimpses of life then are far more interesting than a formal history of the school. We look at 1920 because Mrs Povey took over as temporary Mistress on April 12th (temporary because changes in the school's status were impending), and she wrote a very detailed Log.

THIS SCHOOL WAS BUILT AD 1911
IN MEMORY OF
Mrs CHARLOTTE FORMBY
AND HER SON
RICHARD FORMBY
BOTH LATE OF
SHORROCKS HILL FORMBY POINT

Details of purchases of pen nibs and ink powder will no doubt bring memories to older readers of ink wells and ink monitors and the dreaded ink blot.The most frequent entries, however, are a sober reminder of the realities of life about 80 years ago.You would think, wouldn't you, that a little farming village, as Formby was, would be a healthy spot. Not so. The entry for March 25 tells us that the school was closed "owing to a serious epidemic of measles in the District" Following that there were whooping cough outbreaks in April, June and July. In September we had cases of scarlet fever. The school had about 50 pupils and attendance was badly affected.

There were high spots, like Empire Day. The entry for May 21st records "The Vicar,the Rev. H Fearnly held a short service in the school yard. Mr Reynolds came to unfurl the Union Jack and paraded the children. To commemorate Empire Day a collection was made in the school and 15 shillings sent to the Blinded Soldiers Hostel at St. Dunstans"

On September 17th Rev. Fearnly announced to the children that St. Luke's had been recognised as a non provided school. This meant that St. Luke's pupils could compete for scholarships with pupils from Elementary Schools.

Mrs Povey left on September 30th. She would have been amazed at the new classrooms stretching behind the old building in Jubilee Road. One thing has not changed, though. Mrs Povey's school had excellent standards and we have excellent standards today.