The History of Our School

St Francis de Sales School opened in 1827, it was built on a street called Chapel Place. It had 65 pupils, a master and a mistress in 1835. Boys and girls were taught separately by a male or female teacher.

A new schoolroom was built in 1858 and enlarged in 1873, four years before classes were moved to Brereton Road where a new building was finished in 1882.
The new building comprised of a schoolroom partitioned off from the chapel on weekdays. Today this is used as the parish hall. A separate boys' department was opened in 1885 and an additional schoolroom, for an infants' department, was finished in 1886.

The enlarged school had 349 pupils by 1905, but attendance fell to 287 in 1919 and 252 in 1938. The former Marist convent's school was taken over after 1945 and extended in 1958 and 1969. Separate junior and infants' schools were created in 1971; there were 270 juniors and 216 infants in 1972.

The history of St Francis is told through the school log books. These were school diaries which were completed regularly by the head teacher. They give an interesting insight into life at the school over the years, recording the achievements of hardworking students.

Three log books remain in the school, covering the years 1875 to 1967.