Senior Boys Elementary School Stretford Road Old Trafford

THE OLD TRAFFORD SCHEME - The new school, erected from the design and under the supervision of Mr Percy Howard ARIBA (88, Mosley-street, Manchester), follows the most modern style of school planning. The school is built on a plot of land in Stretford Road, in front of the present Infants' School. It is built to accommodate senior boys only, about 400 places being provided. These boys will be eleven years of age and older, and will be taken from the other Old Trafford school which will become a junior school for children up to the age of eleven. Seymour Park School, in Northumberland Road is being altered to provide for the corresponding senior girls of this district.

THE GROUND FLOOR - The assembly hall is the central feature of the new school. It is a large, well-lighted and ventilated room with a platform across the end. Glazed doors are fixed along both sides opening on to verandas. On the ground floor there are four classrooms in each wing to the right and left of the assembly hall. Verandas run along the south side of the classrooms, giving covered communication but allowing through ventilation to each room. Opening windows on the opposite sides of each room provide effective ventilation. The air in all these rooms can be frequently changed and kept fresh when in use. A generous amount of heating surface is provided to warm the rapidly changing air.

PRACTICAL ROOMS - On the upper floor four "practical" rooms are provided, each with a floor area of 720 superficial feet. These rooms are equipped for the teaching of science, woodwork, metalwork and art, and for the advanced teaching which it is proposed to give to children over the age of eleven years. The walls of the rooms are finished with tiled dados and plaster above. All the floors are laid with Granwood blocks. This part of the school is perhaps the most important from the point of view of the new Hadow recommendations. The pupils will be put to "learning by doing," so that those who have ability not of the bookish kind will have a fair chance of development. A large sum has been spent in the equipment of these practical departments, which are models of their type.

WELL-PROPORTIONED DESIGN -The building is heated throughout with low pressure hot water and lighted by electricity. The external walls are faced with two inch rustic bricks and the roofs covered with brown tiles. The building is simple in exterior design: there is no elaboration of design or ornament, but an effort has been made to obtain a pleasing result by well-proportioned form and pleasing materials. [Manchester City News 11 January 1930, Page 8]

Reference    Manchester Guardian 4 January 1930 Page 16 – official opening
Reference    Manchester City News 11 January 1930, Page 8 with photograph*

* Note that this is essentially an advertising feature. Comments, particularly with reference to the building contractor and sub-contractors should be treated accordingly. Only those contractors who have paid for advertisements are included in the text. As professional men, architects did not advertise. Percy Howard thus receives the briefest mention.