Conway Road Board/Council School opened in 1876.
The school began its life as a mixed school and was still so when the log book records began in 1893. The division of the boys and girls came later as numbers increased so much that by February 1902 there were 339 scholars on the books. A HMI report said that the mixed school was overcrowded and understaffed.
By the beginning of 1903 the school became known as the Colwyn Bay Council School with separate Boys’ and Girls’ departments. The girls were moved to the rooms previously occupied by the higher grade scholars with a Head mistress in charge and the boys with a Head master in charge in their own department in the school.
The school always suffered from overcrowding, even after separating the boys and girls. In February 1911 there were 256 boys on the books. This was helped by keeping Standard II in Douglas Road Infants School for a time. (Page 332 ED/LB/23/3).
In 1911 Head teacher J Davies resigned and Humphrey Lewis took charge until 1922. The role was then taken by WE Davies until 1929 when T Griffiths became Head teacher of the boys’ department. By this time a large number of pupils started to go either to the County School or to the new Central School at 11 or 12 plus, which opened in December 1930.
A letter was received from the County about the amalgamation of the boys’ and girls’ departments of Conway Road Council School (Page 190 ED/LB/23/4) with T Griffiths to be Head teacher over both departments. The school became mixed again in December 1930 with 297 pupils on roll.
Up until that point the girls’ department had been steered by Miss Grindley as Head mistress for most of the time. In 1903 there were 145 girls and 49 Infants. The department was also understaffed and over full. By 1909 there were 2 new classrooms but accommodation continued to be a problem. However, by the late 1920s numbers decreased and girls moved to the new Central School at 12 plus. By December 1930 the girls’ department amalgamated with the boys’ again under Head teacher J Griffiths.
The old Conway Road Infants School building closed on 31st August 2012 as pupil numbers had fallen to 18. The school was also part of the Council’s modernisation of primary schools plan.
The school had been in existence for 135 years on the site. It is a grade II listed building. Pupils from the school were mostly transferred to Ysgol Glan Y Mor on Greenfield Road.
This collection includes log books, admission registers and attendance registers.
Location
Conway Road, (King’s Road) Colwyn Bay, LL29 7LS
OS Sheet – 111-3 1900 Ed. (School)
Secondary material-
Graham Roberts, 'Colwyn Bay and District-A Collection Of Pictures, Vol 3' Bridge Books Wrexham, 1997
Dilys Thomas, 'Memories of Old Colwyn', Bridge Books, Wrexham 2000