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Nine schools were summoned by the military in Nottingham in 1915, including the Trent Bridge Elementary Schools, to turn into hospitals to treat wounded soldiers, disrupting what was already a haphazard education.

For one former pupil and soldier, Ralph Pearson it also became the place he was treated for wounds he received on the front and where he later died.

At the outbreak of war, 1,400 children were being taught at the school site, crammed in to buildings where the girls and boys were taught separately alongside an infant block.

When the buildings were sequestered, pupils were sent to share premises with another school in the Meadows, Queens Walk, in what was called a double shift system. One school would provide lessons in the morning and the other in the afternoon, effectively leaving the children with a part-time education.

Dr David Nunn, who鈥檚 carried out research in to Nottingham Schools, says the day would begin with compulsory drill exercises and the learning environment would have been strict because teachers had to manage classes of 60 children or more. Former pupils who had volunteered for the services were also encouraged to come back in uniform to speak in assemblies

Location: Trent Bridge Elementary School, Nottingham NG2 2LA
Image of pupils on Empire Day 1917, courtesy of Malcolm Fox

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