I Found a 1909 School Punishment Book in the Loft! | Havering History

A loft full of school history becomes a fascinating journey through education in Havering and Hornchurch. Join me the Loft Lady and Freddie Fingerpointer as we explore a remarkable collection of school log books, a 1909 punishment book, school badges and ties, and a vintage Janet and John reading book. The discoveries offer a glimpse into more than a century of classroom life: lessons and attendance recorded in beautiful handwriting, pupils assigned to secondary schools, teachers’ absences, playground incidents, and even a school closure to celebrate VE Day. There’s also a look at changing school sites and the craft-room staples that kept appearing in education committee records from clay models and raffia baskets to puppets, needlework, and woodwork projects. Among the standout finds are a 1953 telegram from Buckingham Palace thanking Park Lane School for its coronation message, and log books dating back to the 1890s. Together, these records show how schools changed over time and how ordinary school days were carefully documented. These aren’t just dusty books: they’re pieces of local educational history, full of details about how children learned, what they made, and what school life looked like across generations. Welcome to the first episode of The Loft Lady Chronicles, where I'm rummaging through decades of forgotten family treasures, vintage paperwork, peculiar keepsakes and things that really should have been thrown away sometime around 1987. The challenge? Decide what we can CRAFT into something wonderful, what belongs in the CRAP pile and what deserves to be KEPT for another generation to wonder why on earth we saved it. If you love vintage finds, family history, nostalgia, junk journaling, paper crafts, ephemera collecting, decluttering or simply having a nosy through other people's old stuff, you're in the right place. 💬 JOIN THE RUMMAGE: Are you a sentimental keeper or a ruthless chucker? And what's the strangest thing you've discovered in your family loft? Tell me in the comments! 👍 Like, subscribe and join The Loft Lady as we uncover more family treasures, forgotten stories and spectacularly unnecessary crap. One loft. Generations of stuff. Absolutely no sensible filing system.