Gray from Fakenham at 8.45am: "Reply Paid Bishop of Northampton / Northampton / May I offer you hospitality it will / enable you to be in touch with Lynn We could motor / over for funeral Where can I / meet you with Motor / Gray"

Catholic Association and herself are both unaware of a Shrine at King's Lynn. Fr Gray had provided details and Lady Gurney[?] had written that the priest from King's Lynn and 60 pilgrims had gone to the abbey ruins last summer. She thought it was a similar situation with that at Westminster Abbey where many Catholics go on the feast of St Edward. Hopes that the bishop will consider renewing greater devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham.

Has received the Walsingham document and will decipher and copy it. Pleasant to stay at Presbytery. Looking forward to the pilgrimage as not attended for a long time.

Application for a joint account for School Managers of St Mary's School with Fr Brewer as the third signature.
Roll is 121 with accommodation for 90. In September that will increase by 16. There is an offer for £2,000 for a building but not enough cash to go ahead. Alternatively could see the senior children off to other schools and have the present school as a Juniors only.
Slight twinge of envy at the news that Fr Brewer is off to the USA for a month.

Unable to attend last week - business kept him away.
Advice over the approach the LEA would take to the school under the Development Plan. Note that Norfolk would be the last to achieve reorganisation. Buying a house may not be the answer as a refit as a school may take too long and be too costly. Need to seek the opinion of Mr A Sauvain and the Chief Education Officer.
When the HMI comes, have an informal talk about the circumstances of the school.
Bp Beck suggests allowing overcrowding in order to force the pace - but you know the local conditions best.

Concern about accommodating children at the school (space for 90 - 126 on roll).
LEA (Mr Sauvain) proposed advancing the building of a new school to 1953-4 instead of 1961-2. Notes that since Fr Wrigglesworth in the [18]90s nothing has been done with the Church or the Schools.
Describes the discussions around the new school but the problem is now - so will have to advise that there is no room for new children - generally Infants.

True that Managers provide accommodation, also true that the LEA has considerable powers to do the same.
Any temporary accommodation will only get approval if it is of the right standard and will form part of the permanent solution.
Should not send parents away from the school. If overcrowding is intolerable then there is an "Educational need" but if this is not the case and they can go elsewhere then this becomes only a "Denominational" need and the Minister will not allow that.
manuscript p.s.: "notice that the 1938 List 21 shows the school is down for 141 on roll; so can do this without a qualm!"

Sister M Margarita OSM (Headmistress, St Mary's School, Church Lane) writes independently of Fr Ketterer and describes the need for sufficient school space for the Catholic children of the area. The LEA has provided teachers and equipment readily enough and it is projected that a further teacher (no. five) will be required in a year or two. Can not see how the secular authorities are supporting the school whilst the religious authorities do not. Can Fr Brewer provide an explanation?

Despite Fr Brewer's views the school currently has 126 children with another 21 known to be seeking admission.

Writing to Mr Sauvain. Raising the issue of St Mary's school accommodation. Managers cannot find additional space. Would LEA permit a temporary wooden structure on the present site? Can the new premises at Gaywood site be brought forward from the 1961-2 plan? Also, how much of the site is reserved for a Catholic School?

Mr Sauvain - just received your letter. Any temporary accommodation must be approved by the Ministry and meet requirements; Managers' responsibility to provide. Cannot rely on dates from the Development Plan. Suggest the Managers push for a date and a school - there will be plenty of room on the Newlynn Estate when you are ready to proceed with your building.
Need to consider the needs of the children at the school before accepting more.

Sister M Margarita OSM (Headmistress, St Mary's School, Church Lane) provides the completed form C(a). The data is out-of-date with 5 classes instead of three and awaiting the appointment of a second assistant master. Invites him to see the school in its present state.

pg1: Thanks Sr Margarita for the information. Has seen Fr Ketterer in Lowestoft recently - he is well abreast of the situation. I will visit if there is a real need to come to Norfolk. The LEA will not appreciate children travelling from more than a 6-mile radius.
pg2: draft of pg 1.

Permission for 200 instead of 120 in new school. Whilst the parish would be expected to foot the bill, it can not afford the extra places.

care needs to be taken in how the school is perceived - different rules apply to a Transferred School as to a Substitute School and you can lose 50% of the grant. You will also need to have the number of children already in school, not an anticipated number. The future of the senior pupils is involved - providing a Catholic education may mean boarding them out in Norwich or similar. Once a new school is built then you have the old one - either to keep for other use or to count in against the grant allocation.
Keep Fr Brewer informed of any steps taken with the LEA or Ministry.

Good to reply directly to Mr Smith of King's Lynn.
Suggested removing the reference to financial commitments in the Diocese. Corby as a singular concern to the Commission is not true as we are only paying off the interest part of its loan. The policy is to secure Maintained education for all children where possible. The difficulty at King's Lynn is the distance travelled by the children - over 16 miles in some cases. A suggestion of using Hostels in Norwich has been considered - do you have any view of progress being made elsewhere in this approach?

Has an appointment with Mr Sauvain regarding the overcrowding of the school and the potential for hiring temporary accommodation.

Copy of two letters:

1. 29-10-1954, Letter from Mr Sauvain (NCC) to correspondent [Fr Sammons?] : the half-yearly staffing returns show that the school is still very overcrowded. The project may help in time, but in the short term consider temporary relief by hiring vacant premises.
2. 30-10-1954, Letter to Mr Sauvain: Tried to find an overflow accommodation but was informed that no teaching could be countenanced off-premises. If there are any vacant premises for hire then Fr Sammons would be happy to involve diocesan authorities.

Request to (Mr Robey) at Norfolk LEA for a mobile classroom to accommodate the extra children following the closure of the Servite Convent School. Provides information about school numbers and classroom sizes.

Managers' request for a mobile classroom has not accounted for the closure of the independent convent school in King's Lynn - so St Martha's will need to accommodate an additional 60 pupils. The Northampton Diocesan Schools Commission requests an early entry into the building programme for the extension of St Martha's School for up to 12 years.
P.S. (to Ben Hannond): Asked Rev Mother to provide names and addresses of the Catholic children in the Convent School.