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88
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS, ACTON LANE.
This is a one-storey building and has two departments—one for
the infants, and a mixed School for the boys and girls. The building
was erected about 25 years ago, but has been altered on several occasions,
and though improvements have been secured with each
alteration, the arrangements leave much to be desired.
A very small percentage of the rainwater from the roof is conducted
to open gullies by means of down pipes, but most of the
water passes into a short pipe and falls a distance of about 10 or
12 feet into a gully.
The wall in the neighbourhood of the gully is damp, and some
of the pointing of the wall is washed away. There is one playground
and this is asphalted and suitably drained.
1 he sanitary conveniences consist of 3 separate compartments
for the girls, and 3 closets and 3 utinal accommodation measuring
about 8 linear feet for the boys. The closets are of the pedestal type,
and there are 2 flushing cisterns—one for each group of closets These
cisterns do not discharge automatically, but the water has to be
turned on each lime the closet is flushed.
There are two cloakrooms, and these are built as annexes to the
main building. They are ventilated by means of perforated bricks.
Each cloakroom contains 3 lavatory basins.
The Boys' & Girls' Mixed Department, consists of one large
room and 3 classrooms, together with cloakroom and lavatory accommodation.
There is no central hall or corridor, and entrance to
the north and south classroom is only obtained by passing through
the main room.
The main room measures about 990 sq. ft., and the lighting,
heating and ventilation are unsatisfactory. There are three windows
and though the. window area is about one-sixth of the floor space, all
the windows are situated at the back of the desks and the light comes
to the scholars from behind. The room is heated by means of an
iron stove, with a pipe carried into the wall. The stove itself is
situated inside the room and some of the products of combustion are
not carried outside. It is well known that under some conditions
carbon monoxide is produced by slow combustion stoves.