Collingbourne Kingston Church of England School

A new elementary school was built in 1845 and in the following year there were approximately 90 children. An inspection in 1858 stated that between 80 and 90 children were taught by a master and a pupil teacher. There was just one classroom measuring 60 feet by 22 feet, which had a boarded floor, parallel desks and a good supply of books and apparatus. The inspector gave the school a good report, regarding both discipline and instruction.

Jeremiah Cole was the first headmaster, leaving the school in 1868 after 23 years. The five surviving logbooks for this school all give a strong impression of a happy school that had good relations with all its neighbours. Each time a head teacher left, a vicar moved away, or when a manager sadly died, they were all spoken of in glowing terms as to how well they had supported the school and would be missed. The head teachers were often sad to leave this school. The only negative subject that was mentioned regularly was the cramped conditions that the children had to work in.

In 1954 the two classroom dimensions are given as 41 feet by 22 feet and 22 feet by 17 feet. This is very close to the original measurement of 60 feet by 22feet, suggesting that the school was never enlarged. In 1913, when pupil numbers reached 144, conditions must have been very difficult. As early as 1863 the Inspector drew attention to the fact that the infants were suffering by being in the same room as the older children. The following year the single classroom was divided into two. Space was still a problem in 1920: this time the Inspector drew attention to the three classes (aged 6-14 years) that were all in the one larger room. Conditions were so cramped that the children were able to overlook one another’s work and prompt each other.

Lessons in the early years concentrated on the ‘3Rs’. In 1867 the Inspector reminded the headmaster that he should also be teaching geography and general knowledge. By 1898 history had been added to the curriculum. The boys were given drawing lessons and the girls were taught needlework. Every year all standards were expected to learn a poem. In 1883 standards IV – VI learnt an extract from ‘The Lady of the Lake’ by Sir Walter Scott. Standard III was given Wordsworth’s ‘Lucy Gray’ and standards I and II ‘We are Seven’ also by Wordsworth. The infants were given object lessons. In 1883 one of their subjects was trees and they were encouraged to bring in to school any leaves that they could find. Gardening was introduced for the boys in 1900, on three afternoons a week. Six prongs and six spades were bought for them. In 1921 all the girls aged 11 and over attended a Domestic Science course in the Village Hut.

Pupil numbers ranged from 144 in 1913 to just 20 in 1977. The size of the school building did not change at all. Between 1880 and 1922 there were over 100 children on the roll. From 1922 until the end of the Second World War numbers stayed in the 70s. In 1945 there were 54 pupils and numbers continued to drop until the school closed in 1978.

There were either three or four members of staff until 1950, when it was reduced to two. In 1878 the headmaster was assisted by two pupil teachers who he was teaching as well as his 116 pupils. The following year both pupil teachers qualified as assistants. By 1920 the school was divided into three classes. Standards IV – VII were taught by the head teacher, standards I – III by the assistant teacher and an infant teacher for the youngest children.

In general, each head teacher stayed at this school for a long time – between 8 and 23 years. This level of continuity was obviously good for the children. Reading the logbooks it is clear that most heads were very happy here. In August 1873 James Swinnerton wrote’ I beg to record my deep feelings of gratitude to the managers, junior teachers and the scholars for their hearty sympathy and co-operation in the work of the school, which has so much conduced to its well doing during the past five years’. In 1910 Edward Drew wrote something similar. ‘I place on record my very great appreciation of the kindly sympathy, co-operation and support I have received from the parents of the scholars, from my fellow teachers, and from the Managers. I leave them all with regret’.

The head teachers also maintained a good relationship with the clergy. At some schools there was friction, often due to what the head teacher saw as interference, but at Collingbourne the vicar was always welcome. In the early years he visited this school each week, taking a class in religious instruction. On the death of the vicar in 1879, the headmaster wrote ‘Our venerable, and ever kindly, and most generous Treasurer and School Correspondent has died. No schoolmaster can have more cause to mourn a Manager than I the loss of the Rev. Charles Harwood Poore’.

In 1904 the Rev. Gibson left the parish after 25 years. He was described as a welcome daily visitor to the school who would be much missed. In 1918 the school presented the Rev. Smith with a silver watch. He had taken a scripture lesson twice a week.

Attendance levels were greatly affected by the farming calendar, the weather and sickness. Many children missed school in the spring to help with potato planting and in the summer they were expected to help with the harvest. In April 1863 nine children aged 8-13 left school for the summer. They were mostly girls who had to look after younger siblings while their mothers were working in the fields. In the 1920s the afternoon school time was changed, ending at 3.30pm, to allow children to take teas to the hayfields. The children could occasionally decide to miss school if there was something interesting happening in the village. In July 1863 they stayed away to watch a cricket match. Attendance in the winter was greatly affected by illness. As well as the usual winter colds, there were also serious illnesses to cope with at any time of year. In 1863 the school closed for the last 12 weeks of the school year due to scarlet fever. There were eleven deaths in the village, including eight pupils. In July 1922 the school was shut following an outbreak of measles. The outbreak lasted until after the summer holiday and the school finally re-opened on September 25th.

Bad weather also kept children away, as they often had no protective clothing to wear. There are notes in the logbooks about drying clothes by the fire, and in some cases, sending children straight home again because they were so wet. February 1877 was a very wet month, causing a fever outbreak and four deaths in ten days. Every effort was made to maintain good fires to keep the children dry and warm.

There are very few references to punishment in the logbooks: again, probably a reflection on a happy school with children who were taught well.

Holidays were the standard one week each for Easter, Whitsun and Christmas. The summer holiday was five weeks, movable according to the harvest. Occasional days off were given, such as the Prince of Wales’s wedding in 1863. In 1896 half a day was given when a circus visited the village. A day off each summer was given for the annual trip to the seaside organised by the church.

During the 20th century greater emphasis was placed on children’s health. There were annual medical inspections and the children were also weighed. A dental inspection was later added, but some parents refused to allow their children to be treated. School trips were introduced. In 1942 the headmistress took her class to Salisbury Cathedral. An annual fete, sports and dance day was held in the Vicarage grounds to raise money for the school.

Although numbers were dropping steadily, the school continued to run successfully until 1964. This year saw the mention of a possibility of joining the two schools at Ducis and Kingston. By 1977 the school had been identified as ‘at risk’, and a committee was formed to resist closure. There was concern that the school at Ducis was already over-crowded and could not accommodate any more children. The following year this school was enlarged with land from the Parish Council, and Wiltshire County Council promised additional classrooms with their own toilet facilities, to be put on this new ground. WCC also agreed to have the school house garden covered with tarmac to double the playground area.

With just 28 pupils, Collingbourne Kingston School closed in July 1978 and the school amalgamated with that at Collingbourne Ducis as Collingbourne Church of England Primary School at the Collingbourne Ducis site.