Church School, Latton

The first recorded education in Latton parish was in 1832, when a day school was run to teach the children of Latton and the children of Eysey, as the ecclesiastical parish had just been formed. The following year it was attended by between 50 and 60 children. The master received £20 a year in 1846 with the expenses being met through subscriptions. A house for the master was found near to the school. In 1850 the school was extended a little.

In 1858, there were 30 to 40 boys and girls in the school and Warburton’s Census found they were ‘Taught by a certificated master, in a very fair school-room (nave 19 x 14 [feet], and two transepts, each (8 x 9ft. 9 inches), with board floor, and good desks. Mr Hughes reports favourably of the discipline, and of the instruction in most subjects.’ The school was extended in 1873 to provide for at least 100 children. There were now two classrooms.

We do not have school log books for the Victorian period but the following will give an idea of what life was like in a village school at the time.

The following general information would be relevant to the school for the latter part of the 19th century. Fees were paid for each child until 1891, normally at the rate of one penny (0.4p) a week and the ‘school pence’ were collected by the schoolteacher. There would have been a schoolmaster, or schoolmistress, with an assistant teacher and perhaps a pupil teacher. The pupil teacher was taught by the head before lessons started, took exams, sometimes went to the Diocesan Training College eventually becoming a teacher themselves. They mainly taught the younger children.

School holidays were at similar times to those of today but often there was only 2 days at Easter but a week at Whitsun. The summer holidays were of four, five or six weeks and were called the Harvest Holidays as the children either helped with the harvest or carried food and drink to their parents, who were working in the fields. There were more half-day and whole day holidays for special events. Half a day would be given after the annual H.M.I. or Diocesan inspections and there were holidays for school treats, choir outings, chapel teas, Christmas parties and at times when the school was needed for other purposes.

There were also many unauthorised absences. These would be for seasonal work, such as haymaking (June) and early or late harvest (July or September), being kept at home to help their parents, and working when they should have been at school. Bad weather such as heavy rain, cold weather, or snow kept children away from school, often because their parents couldn’t afford to buy them suitable clothes and boots. Apart from the usual colds and coughs there were more serious illnesses than today and these included, mumps, measles, whooping cough, scarletina and diphtheria.

The elementary subjects were the ‘3 Rs’ – reading writing and arithmetic. Scripture was often taught by the vicar and children would have attended church for services on some days. Older children were taught history and geography and there may have been some study of natural history. Singing was taught to all ages and all the girls and some of the boys would have done needlework. Drawing had been introduced by the 1890s.

Attendance fluctuated greatly and was often dependant on weather and illness.
On 12 February 1904, the headmaster Bertram Newman wrote: “Owing to the rough weather and the floods, the percentage of attendance this week has dropped to 54.6 per cent- the lowest on record!” In 1908 there were 61 children on roll. In 1906 overall control of the school passed to Wiltshire County Council although a local board of managers remained. Further information will be found under Church of England School, Latton.