National School, Burbage

A school was built at Eastcourt in 1806 and endowed with £10 a year by the will of Philip Pearce, who died in 1805. By 1818 there were 45 children at the school and this increased to 80 children by 1833. Pearce's charity paid for the education of 40 of these and fees were paid by the parents of the other 40. The school was rebuilt in 1854 and we have a description of it from an inspection report of 1858. There was an excellent schoolroom, 56 feet by 18 feet, well lit and ventilated for the older boys and girls. The floor was wooden boards and there were lines of parallel desks on it. A certified master taught 60 to 70 pupils and both books and educational apparatus were considered to be good. There were between 80 and 90 infants taught by an uncertified mistress, with no efficient assistance, in a low-ceiling room that was 54 feet long by 16 feet wide, the floor was boarded and there was a good raised gallery. The instruction and discipline were said to be quite good but it was noted that there was no playground for the infants. It may have been considered that the infants' room was inadequate as a separate schoolroom was built for them in 1861.

The log books for both the mixed (older children) and infants' schools survive from the early 1860s. We will consider the older children first. They were taught the '3 Rs' (reading, writing and arithmetic), along with religious education, which included learning the catechism and hymns, and attending church. Needlework and drawing were also taught as was history and geography presumably, although there is no mention of these subjects in the log books. The children enjoyed annual holidays of two weeks at Christmas, one week at Whitsun at the end of May and four weeks, later increased to 5 weeks, Harvest Holiday in the summer. There seems to have been only a half day, with church service in the morning at Easter. From 1883 there was a half day holiday on August Bank Holiday Monday. Regular special holidays included a half day holiday for the Sunday school treat, and for the Burbage Feast. On 11 July, 1807 there was a holiday when the children were provided with cake and wine in honour of the marriage of the vicar's daughter, Miss Stanton. The trustees of Pearce's Charity had an annual meeting in the school each October and as this was during the day the children had an extra holiday, while in September 1878 the preparations for a fund raising Bazaar meant that the school had to be closed for a day.

On 24 July 1883 a half day holiday was given so that the children could see Prince Leopold of Belgium, who had been staying in Marlborough, while on 14 August 1890 they received a similar holiday for the school anniversary.

There were many reasons why children failed to attend school and of these illnesses was one of the few that would be accepted as a good reason today. One of the scourges of Burbage would seem to have been measles. Throughout December 1878 measles swept through the school and the village, while some children suffered from whooping cough and sore throats. The County Medical Officer closed the school but it was re-opened early as otherwise the school would have been open too few days in the year. Very few children were fit to attend as many; especially the infants were still suffering from the measles. The school was closed for three weeks in June to July 1887 when two children died of measles. The schoolmaster noted, probably in desperation, on 4 August that 'On the account of the malignancy of the disease with which the children have been and are afflicted, their natural stupidity has been increased tenfold, and their attendance is most deplorable.' Other illness such as whooping cough, chicken pox, mumps, scarlet fever, bronchitis, scarletina, and, from 1890, influenza. The school was closed from 19 November 1890 to 2 February 1891 because of the spread of scarletina. That the mortality rate was much higher among children than it is today is shown in the year 1884 when one girl died in March and a boy in April.

Burns were also common with a kettle of boiling water falling on a girl's foot at breakfast time in 1873 and a boy severely burning his foot in 1883.

There were many other absences including girls looking after the home when their mother was ill and seasonal work on the farm for the older children. The latter work was potato planting, potato picking, fruit picking, collecting acorns and general field work. Sometimes parents kept their children at home to work in their garden while on one occasion (16 September 1872) most children staying away in the morning to watch large numbers of soldiers marching through the village. A mysterious entry in May 1883 noted that a great number, especially boys, were absent for no apparent reason 'unless they are unable to get up in time after last night's escapade.' In October 1890 there were unavoidable absences when some children were away for several days when four cottages burned down and the families had to be re-housed. The most remarkable absence came in 1873 when one girl returned to school after being away for about five years; the master, Charles Hannath, noted that 'she is upwards of 11 years and can scarcely read a letter.'

At a time when many poorer children had inadequate clothing and footwear it is not surprising that bad weather was responsible for low attendances at school. In this area of eastern Wiltshire snow was the chief problem and heavy falls were frequent. For a week in March 1867 deep snow prevented most children from attending, while heavy snow for two weeks in February 1873 meant that only a few children reached school. Severe weather in January 1879 caused several problems. On the 2nd there was heavy snow, heavy rain fell on 3rd and on the 8th there was heavy drifting snow. There was a long and severe frost, down to -8°c, until the 14th when a rapid thaw flooded the roads. Few children attended school during this time. The local roads were also impassable for a week in January 1881 (snow), for seven days in February 1888 (snow) and for a further four days in March that year with drifting snow. In January 1887 the school did not open until 10 January after the Christmas holidays because of deep snow while in March 1891 there was a 'fearful storm of wind and snow', all the roads were blocked for several days and pathways had to be cut through the snow. On 8 January 1894 it was so cold that the ink froze and had to be melted before it could be used. A big contrast to 14 December in 1863 when the weather was so mild it was not necessary to light the fire in the schoolroom.

Various cases of misbehaviour and punishments are mentioned in the log books. Offences included truancy, swearing, lateness, fighting and laughing during prayers. Outside school pupils also stole apples and fought on the green. In 1866 several were caned for being late for afternoon school, while in the same year one boy was expelled from the school for stealing dinners brought by other children. In 1883 one particular bad boy of the village was in more serious trouble. His father appeared before the magistrate at the end of March and was fined for not sending his son to school. George turned up at school the following Monday but then played truant again. On 6 April he was taken by the local policeman on a charge of stealing gin (while playing truant) and on 17 April he was sentenced to one day's imprisonment and twelve strokes with a birch rod. At times parents and schoolmaster worked together to prevent children playing truant, as in 1871 when the master gave notice that any children absent without a note from their parent would be punished at the particular request of some of the parents. They do not always seem to have been helped by the languor of the Attendance Office in the 1880s whose visit to the school on 2 June 1885 was noted by the master and accompanied by the remark that he last visited the school on 29 July 1884.

By the 1880s there was a School Attendance Committee at Pewsey who were sending summonses to parents of children who attended school infrequently.

The performance of the mixed school varied greatly during the second half of the 19th century and was very dependant on the quality of the schoolmaster. In 1869 it was noted that the master needed to acquire a gentler, pleasanter tone in teaching and correcting mistakes and save his rougher tone for cases of actual misdemeanours. He was however a systematic and conscientious teacher. At times parts of the school grant were withheld because of poor results.

A few notes in chronological order relating to the mixed school.

On 22 December 1864 a Christmas tree was set up in the schoolroom - an early example in rural England.
In October 1880 a number of children were kept at home by their parents who would not pay the increased fees - 2d (0.8p) weekly for each child under 14 in a family of two children, 1½d each for three children, and 1d each a week for more than three children.

Truancy and irregular attendance seems to have been more of a problem here than in many rural schools and in December 1888 the master wrote 'School Attendance Committees are only a farce.' In some cases when parents were fined they did not pay and the child still did not attend school.

The Infants School was affected by extreme weather even more, as the children were smaller, they had the same holidays and illness but had many differences from the Mixed School. They had a certified schoolmistress with a pupil teacher and monitors and generally received good reports, seemingly being bright and intelligent, attributes that were not apparently always displayed when they entered the Mixed School. They were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, scripture, singing, needlework and knitting, history, geography and drawing. Their object lessons included ones on tea, sugar, the whale, the value of a sixpence (2½p), Customs of the East, a primrose, a grocer's shop and a rainbow.

The Infants' schoolroom seems to have been used for more events than that of the Mixed School, providing the younger children with additional holidays. It was closed for a week in September 1878 for a bazaar, concert and school treat and also for full days for meetings of local bodies and elections. A half holiday was given after H. M. Inspections and the annual dinner of the Pig Club and every October when the room was used for the payment of rents. Whole day holidays were given for the wedding of the Duke of York and Princess Mary (July 1893) and for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (June 1897). On 5 March 1900 a holiday was given to celebrate the relief of Ladysmith.

The size of the Infants' schoolroom was given in 1875 as 52 feet 10 inches long by 22 feet 2 inches wide with a height to the top of the walls of 22 feet, and 34 feet to the ridge of the slate roof. In 1885 there were 100 children on the school roll but several failed to attend and the mistress visited their homes, where she was well received by the mothers who promised to send their children to school. In 1891 the National Society supplied the infants with six musical bells, one hand bell, one Noah's Ark and four natural history prints. On 21 May 1894 a half day holiday was given in honour of the coming of age (21st birthday) of Lord Cardigan, heir to the Savernake estate. Entertainment and tea was provided for all the children.

The total number of pupils in both schools was 179 in 1871 and this had risen to around 190 in 1906 about which time the school was taken over by Wiltshire County Council. At this time the school leaving age was 12, except for those employed in agriculture who could leave at 11 years; leaving age was raised to 14 years in 1918 and in 1930s there were around 220 pupils aged from five to fourteen years at the school. There were only 79 pupils in 1955 and it is likely that by this time the older children, aged 11 and over were attending Marlborough Secondary School that had been set up in 1946.