Foxham Church School

Lady Lansdowne built the school for 105 pupils and in 1846 it was a Sunday and Day school with 100 pupils. Warburton's Census stated that '40-50 children are taught by an elderly woman, in a very nice little school-room with block paved floor and parallel desks, erected by the late Marchioness of Lansdowne. The condition of this school is satisfactory, though the standard of attainment is not very high'. The school had a certified teacher and assistant to teach the infants in 1875 with an average attendance of 40. This grew to around 50 by the end of the nineteenth century.

Subjects taught at the school were based around English and arithmetic. This included writing, reading, grammar, sums and singing to help with grammar and communication. The best writers got copy books which would help them. Other subjects such as history and geography were taught to the older children, along with drawing for the boys and needlework for the girls. The younger infants' had 'object' lessons such as 'English fruits', 'the seasons', 'the giraffe', learning about lines and basket weaving. All children had physical exercises outside and went to church regularly. The Reverend occasionally visited to teach scripture and Lady Lansdowne came with friends a few times to teach songs. 'Royal Readers' books were given to the children in 1875 and they were reported to be delighted with them. The teacher in 1875 seems to have been very strict and keen to improve the educational levels of the children. Homework was given in the form of arithmetic cards and slates of sums for the children to take home. The more 'backward' children were also kept in after school for a week to improve their arithmetic. This was very unusual in Victorian times. During this period the school remained open during the Whitsun holidays too, although it was noted that attendance was poor due to several clubs running in the neighbourhood.

The teacher decided to leave in December 1875, having been disheartened by the irregular attendance of the children 'in consequence of the prevalent disobedience of the 'Agricultural Children's Act'' and the effect this was having on their attainment levels.

The teacher was referring to the common occurrence of children missing school to help their parents in the fields. March was bean planting, April potato planting and bird scaring, June haymaking and September potato picking. During the haymaking season boys often went to take their fathers' dinners to them and didn't come back to school in the afternoon. In April 1876 only one older boy was present at school one day. Children also stayed away from school in October 1877 when a rough wind overnight meant they had to help gather wood.

Illness was also another major factor for absence in the 19th century. Outbreaks of mumps occurred in April 1875 and in June half the school was affected. 'Low' fever did the rounds in 1875 and 1889, chicken pox in 1876, 1882 and 1884. Whooping cough appeared in 1886. Measles affected the school in 1876 and closed the school for two weeks in 1894 and for four weeks in 1905. A girl died of bronchitis in 1893. Playground accidents also caused absences from school; one girl sprained her ankle from swinging in the playground and couldn't walk to school and another fell down and broke her leg.

The weather contributed to poor school attendance, wet weather being the worst, although snow was a problem in January 1878, 1880 and 1881. There were floods in the village which made the roads impassable in October 1882. It would have been hard to get the children dry at school in wet weather, especially as the small school room seems to be constantly cold and damp with the floor covered in mould in 1875. It can't have helped matters much that the school teacher reported she was unable to use the infant's room in 1876 due to the smoky chimney! The children were given an extra day off in 1889 after the Easter Holidays to complete repairs undertaken at the school, so hopefully conditions for the children improved after this. In July 1897 a new cupboard to hold specimens for the object lessons was put up.

The report by Her Majesty's Inspectors of schools in 1875 stated 'the present mistress has shewn industry and capacity in her management and instruction of this school. The children are backward...they have however done their work with considerable ease and accuracy, and are in good order'. The reports improved during the 1870's but performance dropped in the 1880's. It was shown as early as 1881 that the registers were not supervised regularly and that the managers of the school were not testing the register as they were required to do by law. The Diocesan Inspectors always found the standard of religious teaching to be very high at the school.

Holidays were similar to those we have now, with a couple of weeks off at Christmas, 1 week at Easter, a little time off at Whitsun and about a month for the Harvest (summer) holidays. Other odd half days off were given after a HM Inspection or a visit by Lady Lansdowne. The school was occasionally used for a tea meeting, in which a day off would be given. When the Church choir had a picnic or day out all the other children got time off too. In 1897 a school treat was arranged at Bowood House by Lady Lansdowne which gave the children a day off school. Some children didn't turn up at school in 1885 because there was a sale going on in the neighbourhood.

When attendance was poor the school Attendance Officer was called for and they made enquiries at the children's homes. This happened in April 1884 when attendance was very poor one Monday morning. Attendance had improved for the rest of the week! This was not always the case in 1880 though, when the Attendance Officer was called in but did not make enquiries. In March 1876 one boy was expelled for bad conduct and disobedience and in the 1880's one boy was admitted on trial. There were complaints from parents as to his misconduct to and from school and in the playground at dinner time. He was refused entrance at the school so that he would not 'corrupt' the other children. Girls left school to go into service and the boys to work. In 1882 the teacher reported finding it hard to keep children at school after the age of 13 or when they had passed the standard for exemption, and there were no reports of children going on to the school in Calne. In June 1881 one girl left school to go to America with her family.

In 1904 a pupil teacher was taken on to assist the head and assistant teacher and in 1907 there were still around 50 pupils. The school was closed in 1930.