National School, Bratton

This school was built in 1846 at the top of Batts Lane, just below the Vicarage garden. A state grant of £50 aided the building and there was also support from the National Society. The schoolroom was small and only had accommodation for 20 pupils. In the School Report of 1858 we find that about 20 children were 'taught in a nice little schoolroom, with flagged floor and loose desks by an untrained mistress'. Discipline and instruction were described as very moderate, a low rating. Mention was made that the first resident vicar for many years had just been appointed and seemed to have made improvements in the school. By March 1859 the school was well supplied with books, apparatus, etc., the discipline was good and the instruction had improved.

By 1863 there were 22 children at the school but attendance was spasmodic with older children often absent for work at home and in the fields. Very young children, from two upwards, attended school, probably as a Victorian form of childminding. One infant was only 20 months old when she was admitted. In 1878 an entry in the school log book for 15 March states, 'During the week several babies came to school brothers and sisters of the elder children but their names were not entered as they are all so young and will not attend regularly'. There were two staff, a schoolmaster and an assistant mistress and in the 1854 the churchwardens had contributed £20 to their salaries. Later there was a qualified headmistress, who was helped by monitors chosen from the older schoolchildren. These monitors, aged 10-12, taught the infants and younger children.

In 1877 the schoolroom was enlarged, with a gallery for the infants, and the school inspectors thought that this would 'materially aid the teaching'. Subjects taught in this schoolroom were largely based on the three Rs of reading, writing and arithmetic along with scripture; the latter was often taught by the vicar. Other subjects taught were needle work and knitting, singing, history and drill. Object lessons on subjects such as 'shoe', 'paper', 'potato', 'butterfly' were taught as was poetry for recitation. Later, drawing was added to the syllabus. The children were taken to Church on occasions such as Good Friday, Ash Wednesday and Ascension Day.
Special holidays were granted on occasions such as the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, royal weddings, or school treats and the local Sheep Fair. The school also closed in celebration of the Relief of Mafeking in May 1900 and when it was required as a polling station later in the same year.
By 1879 an Evening School was in existence, and its 'pretty fair success' was reported on by HM Inspector.

Average weekly attendance in 1877 was 35.7 and rose to 63.2 in January 1888, with 77 on the register. By May 1916 the weekly average of 32 constituted 92.2 per cent of the total of children registered. Attendance could be affected by severe weather conditions which prevented the children living at some distance from the school from reaching it, sometimes owing to the fact that they probably did not have warm and waterproof clothing and waterproof boots. For example, in January 1881 the school was closed for three days because snow drifts were impassable. At other times there were outbreaks of illness which reduced pupil numbers: in June 1889 for example the school closed for two weeks as a result of the rapid spread of measles amongst the pupils. In 1926 the school was closed from 30 April to 7 June owing to a whooping cough epidemic by order of the School Medical Officer. In the twentieth century the children were regularly examined by the school nurse.

Certificates were given to those pupils who attended the school most regularly, however, and in 1893 one girl was given a medal for a full attendance record in the year to 31 December 1892.

A fine photograph of some pupils and teachers survives from approximately 1900.
Bratton National School closed in 1928 and combined with Bratton British School to form the new Bratton Council School.