Farley All Saints Church of England School

The National School was built in 1867 to accommodate 80 children.

In the 1880s the master at Farley was a Mr Frogbrook. Farley was his first posting as a teacher. His assistant was Alfred William. In the early 20th century, the children were given a treat every year, irrespective of the result of the Inspector's report. There was usually a sit down tea and perhaps even a gift of farthings. By the 1880s standards had been changed and there was now considered to be enough accommodation for 90 children and the average attendance was around 80. This had dropped to around 60 in the 1890s, by which time Arthur T. Freeman was head teacher.

Around 1906 overall control of the school passed to Wiltshire County Council and in 1909 the number of children on roll was 48. As in all rural schools, attendance fluctuated greatly because of weather, illness and work. For example, in January 1910 there was a lot of snow, and rain in the day often melted the snow which caused the roads to flood. Slippery roads, rains, wind and snow all kept children away, especially if they had to travel any real distance to get to the school.

The school sometimes closed in order for the children to do seasonal work. In September 1918 the children were given several half days to go blackberry picking to aid the war effort. Older boys were often absent in the summer to help with the hay making and in September 1942 the school was open for two weeks on a voluntary only basis, meaning children were free to go and help with the potato picking if they were needed.
In 1935 a two day holiday was given to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. The following year a day off was given for the funeral of the same king. They were given time off in May 1937 for the coronation of King George VI.

Illnesses were often severe. Children were kept away from school suffering with chicken pox, measles and mumps, among others. On 4 April 1938 Myrtle Joyce, a pupil at the school, died of diphtheria. She had been at school just three days earlier, and had appeared well. The next year, on June 30, 11-year-old scholar Ronald Lict died of measles and diphtheria.

On 25th May 1915 the school was closed and the children taken to Pitton Hill to watch the field practice of the 44th Highland Infantry Brigade, which was expected to sail to France in June. There is little more mention of World War One in the school log books, except: 'Receiving the news that the Armistice with Germany has been signed the scholars were dismissed at 2.30pm after singing the National Anthem and songs.' On 1st January 1919 the children were given a tea at Clarendon Park to celebrate victory in Europe.

The reports on the school were mostly positive.

In 1889 Her Majesty's Inspector wrote: 'The school continues to show excellent results in the elementary subjects and its general condition is highly creditable to the staff employed. The needlework amongst other points demands especially favourable notice, grammar is very fair and geography, both for boys and girls, is fairly good.'

In 1921 the Inspector wrote: 'The children are on happy terms with their teacher and are pleasant to deal with. Order is satisfactory as a rule. Reading is fluent except in Standard 4 but phrasing and voice modulation should be better. The class lessons in nature have been successful and the children showed interest in, and knowledge of, birds and animals and talked freely with their teacher.'

The 1923 Diocesan report reads: 'This school is doing very good work in Religious Instruction. The children of both groups have a good knowledge of the details of the selected bible stories and of the text of all memorised work. They also show themselves able to make good use of the knowledge they possess and answer with readiness, accuracy and intelligence.'

In October 1923 the outside of the school was repaired and repainted. In March 1939 a trench was dug up in the school playground in order to a lay a water pipe to the school to provide mains water.

In September 1939, when the school reconvened after World War II had broken out, 17 evacuees from Portsmouth, and their master, arrived at Farley. Through the school years the number of evacuees often rose and fell. The headmaster of the school in Portsmouth made regular visits to the school to check on his pupils. That month, the elder boys made a 'shelter' with the teacher from Portsmouth; presumably this was an air raid shelter. The school was closed on two days in 1945 to celebrate V.E. day.

The school was granted voluntary aided status and in 1955 had 26 pupils.

During the 1980s and 1990s the average number of pupils was over 50, rising to 76 in 1995. In 2003 there were 51 children at the school but numbers were falling, and with several other schools in the area, the LEA policy for schools with under 90 pupils required federation with another school if a school was to be maintained in Farley. There were three unsuccessful attempts to appoint a new head teacher and Pitton Primary School decided against federation with Farley. In 2005 with only 33 pupils, 12 of whom were in Year 6 and would be leaving in July, and no applications for Reception places the school was no longer viable. The decision was taken to close the school on 31st August 2005 after an end of term party for past and present children, parents, staff and governors.

Farley Nursery School now uses the Old School House.