Newton Tony Church of England VC Primary School

A National School was built in 1857. The land was given by Sir Alexander Malet, Baronet and there was a Treasury grant of £73. By the following year, between 40 and 50 children attended the school, which consisted of a single room 16 by 25 feet. The school was well supplied with books and apparatus and the children were taught by 'a fairly qualified mistress, formerly assistant at Marden School. Some children from Allington and Boscombe also attended the school A separate room for lectures and an evening school was built in 1858; children who had to go out to work could then continue their education in the evenings,. In 1871 there were 70 pupils.

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 two 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.

In 1906 overall control of the school passed to Wiltshire County Council, although the local board of managers remained.

Author William Henry Swift, writing of his time in the school during the late 19th century, said: 'The education given at the village school was confined to reading, writing and arithmetic, with a little history and geography thrown in. The day when a smattering of some of the sciences formed a part of the curriculum had not arrived. Though, however, the subjects of study were thus limited, the teaching was thorough; and in their acquaintance with 'the three R's', our scholars could have given many points to children trained in schools with a far more extensive programme of subjects. Once a year Her Majesty's Inspector visited the school and put us through the test of an examination. This was an important and anxious time for us all. For some weeks beforehand we were drilled and tested to weariness in arithmetic and spelling; we were made to stand up one by one and read some passage from our reading book, and our delivery and pronunciation were unsparingly criticised.'

There was some enlargement of school buildings in 1894.

The original school was burnt down on 5th November 1952 and the new school is on the same site; no reason for the fire was ever discovered. The 49 pupils on roll were taught in the Memorial Hall while a new building was erected. In 1959, the school was rebuilt and a skeleton was discovered. It was thought to be the remains of an elderly man and not to be any earlier than Saxon. No grave goods were found.

In 1965 John Marshman, the first male teacher in the school's history, became head master. The school at Cholderton closed in July 1978 and in September three pupils from the village transferred to Newton Tony.

The Friends of Newton Tony School were established in 1994 when around 30 children were on the school roll.

In 1997 there were only 17 children on roll. The OFSTED report of that year notes that this is small when compared to similar schools nationally. The report found that: 'Overall standards in the school are generally satisfactory. Pupils are educated in a caring and supportive environment and their attitudes to school are positive. The very small number of pupils means that attainment in this context can only be evaluated against individual abilities, rather than national comparators.'

In 1999 children came from Allington, Boscombe and Cholderton, as well as Newton Tony, and were taught in two classes - infants aged 4 to 7 and juniors aged 7 to 11. On 9th July 2009 the 50th anniversary of the opening of the new school building was celebrated with a church service, tea party and barbecue. In May 2010 there were 34 children attending the school.