National School, Clyffe Pypard

In 1850, the primary school was built by the vicar of Clyffe Pypard; the funding was assisted with grants from both the National Society and the Diocesan Board. The school consisted of a school room (30 x 18 x 26 feet) and a class room (12 x 12 feet), with an attached master’s house. In 1859, there were 60 pupils being taught by a mistress. Unusually all the non-conformist families bar one sent their children to this school at this time. The log books for the school were begun in 1864 and continued until 1978.

The first named mistress of Clyffe Pypard School was Sarah Ann Annetts in 1864. She was probably assisted by a senior pupil, known as a monitor but never benefited from a colleague teaching the Infants’ class. All Standards (I to VI) appeared to have been taught by her alone apart from some outside help. The main lessons at this time were reading, writing, arithmetic, scripture, history and geography. Many lessons were based on agriculture and natural history; this would assist most students in their most likely future careers. The girls were instructed in needlework and the boys started gardening in 1909. To assist the head teacher, local prominent members of the community would attend the school several times a week to offer further instruction in the most important subjects. In Clyffe Pypard, the vicar or squire would take the scripture lessons and their respective spouses would lend themselves to sewing classes. It appeared that the mistress was unable to keep up the standard of the education as in an Inspector’s report of 1866 it states that the teaching certificate was not issued due to the exams not being passed. The school was regularly inspected by the Diocesan Inspector and constructive criticism was frequently offered to the master or mistress. Not only were the Inspectors keen on improving the literacy and numeracy of the children but they were sticklers for catechism (religious instruction).

The children attended Clyffe Pypard church at 11 a.m at least once a week. They were expected to sing exuberantly and say their prayers verbatim.

After her departure from the school in 1867 Sarah Annetts was followed by a temporary mistress; Mary Hayes ran the school from February to October 1867. Miss A. Archard was mistress from October 1867 to August 1871. It was obvious by now that educational standards at the school had been seriously lacking and the children were reluctant to attend. Some of Miss Archard’s first comments in the log book are underlined heavily and state that “I find it impossible to get some of the children forward owing to their irregular attendance”.
This was extremely common due to many factors affecting the school. Its rural location at the foot of a steep hill made it difficult for pupils to attend during extreme weather; flooding and heavy snow and ice was common. Children who did make it into school during inclement weather were often sent home again, especially if their clothes and boots were dirty (in 1925, 28 slippers were bought for the children!) Also being in a rural community, the children were often kept from their studies by their families to assist with ploughing, sowing seeds and potato planting, reaping, gleaning and harvesting amongst many other duties. They often remained at home to look after younger siblings or sick relatives.

Sickness was frequent. There were regular outbreaks of infectious diseases including mumps, measles, diphtheria, chickenpox and influenza. The children were often infected with other diseases such as ringworm and scabies and also ‘verminous’ with lice, fleas or ticks. In extreme cases where there appeared to be an epidemic, the school would be closed for a while. Examples of this were in October 1897 and May 1921 when there were epidemics of measles, the school was closed for a month. In spring 1914, another month of schooling was lost due to an outbreak of scarlet fever. In 1918, influenza hit the school and German measles disrupted the school in 1925.

The children were kept in quite a confined space during their school day; space and ventilation was poor and only one window would open. ‘The floor should be scrubbed more frequently and the premises must be properly cleaned’. These comments were found in the Inspector’s reports at the turn of the century.

As the 20th century progressed, awareness of hygiene and infection control increased. The school was regularly ‘scrubbed’ and from 1908, medical inspections commenced. This was later followed by dental and eye checks and the school nurse’s ‘rounds’. Also in the 20th century, immunisation programmes helped to prevent the spread of many childhood infections. In 1928, the whole school received smallpox vaccinations after an outbreak in Swindon.

The school turned a corner on the employment of a new master in 1872. Master Thomas Alfred Pannell was a certificated teacher of the third class and was joined the following year by his wife. It was clear from the start that Mr Pannell was going to shake up the whole school’s attitude and he wrote down his methods for ensuring 1) Punctuality 2) Regularity 3) Truthfulness 4) Cleanliness:
Amongst his rules a “Truthfulness violation included a) Paltry excuses b) Exaggeration c) Acting lies d) Breaking Promises. NB. Refer to Jacob’s deceit, show how one sin leads to another. Refer to Cain.”

By 1883, an Inspector’s report states ‘Very satisfactory progress has been made during the last twelve months.’ The subsequent reports on the running of the school improve considerably during Mr Pannell’s employment. In December 1894, Mr Pannell passed away after a brief illness. He had dedicated 22 years of leadership at Clyffe Pypard School. Arthur Hodkin became the next permanent master of the school. His wife Mary Ann was the sewing mistress and they were assisted by Miss E Pannell. They were continually supported by the squire and vicar and their families. At the turn of the century there were 85 pupils on the books, an all time high. Mr Hodkin died in 1910; he had been master at the school for 15 years and improved the quality of the children’s work considerably.

An example of the subjects for the Infants’ object lessons dated December 31st 1894 included; Coal, Glass, Sugar, Cork, The Baker’s Shop, A year, Sheep Shearing, Money, The Cat and The Ostrich.The older children were given poetry to memorise and recite; ‘The Kitten and Falling Leaves’ for Standards I and II,’ Lucy Gray’ for Standard III and ‘The Poor Fisher-Folk’ for Standards IV to VI.

The pupils were well equipped with a library which was mostly funded from the Spackman charity. The following articles including books were received by the school on the 19th November 1895;

‘MacMillan’s History Readers’ and ‘The Tudor Period’, 19 copies. Four dozen copy books, three dozen slate pencil holders, four set squares 45 degrees, nine copies of ‘Moffatt’s Drawing to Scale’ and eight copies of ‘Century Arithmetic’s’. One dozen double lined exercise books, eighteen copies of poetry cards (The Poor Fisher- Folk). Twenty one plain drawing books, one dozen framed slates and one pencil compass.
By 1905, the school was in possession of microscopes which enhanced their science lessons. The pupils were frequently studying objects in more detail. The Upper Class, Standards V, VI and VII were carrying out ‘Lessons on the Blood’ and detecting iron in various mediums.

Once a year, the ‘Spackman Prizes’ were awarded to pupils for regular and full attendance. In 1875, each junior was given six shillings, while three shillings were given to each infant who achieved this. That year, a total of £9.6.0d was distributed by the governors of the charity. The amount was increased a few years later, however, but by 1950 the amount had lowered back to six shillings for the juniors with only two shillings and sixpence for the infants.

Another treat given to the children was the annual tea party, which was held at the vicarage every September. At Christmas too, there was usually some event held at the vicarage. The children were provided with a magic lantern show and given Christmas boxes.

Punishments were more common than rewards at the school. Punishment was administered in the form of ‘strikes’ of a cane or stick by the head teacher. The severity of the chastisement depended on the offence. In 1909, Cecil Norris and Herbert Little were given four strikes for using indecent language to three girls. In 1909, George Gibbs was given two strikes for persistent talking and telling lies during the Bible lesson. Others were punished for almost any disobedient act as well as losing their dinner money, swearing and following the hounds during school time.

During the First World War, school life was kept as normal as possible. The mistress was Miss Webb and on average she had 40 pupils at the school. The boys kept garden plots and were encouraged to grow fruit and vegetables to help with the shortage of food. In December 1914, six apple trees were planted in the school grounds. On December 22nd 1916, ‘garments and other things made by the children in needlework and knitting lessons were given away at the Christmas tea’. The boys were also given ‘milking and thatching instruction’ to provide labour during the shortage of men. During one of the many ‘blackberrying’ outings, the children collected 39 lbs of blackberries, which were sent to the station. They received £3 payment which was distributed to the pickers.

On July 23rd 1919, ‘All the school, including the Infants, went to Weston-Super-Mare for a peace treat, so a holiday was given. Children went by train, being taken to the station in waggons lent by two farmers. Many parents went by charabanc, joining their children at journey’s end. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the outing, and all the school children were very happy.’ Seaside trips became quite common and were almost taken annually after the Second World War.

During the 1920s, Clyffe Pypard School was considerably disrupted by the coming and going of different mistresses and teachers. Finally, in 1926, Florence Margaret Taconis took over the running of the school and became an excellent influence on the pupils. Mrs Taconis became Brown Owl to the 1st Clyffe Pypard Girl guide company; two patrols of Brownies were formed in 1930 and many of the members were also pupils at the school. The Brownies and pupils combined were given the responsibility of rearing poultry on school premises. They were gifted many things to assist them with their project including a poultry house. With the influence of Mrs Taconis, the girls often gave displays of dancing at special village events. Some of the dances were intriguingly listed as ‘Ribbon Wheel’, ‘Tossing Hay’ and ‘Elfin Frolic’.

The Second World War brought many changes to the school, like the rest of the country’s rural educational establishments. ARP and gas mask drills were practised regularly and the school’s embrace of evacuees was commendable. The influx of evacuees began on September 18th 1939, when 16 children arrived from East Ham, Barking, Peckham, Dulwich, Kennington, King’s Cross and Silvertown. These new additions made the school population 63. The next big immigration of city children was in June 1941, when 20 pupils and one teacher were received from Chelsea. There was a constant dribble of other evacuees travelling back and forth from London during the first couple of years of the war. One evacuee, Ronald Mason, was knocked down by a cart and seriously injured. He was sent to Marlborough Convalescent Home. During the war, the Spackman charity gave a grant to the school to buy blackout curtains and a new wireless set. It also helped fund, where needed, the kitchen garden and poultry keeping venture.

In 1942, despite the war, the children were treated to a theatre trip in Swindon to see a ‘Concert for Children’ performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In September 1942, there were only two billeted evacuees remaining at the school. By the 29th October, all evacuees had gone. There were, however, pupils attending from RAF Clyffe Pypard, where there was a glider and Tiger Moth flying school. The children started receiving hot dinners in 1942, for most, this would be the only hot daily meal taken. The provision of school milk was also a blessing. It was even supplied during the harvest holidays the same year as the dinners started. The two most notable Clyffe Pypard teachers at this time were Miss Hand and Mrs Taconis. Miss Hand led the Infants’ class for twenty years, leaving the school in January 1942. Mrs Taconis led the school for 19 ‘happy years’ and resigned in January 1945. The end of the Second World War saw a big celebration in Clyffe Pypard. On Saturday 8th June 1945, a ‘Celebration for Victory’ tea was held at Bushton Manor, followed by Sports. Each child received a ‘Victory Card’ with a message from King George VI.

On the 15th January 1954, the school became ‘Clyffe Pypard C.E. Controlled School. No.3039. It had only 35 students on the register. The numbers continued to dwindle and in a log book entry dated 1st May 1957, it states, ‘Owing to movement of RAF families, the school is in a very unsettled state.’ Despite the Local Authority keeping up with the continuous repairs and maintenance of the school building, the future of the school was in serious doubt. By the early 1970s, it appeared that it’s closure was imminent. The local community fought long and hard to save their school and petitions were made at the highest level. Clyffe Pypard School was finally closed in July 1978. There were only 24 children on the registers, 17 juniors and 7 infants. The remaining pupils were to attend either Broad Town or Broad Hinton primary schools. As a farewell treat the schoolchildren were treated to a picnic in Hanging Wood and an end of term (and school) assembly.