Avebury Church of England Primary School

The first National school was built in 1844 and was rebuilt in 1849. By 1859 there were between 40 and 50 children attending the school. This number increased and the school was enlarged in 1873; by 1878 the average attendance was 73. The school logbooks date from 1877 and provide a partial picture of life in the school.

The school catered for all ages, which in the 19th century ranged from 3 or 4 years to 10 or older until 1880, to 11 or older from 1880 to 1897, and to 12 or older from 1899-1918. Traditionally lessons were reading, writing and arithmetic but many other subjects were covered, particularly with the older children. These lessons included geography, drawing, history and needlework, while the basic subjects, long division, writing on slates, spelling, dictation and recitation are recorded. Scripture was an important part of the school syllabus and the children learned the catechism, were taken to church and had school lessons from the vicar and his daughters. Attendance at church was from 9.00-9.15 a.m. but was not compulsory. Until 1889 nearly all work was done on slates and very few children had copybooks. The infants began with word forming and letter building, with letters on wooden rectangles, and also received 'object lessons' on such subjects as sheep, cows, rain, a lion, and clothing.

School holidays were a little different to those of today although the longest holiday was in the summer. This was Harvest Holiday, originally of 6 weeks but returned to 5 weeks in 1880 when a week long holiday at Whitsun was provided. This holiday was normally in August but varied depending on the state of the crops as children worked in the fields at harvest time. In 1879 this holiday was in September and October. Two weeks were allowed at Christmas, although this was reduced to one in 1891. Originally the only Easter holiday was for Good Friday and Easter Monday although this varied after 1880 and sometimes there was a week long holiday, with a further one at Whitsun. Holidays were also given for special local events, such as the Club Anniversaries at both Avebury and Beckhampton, the Duke of Connaught's wedding day on 13 March 1879, the school treat at the Congregational Church, the Monkton Feast, the Foresters' Fetes and two half holidays for a review of Yeomanry at Beckhampton in May 1890, and for the Agricultural Show at Marlborough.

Children were often away from school for other reasons, frequently they were kept at home to help in the house or fields. Reasons given included potato gathering in October, gleaning (picking up ears of corn in the fields) after the Harvest Holidays, haymaking in July and fruit picking in August. In 1819 some boys were away from school because they were illegally employed while under age. There are some less common reasons, such as in March 1890 when the Kennet and Beckhampton children stayed away to see Wombwell's Menagerie pass by on the main road on its way to Calne. On another occasion one family were kept at home because the mother was trying to start a private school while in August 1890 several children took the day off to visit the renowned Tan Hill Fair.

For these, and other reasons, the daily school attendance varied greatly. Bad weather, such as very heavy rainfall in November 1877 and June 1878 or severe snowstorms in January 1879, kept children at home particularly in West Kennett. In December 1879 there was much illness and the attendance was reduced to 32 from an average of about 70. In February 1880 it was even lower (27) when there was an epidemic of measles. Attendances increased in the late 1880s, with a maximum of 81 in late 1889, while in 1890 there were 101 on the register and the average attendance was in the mid 90s. Numbers further increased in the early 1890s and this decade was probably the best for the number of children educated in the school's history.

The building that housed all the children was not very large. In 1890 the main room was 37 feet long by 15 feet wide and 11 feet high while the infants' room was 23 feet long by 14 feet 9 inches wide and 10 feet 9 inches high. Until 1889 there was one schoolmistress and a paid monitor in her early teens. In 1889 a new master and mistress were appointed and the mistress taught the infants. Before this if the mistress was ill the older girls took it in turns to teach the infants while the monitor taught the older children. The school was heated by a stove, which was lit when the weather became cold, normally late October at the earliest.

The children suffered from a variety of illnesses and epidemics were more common then today. These included whooping cough, diphtheria (one child died from this in 1879) and measles. The school was closed in January 1892 during an outbreak of influenza.

On a brighter note were various treats for the children. There was an annual school treat at the end of the summer term and an annual vicarage tea party. In the 1880s the vicar's family gave prizes for needlework while from 1890 there was a school concert. Interestingly there was concern shown for children getting home in winter. In 1890 the school closed 15 minutes early because of the dark afternoons and in 1891 afternoon school began at 1.30 p.m. instead of 2.00 p.m. so that children could be home 30 minutes early and before it got dark.

Both discipline and pupil performance was fairly good in the last quarter of the 19th century although the H.M.I. reports do vary from year to year. In 1894 they expressed the view that a playground was needed but generally the school premises were felt to be adequate. In 1903 the school came under Wiltshire County Council as the local education authority. In the first quarter of the 20th century school numbers declined from 81 in 1914 to 58 in 1927. This trend was reversed in 1940 when the attendance by children of the men building the RAF airfield at Yatesbury increased the number to 80 and the Congregational Church schoolroom had to be rented to house them all. After the Second World War the numbers declined to 58. The school building was now proving inadequate and a new school was built behind the original on the High Street in 1970. In 1979 there were 58 children and three teachers. In 2002 there were 47 children at the school, several of whom came from outside Avebury parish.

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