National School for Boys, Calne

Built on the south-western corner of the Green at Calne in 1828/9, this school was teaching 170 pupils within five years. Numbers had declined by the mid-nineteenth century; by 1858 average attendance was about eighty to ninety boys, taught by a certificated master and three pupil teachers. A report of that year praised the effective discipline and highly satisfactory standard of instruction, as well as the well-lit and ventilated school rooms. Kelly's 1867 Directory noted that the master was James Stone. John James Boden, a native of Woolwich in Kent, took over as master in 1871, and served the school for an impressive 46 years, retiring in September 1917. There were 127 pupils in 1896, taught in a large room and a classroom, heated by new 'tortoise' stoves. The school was amalgamated with the National Girls School as Calne Junior School in 1930.

The earliest surviving school log book begins in August 1895 and gives us an idea of what school life was like in the last years of the nineteenth century. As was the case with all schools at that time, religion loomed large in the curriculum. The Diocesan Inspector reported in May 1898 that the school was 'in a very satisfactory state as regards religious knowledge. The scholars are in good order and the answering has been both intelligent and reverent'. The Vicar usually taught classes in religious knowledge, and most boys attended a service in Church on Ash Wednesday. The master recorded that books read by the children included 'The Children of the New Forest' and 'Ivanhoe'. Poems taught for recitation in 1896 were Scott's 'Marmion', Southey's 'After Blenheim' and 'The Crossing Sweepers'. Prizes were given in 1896 for those who gained the highest number of marks between Christmas and Easter; three boys received a book each and George and Tom Smith were given watches.

School routine was sometimes broken up by more varied activities. In 1898 Miss Ballson of Lagos addressed the boys on the subject of 'Manners and Customs of the Yoruba People'. In 1900 the master took Standards 4 and 5 on the Green and measured out a square pole with the help of the boys and marked off the 30½ square yards. In June 1896 the pupil teacher took twelve of the first class boys to the new bathing place for their first swimming lesson. Swimming lessons seem to have become a regular feature of school life in May and June each year, even if they were restricted to a few pupils, usually the upper boys who attended school regularly.
In September 1895 the master noted the 'intensively hot weather', when classes were taken out of doors, and boys were regularly 'drilled' in the shade on the Green in the late afternoon.

Attendance varied greatly, partly due to the weather. Boys from the countryside around Calne were absent during wet weather, when roads were often flooded. In March 1899, there was such a heavy fall of snow that the country boys were sent home. Snow falls were far more common then; the master noted them in February 1898, December 1899 and February 1900. In spring, many boys were absent to help in the potato planting, and in September 1897 several were away 'gathering potatoes on the allotment land'. Punctual attendance was still a problem in the early months of the new century. In February 1901 the master recorded: 'It is a common practice with many tradesmen and some private persons to employ boys out of school hours, and till about 9.45 each morning. Such boys lose the Religious Instruction and by coming late disturb the whole school. At the present time we have eight boys coming to school late - 9.30 to 10'.

School holidays at this time usually consisted of a month in the summer (often August), Whitsun week and two and a half weeks at Christmas. Occasionally, these might be extended, as in September 1900, when there was an outbreak of scarlet fever. The subsequent closure of the Calne schools, by order of the Medical Officer of Health, lasted for a further two and a half months. Occasional half- holidays were granted, too, for various reasons: a menagerie on the Green; Harris' trip to Bournemouth; Shrove Tuesday; a circus; and because the school roll had reached 150 (July 1896).

The school invariably received a good report from the Inspector each year. In 1895 the boys were 'in good order', and the singing, handwriting, spelling and arithmetic were all good. The next year, the boys' orderliness and interest were noted, and in 1897 the Inspector recorded that they were 'taught with great care'. At the end of 1900, the Inspector wrote that much sound work was being done. On this optimistic note, we end our brief visit to the school, pausing only to mention two events which enlivened the daily routine in 1900. On 23rd April, just after 2 pm, a large number of motor cars came through Calne from London. The boys were let out to see them, and they continued coming up till after 4 pm. In May, a half-holiday was given in honour of the Relief of Mafeking. At twelve o'clock the children of all the schools assembled on the Green and, headed by the Calne Brass Band, paraded the town. They returned to their schools and each received a packet of sweets given by Mr John M. Harris of Chilvester Lodge.