National Infants' School, Calne

The National School for Infants, built in Mill Street, Calne, in 1835, was usually known as 'Lord Lansdowne's Infant School'. An 1859 report described it as having about a hundred children, taught in two very fair rooms, and well supplied with the requisite apparatus, by a certificated mistress and two pupil teachers. In the early decades, the school seems to have had a rapid succession of Mistresses, but in the 1870s Marianne Bridges, a Devon woman now married to a draper's assistant in Calne, took over the headship. When she left in September 1916, the log book stated that she had served forty years as headmistress.

The first page from the earliest surviving school log book (July 1884) records that the 'babies' were given a lesson on 'the cow'. A few months later, the Mistress examined the second class in writing their capital and small letters. Spelling, reading, arithmetic, scripture, singing and sewing all played an important role in school life. Mental arithmetic was emphasised, and the log book records various songs and poems that were taught to the children ('The Birdies Ball', 'Harvest Home', 'Sulky Joe', 'Little Dame Crump' and 'Buzz Fuzz'). In November 1885, Standard One was examined in reading a map, and in September 1891, the children were taught to repeat the words of 'Table Rules for Little Folks'.

In January 1886, the Mistress bought a sheet of common objects for teaching the 'babies' their letters, and for object lessons. The 'object lessons' given in 1886/7 included: 'minerals' (including coal, iron and salt); 'natural history' (including the bear, lion and squirrel); 'common objects' (including coffee, cocoa and the potato); and 'natural phenomena' (including rain, a river, and the seasons). Scripture lessons also assumed a high importance, so the Mistress must have been gratified to receive a report from the Diocesan Examiner saying that 'the answers of the children to the questions in Holy Scripture .... are such as in my long experience never have been surpassed'.

Breaks in school routine were welcomed, from taking an occasional lesson outside in hot weather to attending church on Ascension Day. The children had class photographs taken in 1894 and 1897. It seems to have been customary for them to build a maypole in the playground on Mayday, and in 1887 the maypole was allowed in the schoolroom, on account of the cold, wet weather.

In addition to normal school holidays (the 'Harvest Holidays' taking up most of August, with perhaps a week at Whitsun and a fortnight for Christmas and the New Year), half-day holidays were also quite frequent. In July 1889, the Mistress noted that three 'school treats' were given on one afternoon among 'the Dissenters'. Half Holidays were given on various occasions: Calne Flower Show August 1884; Shrove Tuesday (every year); Band of Hope Fate August 1884; Circuses (every autumn, two in 1895); Lord Lansdowne's Welcome Home March 1894; Opening of the new Post Office October 1890, and others. In June every year, school attendance flagged on the occasion of Harris' workforce excursions - to Weymouth in June 1889 and to London most years thereafter. Holidays were also given for royal and patriotic celebrations, such as the Duke of York's wedding (July 1893), the relief of Mafeking (May 1900), and Queen Victoria's silver and diamond jubilees (one day's holiday in June 1887 and a full three days, ten years later).

Pupil numbers also varied greatly because of sickness. Sometimes, this could prove fatal - a pupil died from mumps in November 1891, and a boy died of scarlet fever in June 1894. It was a fairly regular occurrence for a pupil suffering from ringworm to be sent home from school. Scarlet fever, mumps and whooping cough all took their toll on children. Sometimes, epidemics could result in the closure of the school - for a month in autumn 1894 (measles) and for ten weeks in autumn 1900 (scarlet fever).

Occasionally, children were absent from school for other reasons, such as being given a half day's holiday to go blackberrying (September 1899) or by being kept from school to go 'wooding' (March 1895). But poor weather was probably the reason for most absences; thunderstorms, heavy showers or snowy and icy weather always resulted in children being kept home from school. Snow and ice were the major barriers to good attendance, and snow seems to have been a far more common phenomenon in late-Victorian Wiltshire than it is today. The log book mentions snowfalls in February and March 1898, December 1899 and February 1900, for instance.

Despite constant variations in attendance, Mrs Bridges seems to have done her job well. In 1885, an Inspector reported: 'this is in every respect a thoroughly well conducted Infants School'. In 1893 he found the children were 'carefully taught', and 'in very nice order' the following year. At the opening of the new century in 1901, he reported: 'The infants are bright and happy. They are being taught with much skill and care and their attainments are in all respects very satisfactory'. In the early twentieth century, the school suffered from declining numbers, and it finally closed in July 1930, when its pupils transferred to the Guthrie School. The final Inspector's report in 1930 provided a happy note to end on, when he stated: 'The teaching is careful and kindly and the children, who are being trained to be natural and responsive, are happy in their school life.'