Calstone Church School, Calne Without

A school was first established in Calstone in 1818 when 24 pupils were in attendance. This was replaced, or taken over, by the National School in 1846 when 60 children were taught by a master and a mistress. The teachers were paid £12 a year. Numbers seemed to have dropped after the initial enthusiasm for by 1847 there were only 32 pupils, some of whom came from Blackland. In 1859 40 pupils were being taught by a master in a cottage. Some of these came from Blackland while others lived in outlying parts of Calne. A new school, along with a teacher's house, was built in 1860, to the west of Manor Farm. It was specifically for the children of Calstone and Blackland.

The school logbooks begin in 1882 and provide interesting glimpses of life in a village school in the late Victorian period. Included in the 3 'Rs', reading, writing and arithmetic, were poetry, grammar, spelling, dictation, tables and mental arithmatic while scripture lessons included prayer books and the catechism. Other subjects included history, geography (with map books), needlework, drawing and singing. From the 1880s object lessons (the study of aspects of a single subject) were used. Those for the infants in 1886 and 1887 were:

Natural Phenomenon: 'What river waters do to the land', ice, snow, mountains, seashore, seaweed.

Vegetable Life: daisy, ferns, cabbage, orange, nuts, turnip and carrot.

Common Objects: linen thread, leather, tapes and ribbons, buttons, needle and thimble, pins and bodkins.

Animal Life: tiger, owl, shark, spider, bear, seagull.

There were three terms in the school year and holidays were similar to, although not as long, as those of today. Christmas holidays varied between 10 days and two weeks, while those for Easter were normally only Good Friday and Easter Monday. There was, however, a further week at Whitsun, towards the end of May. The summer Harvest Holiday seems to have been taken later here than in some villages, perhaps an indication of a later harvest. Sometimes it did not start until mid August, but it often lasted for six weeks instead of the four that many village schools had.

There were also occasional half holidays such as for Ash Wednesday, Ascension Day, after the visits of Her Majesty's Inspectors, Sunday School teas, for the school treat, and for confirmations in church. Other occasions were when the vicar took members of the Juvenile Temperance Branch on a visit to Calne, when the farm and cottage rents were collected, and when the school room was being prepared for an evening concert. On 10 November 1885 a full day off was given for the re-opening of the church after restoration and in 1887 the school closed for two days on 20 June to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. There does not seem to have been a holiday for the Diamond Jubilee in 1897 although a late Whitsun holiday in June may have been used for this.

As always there were many children off school with colds and coughs but there seem to be few instances of more serious illness such as diphtheria and scarlet fever. There are occasional reports of children off sick for several weeks or being 'very poorly in school' or 'very ill indeed', but no disease is specified. There were various cases of measles and chicken pox but the fact that this was a downland village seems to have ensured a healthier life in the 19th century than in many places. Other absences were unauthorised with children staying away to help at home or going fruit picking. Bad weather also affected attendance. Heavy rain sometimes caused half the children to be absent; often no infants turned up at all in really bad weather. The school was closed one afternoon in January 1883 because of heavy rain while deep snow also caused it to be closed on some occasions.

There seems to have been only one teacher, with a monitoress (a girl in her teens who was given more advanced lessons outside school hours by the teacher) to look after the infants. The vicar came into the school most days and took quite a few lessons. These were not only those for religious knowledge and scripture but others such as geography and dictation. Attendance at the school varied greatly in the 1880s and 1890s but it normally seems to have been between 30 and 40, although there were more children than that on the register. The children appear to have attended church at least once a week. They would have left the school and walked along the road, down a small valley, across a stream, and then up hill to the church for a service that began at 11.20 a.m.

H.M.I and Diocesan reports for the late 1880s and 1890s are mixed but in general are not too satisfactory.

1883 'good order' - 'children's attainment not regarded as satisfactory' - 'infants' knowledge showed that they hadn't received adequate attention' - 'must look at points for another year to avoid further reduction in the grant' - issue of certificate for Sarah Scarlett (uncertified teacher) deferred for better results'.

1885 'arithmetic slightly improved but still below par' - 'Discipline is good but could be improved by adding physical exercise with daily routine' - 'Miss Scarlett's certificate is deferred until more satisfactory results in arithmetic have been obtained'.

1895 'The children are in very good order'. 'Their reading is fairly good and they have made satisfactory progress in writing, spelling and composition, but they are rather weak in arithmetic. Geography is on the whole fairly known. Singing and needlework are good. The infants are making fair progress.'

Matters had improved by the 1890s, Miss Scarlett was now a certified mistress but the teaching and learning of arithmetic does seem to have been a constant problem. Even in 1906 the H.M.I report said 'Progress has been made during the past year, but the scholars in the upper class are still backward in arithmetic and should show more intelligence.'

Discipline and order seem to have been good in the school but it is interesting to look at the misdemeanours for which children were punished. These included insubordination, disobedience, smoking, rudeness, coming to school late, poor behaviour in church, fighting, and breaking down a hedge and playing in the plantation. Children were also punished for coming to school late, playing when they should have been working, and not completing their lessons, while one boy whipped another boy on the legs and refused to go to the head. He was brought back to school by his mother to apologise. The punishments are not mentioned but for the more minor offences it is likely that children were kept in after school, but for the more serious ones they would have been caned.

Children were however rewarded for good behaviour and good attendance and some did continue their education at schools in Calne. The vicar was also the manager of the school and seem to have been responsible for ordering equipment such as reading books, pens, penholders, pencils, exercise books, slates, inkwells etc. In January 1884 new tables were purchased for the school.

The school itself remained an elementary, or all age school, educating children up to the statutory school leaving age. Some parents will have sent their children to secondary education in Calne and it is likely that this practice increased from the 1930s.

Attendances did not vary very much with an average of 37 in 1906/7 and between 38 and 47 from 1910 to the late 1920s. In 1936 there were only 13 children at the school although after the Second World War this rose to 19 in 1955. Numbers were insufficient for the school to continue and it closed in 1962 and the children were transferred to schools in Calne.