East Garston School
East Garston History
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The
school in 1904 |
The
school in the 1930s |
A
deed of 1841 mentions an endowment of £4 per year from the
will of William Seymour to East Garston School, and the post office
directories of 1847 and 1854 record the presence of a National School
in the village, with a schoolmistress named Ann Winter and roll
of 56 pupils, but the whereabouts of the building is not known.
It may well have been on the same site as the school which replaced
it, built in 1872 for 60 children at the cost of about £300,
the cost of which was collected by subscriptions and a grant from
the National Society. In 1893, there was an HMI inspection visit,
which reported "Not much intelligence is shown. The Infants
are backward in Reading and more attention should be paid to their
Object lessons". |
The
history of the management of East Garston School, a Church of England
school, is recorded from 1903. The trustee managers included the
vicar of East Garston, the Rev. John Tudor, J. H. Spackman, R. Denton,
T. Hughes, Major Aldridge, Philip Wroughton and J. Wale, Junior.
The new Education Act of 1902 required the constitution of a body
of Foundation Managers. Miss Norton, the head teacher, resigned
and left the school at the end of the school year, on 30th April
1903. |
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Class
of 1916 |
Year
Unknown |
In 1904, rent for the teacher's house, comprising a brick dwelling with thatched roof, lean-to shed and two plots of garden amounting to about 24 poles, was fixed at £6 per annum. There was also a well, from which the school cleaner used to draw water. In 1906, the managers decided that a schoolmistress would be more economical, as an increase in salary for the head teacher could not be recommended with the average attendance being under 75. One of the managers was "inclined to doubt whether a Mistress would be equally efficient". |
In
1907, the head teacher, Miss Barnacle, had to complain to the managers
about two parents who came onto the school premises and caused a
disturbance. The managers duly wrote to the parents, explaining
that it was permitted to keep children in after school as a punishment
for bad behaviour. At the following meeting, three mothers had complained
of the head teacher's "undue severity of punishments".
In 1910, Mrs Cullimore alleged "cruelty" to her son, Herbert,
who had been hit on the face and kept in regularly. As usual, the
managers replied explaining the necessity of these actions in order
to maintain order and discipline at the school. |
In
1910, Miss Barnacle wrote to the local education authority (without
informing the school managers) complaining that the managers had
failed to support her over 25 parents who had signed a petition.
The managers decided that in the light of the difficulties, Miss
Barnacle "would be able to do better in another school".
Apparently nothing was done, as in 1911, Mrs. Claridge refused to
send her son to school until the attendance officer called and investigated
her complaint that her child had been hit on the head. Miss Barnacle
continued in her post until she retired in 1920 and was replaced
by Miss L. Hinton. In 1915 the managers conveyed the following resolution
to the education committee: "Under present circumstances it
is desirable that all boys and girls above the age of 12 years should
be allowed to leave school if and when they are proved to be beneficially
employed." |
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Date
Unknown but looks to be 1910 - 1920 |
1924
- The smocks have gone & several girls have bobbed hair |
Miss
Gladys A. M. Quelch was appointed in 1924. The next school inspection
report observed that Miss Quelch lived too far from the school,
and that her work was affected by this. The managers did not think
that living in Famborough adversely affected her work, and wrote
to the education secretary to tell him so. They did have cause to
discuss her punctuality, particularly after she was reported to
have arrived at 9.10 am. Miss Quelch later took up tenancy of the
adjacent school house, but relinquished it in 1936, when sanitary
arrangements were improved and a water rate of six shillings a week
was introduced. She continued as head of the school until 1961. |
The
managers at the meeting in 1926 discussed the unfortunate case of
Sidney Stroud, who had lost his eye as a result of an accident when
playing with other children near the school. The managers decided
that nothing could be done other than finding out if the cleaner
or school caretaker were insured against accidents. A year later
a successful claim paid £50 compensation. A measles epidemic
in 1928 resulted in only 12 children attending the school. |
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The
1930s |
Class
1 1932 |
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Class
II 1932 |
Class
III 1932 |
Electricity
came to the school and school house in 1948, with a mains charge
of nearly £30. In addition to lights, a two-amp plug for a
wireless was fitted in each classroom. The school transferred to
aided status in 1953, which resulted in the responsibility for the
school upkeep passing to the local education authority. By 1956,
the numbers were falling and only 37 were on the roll, although
the Oxford Diocesan Council of Education was "greatly impressed
by the whole atmosphere, the children without exception seeming
to enter whole-heartedly into the spirit of devotion". The
numbers had dropped to 34 in 1958; the education authority was contacted
to discuss the fact that Eastbury School was accepting children
from East Garston. The managers of Eastbury School were asked to
discourage this practice. There were only 28 children in 1961. |
An explosion in the school stove in 1962 caused the cleaner to suffer considerable shock, and a payment of £2 was made "as a small appreciation and compensation for her unnerving experience". Miss Bradford, the head teacher in the early 1960s, left at rather short notice in 1966, and was not immediately replaced, as it was thought that the school would ultimately close.
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