Tag: National Schools

In his book Old Times in the Potteries, published in 1906, William Scarratt recalls his schooldays in Tunstall. 

There were three schools for primary education in Tunstall. There was one Church of England school (Christ Church National School), two Methodist Church schools and a few dame schools. 

In the 1840s, Mr Lambert was the headteacher of the Church of England school I attended. The school was surrounded by fields. I was one of the ‘little ones’ when I saw my first barring out day. 

The headteacher came to school at the usual time. He found he was locked out of the building. The older boys had locked him out. There was great excitement inside the school. The big boys opened the windows.

They held the keys out of a window on the end of a long pole, which was held so high that he could not reach them.

The headteacher and his staff had been barred out.

Good-natured bantering occurred between the boys and the head until he agreed to give them a holiday.  

Ho! The triumph of the victors. The big boys said they were going to keep the doors locked all afternoon if he had refused to give them a holiday.  

We had an all-around education that was not restricted to the three Rs. When the school day started, a hymn was sung. My heart filled with joy when we sang, ‘Awake my soul and with the sun’.  

After singing the hymn, we learned the creed before lessons began. It was a pleasant school. Sometimes, the curate would take us to an adjacent field for games. I saw my first cricket match played there.  

Pupils attended school on Saturday mornings. On Wednesday afternoons, there were recitations at one Methodist school. On Wednesday mornings, pupils who went to Christ Church National School were taken to a service in the church.

Edited by The History Factory (2024)